We’re here to wrap it up with our final installment of our Choosing a Domain Name series.  As always, we like to get into the meat of the subject rather quickly.  So, here are more tips!

Stick with .com for businesses and .org for non-profit organizations – Usually people will type in the .com extension, so don’t go getting a .net extension if you don’t have the .com extension.  For example, if your website is widgets.net, and you tell your friends or possible customers the name of your site, chance are that they will go to widgets.com.  If the owners of widgets.com happen to be your competitor, you’ve just lost some business.  Non-profits are synonomous with having a .org extension.  You might ask, “But what if I have a personal website?”  Then go with the .com extension.

Get a unique, fun, and easy to spell name – Think about YouTube.com, Vimeo.com, and Google.com.  These names are easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.  What’s in a name?  Everything.

Register your domain name for multiple years – Doing this will tell the search engines that you mean business and you’re not just a fly by night company who spams folks.  You’re in it for the long haul, aren’t you?

Avoid trademark issues – You don’t want to come up with just the perfect domain name only to find out that you have to give it up because somebody has already trademarked their company name.  Before making the purchase,  you can do a search to see if anybody has trademarked your name here.

We’re back to provide more helpful hints on choosing a domain name for your website.  Enough formalities, let’s cut to the chase:

Check for availability - You don’t want to do all of your business planning around a domain name that isn’t available.  If the domain name is available, register it now!!!  We say this because we’ve had instances where a client decided to procrastinate on registering the domain name, and when they finally decided to give us the green light to purchase it, it was gone!  Domain names get snatched up every second.  Check out www.ajaxwhois.com and www.domjax.com to check for the availability of your domain name.  If it is available, you’ll want to register the domain name.

Avoid zero’s (000) – People will confuse 000’s with Ooo’s.  Do you know which one is which?

Purchase both the plural and singular versions - This is almost like the misspelling tip in Part 1 of this series.  One of our clients owns the domain name, www.reddawnpill.com, and we recently saw the plural version of the name, www.reddawnpills.com, was available and purchased it.  Make sense?  We thought so.

If you sell products, get a domain name (or three) for each of your products – To further increase brand awareness, you’ll want to purchase a domain name that matches each of your products’ names.  For example, Tylenol^® has it’s own domain name (www.tylenol.com).  In addition to registering a domain name that matches your product, you’ll want to register a domain name which contains keywords which describe your product or service as well.  For example, if you carry your own line of pain reliever, you may want to get a domain name like www.thebestpainreliever.com or www.headachemedicine.com and have them forward to the product page which pertains to those keywords.  When registering multiple domain names for your website, be sure to have them forward to different parts of your website and not just the home page.  Too many domain names being forwarded to the home page can hurt your website’s ranking in the search engines.

Make sure you get the spelling right – We know in Part 1 of this series we said to register common misspellings of your domain name, but don’t forget to actually get the right spelling of your domain name as well.  Double or triple check the spelling before you register your domain name.

Contact us if you’d like us to assist you in choosing the right domain name.  Stay tuned for next week for more tips on choosing a domain name.

You’ve decided you want a website and now you have the challenging task of choosing a domain name.  For those of you who don’t know what a domain name is, it is your website address (www.mrtechnique.com is this website’s address).  Picking a domain name could be a challenging task.  This week and over the next few weeks, I’ll be giving you some tips which could make the process a little easier for you.  Here are a few tips to start you off:

Short vs. long – Whichever option you choose, be sure the domain name is easy to spell and remember for most people. For example, you would probably be more likely to remember AreYouHotOrNot.com as opposed to AYHON.com.  Shorter domains have a smaller chance of being misspelled than longer ones. They’re also easier to fit on a business card.  On the flip side, you can squeeze in more relevant keywords (e.g. highqualitywidgets.com) to your industry in longer domain names. You could also fit an easy and catchy phrase (e.g. icantbelieveitsnotbutter.com) into a longer domain name. So, whether you choose a long or short domain name, be sure it is easy to spell and remember.

Look into purchasing alternative spellings or common misspellings – Nobody’s perfect and everybody’s bound to make a typing mistake every once in a while.  It would be a shame if you miss out on traffic and possible sales because some people frequently misspell your domain name.  Sit down with a few friends and get them to type in the name of your website on their browser twenty times.  Whichever misspellings you see the most, you should purchase.  In addition to common misspellings, you may want to purchase alternative spellings of a word or a name which appears in your domain name.  For example, one of my clients, Neal Smith Designs, has the name www.nealsmithdesigns.com.  If we were to verbally tell someone to go to the website, they may spell the name Neal in different ways (Neal or Neil).  So, we to avoid any confusion, the domain name www.neilsmithdesigns.com was purchased as well.  You don’t want to miss out on traffic because a visitor wasn’t exactly sure about spelling a name.

Hyphens – If you’re going to use them for your domain name, I’d recommend purchasing both versions of the domain name (with and without hyphens) if possible.  Let’s say someone finds your site, www.the-best-widgets-around.com, through a Google search and they liked what they saw and decided to tell a friend about it on the phone.  That person probably won’t mention the hyphens in your domain name.  Instead, they’ll probably tell their friend to go to www.thebestwidgetsaround.com.  Instead of you getting that traffic and possible business, the lucky owner of the unhyphenated domain name will be the recipient.  On the flip side, the hyphens do separate the words/names in the domain name, making it more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.  Also, hyphenated domain names may rank better in search engines because the words/names are separated by hyphens.

Contact us if you’d like us to assist you in choosing the right domain name.  Stay tuned for next week for more tips on choosing a domain name.  Stay tuned for Part 2 of Choosing a Domain Name next week.

A Content Management System is a type of website design. It is a website that allows you to take control of your own site. A Content Management System is computer software that is used to create, edit and manage as well as publish content in an organised fashion.Content Management Systems mean that you don’t have the added expense of dealing with web site designers as you are able to edit it yourself. Many of you may be left thinking how can I edit a website without technical knowledge? The answer is easily with a Content Management System. You don’t need to have technical knowledge to figure out how to change aspects of your website via a Content Management System you just merely have to have a go at doing it. The idea of editing a Content Management System yourself allows you as the end user to update content, which is highly important as websites have to be kept up-to-date to be effective.

There is a frequent use of content management systems for storing, controlling, versioning and publishing industry-specific documentation such as news articles, operators, manuals, technical manuals, sales guides and marketing brochures. Some of the content that you may be editing and looking after as part of a content management system includes computer files, media such as images, audio files and electronic documents as well as other web related content.

A content management system means that you have to log into an administration area on your site, which gives you a varying degree of control over aspects such as the ones named above. Also some of the tasks that you may have to undertake within your content management system includes adding new pages, administering site members, sending e-mail newsletters and changing web site colours.

So what exactly is this content that you will be administering? Content is basically any type or piece of digital information. This could be an image or a piece of text, a graphic or a video. What the digital information is depends on what your site is about and what type of information you need on there in order to promote it correctly. The content on your website is anything that is likely to be managed in electronic format.

Ok so we have covered what content is so what exactly is a content management system? Content management is effectively the management of your content, which is described above. By combining rules, process and/or workflows in such a way that its electronic storage is deemed to be ‘managed’ rather than ‘un-managed’. The content management system itself can be defined as a tool or a combination of tools that ensure you get efficient and effective production of the desired output of the content that you are using.

If you would like to know more about what a content management system can do for your website or if you would like to have a content management system placed on your website then get in touch with a web design company today and find out what web design is best for you.

About the Author
Carolyn is the web master of Discount Domains, specialists in all aspects of Content Management Systems.

Billions of people are surfing cyberspace, many of them wanting to spend money conveniently. If you have something to sell, how can you ensure they will find you before your competitors? The answer is simple – you need to make friends with the search engines and give the search engines what they want. The good news for you is, 95% of your competitors ignore this secret that is hidden in plain sight because it’s too easy.What is the secret hiding in plain sight? Search engines want fresh, quality content! They have always wanted fresh, quality content. They are in business to serve the masses so they are brutally picky about who makes it to the first page of search results. Yes, getting backlinks from quality websites is a factor but it means nothing without quality content.

One of my websites is relatively new. It has a Google PR3. That might seem an envious position. Using my Google Page Rank, I applied to one of those sites that pays for reviews. I was rejected. Why? Very little traffic. My site is generating a measly 300 unique visitors a month (May 2008). I just do not have enough quality content on that site as yet to make it attractive to sponsors.

So, you see, Page Rank is not always an indication of traffic. It simply means I have a number of back links from high quality sites. Google sees back links as votes. The more back links, the more votes, the higher the Page Rank. Quality content, on the other hand, is the secret to generating traffic. Not only that, quality is what leaves you there for years to come. Even if your site goes down, your quality content will still be found on the internet highway!

Quality content consists of profitable keywords and some solid information for your visitors. Don’t make the mistake of producing content loaded with all sizzle and no steak. Your visitors can’t eat sizzle. They need steak in the form of solid information they can use.

Concentrate on gathering every ‘profitable’ keyword, whether long tail or short and use them to craft your money terms which ultimately lets you rank high for very highly competitive keywords. Searches that are in the 5 figures a day.

Long tail are keywords of more than 2 words (less people searching) and a short tail is 2 or less words (more people searching). Remember long tail keywords are ONLY typed in by a searcher IF they can’t find what they are looking for using short tail keyword phrases. If you provide solutions for short tail keyword searches then people won’t leave your site to search on long tail keywords.

This is the secret hidden in plain sight that 95% of your competition is ignoring. They break away from the simple rules and try something extensively different and difficult because the simple methods seem too good to be true to work. That’s their mistake that you can use to your advantage!

Stay away from fads. Save your money and make good use of your valuable time and effort doing what has always worked.

The boss of search engines is still Google. Follow what Google wants and you WILL be rewarded. It takes just as much time to cheat the search engines as it does to apply solid, honest techniques. The trickster will see his efforts vanish within 3 months. You will still be around making money.

The simple methods are here to stay and you need to never worry about algorithm changes as you will have the right structured site, with the right set of keywords and the right content that search engines will love. Whether you want to profit from AdSense, affiliates, your own product or service, these strategies will outperform 99% of all your competitors.

Want to get ranked on Google within 60 minutes? No hocus pocus … just plain and simple? Do what I do every other day – submit articles to article directories. When we submit to article directories, the good ones with PR 6 and above, we automatically get their pulling power when Google spiders visits their site. Since Google regularly visits high PR sites, they re-cache (re-index) the entire page. So, when you post an article on a high PR site, the chances are that you could extract Google spiders from the high PR site to yours.

For example: you post an article to a directory site, Google visits it, crawls it and follows the links. Since you have a new keyword optimized article, Google will catch you on that page. So basically you can practically have your page cached within 60 minutes, depending on when Google is visiting.

Send out your content to these high PR (articles directory) sites and get indexed faster than ever and watch the traffic start flowing.

Jim DeSantis

Jim DeSantis is a retired broadcast journalist who began blogging in May of 2006. For a free report titled “Google Snatch” visit Gifts from Jim Desantis – here! Jim also runs On Line Tribune Internet Marketing blog – here! where you will find more free information about website optimization.

The Internet is a very complex place. Most people are totally overwhelmed the first time they get online. They are looking for answers to help them make their way around. You could get all kinds of traffic by simply offering people what they need. If you know your way around the Internet and how to set things up, why not make a video showing others how to do it to? If you own a site about Internet marketing, why not make a series helpful videos showing others some of your marketing tips. People will flock to your site to watch them so they can learn how to do it themselves.

Another great way to use videos on your site is to show people how to use your products. If you have a website about vegetable gardening, maybe you could make a video showing people how to plant a garden correctly.

If you are offering products that help with gardening you can use them in your video and show people how having your product will help them with their gardening. Demonstrate all the unique qualities about your product and highlight why it is better than another product that is similar.

Make your video creative. Your video does not have to be a professional costly video but you still want to make it interesting enough to keep their attention. Come up with some creative ways to explain how to use your product. Make your video fun to watch.

If you have customers that have offered you testimonials, you may want to ask them if they can make you a video testimonial in exchange for one of your products. This is be a great addition to the end of your video.

Make sure that you place your video prominently on your website so that people will be sure to see it. It is also a good idea to put a link with an attention grabbing headline on the other pages of your website to your video.

Don’t overdo your video. Just make sure it shows what it needs to. You do not want to confuse somebody by showing them a complex gardening tip. Just keep it simple and straightforward.

Make sure that you cover important information about your product, like ordering information, guarantees or anything else that may be important to your potential customers.

Make sure that your video does not oversell the products. Just casually mention them as you are using them while demonstrating them. Never make your video and sound like you are talking down to people. Keep it casual and friendly.

You could also put together a series of videos showing different gardening techniques. You could set it up so that people can opt in to your list and be sent a new link each week to show them the next video.

By adding informative videos to your website you can get tons of targeted traffic and build great relationships with your website visitors.

About the Author
© 2008 Tracie Johansen – Are you tired Of not getting enough website traffic? How would you like hundreds of hot traffic tips for free? Start increasing your traffic today! check it out now! http://www.ipromoteit.com/

The Cool Geeks Club Newsletter will return next week.  My father has just passed away and I will be taking the rest of the week off.  I apologize for the inconvenience.

Surviving in today’s over-competitive business world is not a difficult thing to accomplish once you obtain a positive online presence. As a large percent of the global population has become a faithful user of the Internet, one needs to expand the line of marketing and reach those potential customers. Having just a website does not do the trick anymore, as success stands behind websites that have engaging video content.

When the Internet appeared for the first time and people started to present their businesses online, static websites were ideally the first choice. They had the advantage of being easily created, there were no high costs involved and the download was alright no matter the type of bandwidth. As technology advanced, video websites started to gain popularity, being perceived as a powerful marketing tool and used as such. This time, the advantages were more obvious and businessmen started to be interested in the effect these video websites had on their prospective clients.

Today, we have reached a point in the development of the Internet where video websites are one of the major concepts related to Internet marketing. Specialized companies have clearly demonstrated to those interested that such type of websites with integrated videos can be just as affordable as static websites and still offer more benefits. Surpassing the competition with ease, those who have video websites can pride themselves in improved product presentation, with main features showcased with the help of professional videos and live testimonials. There is no doubt when it comes to making a comparison between static and video websites; the last ones are a definite ingredient for success, being easy to create and just as simple to use to increase the productivity of a company.

Static websites are still present online as not everyone has discovered the benefits of video websites, at least not yet. Specialists in the business definitely recommend video websites for those trying to make it into the world of e commerce, presenting their products through the Internet and trying to attract customers with the content presented on their website. Every detail matters when it comes to online marketing and just a well-put video can certainly make a difference. Deciding to go for video websites most likely will help your sales go up but it offers plenty of advantages for the users as well: they are provided with interesting content that can represent a source for entertainment and education, the company is better presented in their eyes and customers feel more motivated to choose that specific name.

Video websites are definitely the number one tool used for Internet marketing, having content that can be easily modified and accessed, implementing advanced databases and scripting languages. Any type of business can benefit from such an innovative website where information is easily added, including when it comes to videos and various flash applications. You will definitely notice how customers are responding to the video website, being attracted by the dynamic content and appealing video presentations. Even if the initial costs might be higher than with a static website, many companies have found that video websites are much more profitable on the long run. The important thing is that you take your time and discover all the advantages of video websites, making a careful comparison between static and dynamic video pages, taking after all an informed decision!

Gail Brady is a internet marketer specializing in video websites, and using video for marketing. She works for Leading Edge International a video website design & hosting company, http://www.leadingedgewebsites.com Video Website Marketing. Or to learn more on how get your own customized video see http://www.leadingedgewebsites.com/video.aspx Web Videos for Websites

There are various methods to earn money online. Affiliate Marketing is one of them. At present affiliate marketing is considered as one of the best means to earn money online. It is a revenue sharing venture between a website owner called an Affiliate and an online merchant having its own website. Affiliate website shall work under merchant website. Affiliate website owner will place ads on his website to either sell the merchant’s products or to send customers to the merchant’s website for sharing the profits.

There are three ways to earn money affiliate marketing.

1. Pay per click – When a customer visits the affiliate website and clicks on the link leading to the merchant’s website, the affiliate gets some amount as commission. This may be a small amount but if the affiliate is capable of drawing a large traffic, in the end of month he gets thousands of dollars.

2. Pay per sale – When a product is sold out as a result of advertising on the affiliate’s website, some amount of commission is deposited into the affiliate’s account.

3. Pay per lead – Every time a client registers at the merchant’s website as a result of ads on the affiliate’s website, a fixed amount is deposited into the affiliate’s account.

So for an affiliate by sitting at home, this is a great way to earn extra money without having to do anything. However one has to popularise his website by submitting his URL to major search engines, by writing articles or by doing press releases.

It is also beneficial for the merchants. By recruiting affiliates, he has free advertising and doesn’t need to do much selling on his own. The more affiliate websites a merchant have, the more exposure his products get. He only places ads on affiliate websites.

For an affiliate it is very important to choose such a merchant from whom he gets substantial payment regularly. Otherwise he will suffer from frustration. The relationship between the affiliate and the merchant should be mutually beneficial. It should be a win – win situation for both.

Author Premansu Chand is an affiliate and have an affiliate website. To know more about affiliate marketing please visit his website: http://www.premansuchanda.com

A website directory is a relatively new concept that allows a business or individual to conveniently list their website in an organized fashion. Website directories act very much like a phone book but instead of telephone numbers or street addresses being listed an individual can find a direct link to a website. By using a website directory an individual is automatically increasing their websites visibility and foot traffic. A website directory lists numerous websites under a main category and then a sub category. This allows an individual to quickly find the website in which the individual is searching for.

In order to use a website directory an individual only has to go to the website directory online and then look under one of the main categories in which the individual is interested in. An individual can find what information is needed in only a matter of minutes. This is a more convenient way in which people can surf the Internet. A website directory can also be considered a form of advertisement for a business or individual website. One type of website directory is a paid website directory.

A paid website directory charges businesses or individuals who wish to list their website with the directory a fee. The amount of this fee depends on the directory that the website is listed with. One of the benefits of using a paid website directory is that this type of directory works at a faster connection speed. This allows Internet users to find information at a much faster rate. Plus a paid directory is an organized community of websites. The more organized a website directory is the easy it is to find a website on the Internet.

By using a paid website directory an individual or business is automatically increasing their website’s foot traffic and visibility. This is a fast and easy way for a business to generate a larger client base.

Written by Antonious Thompson. Find the latest Unique Paid Directory as well as the best Quality Paid Directory