In the previous lesson, we talked about branding your business and naming your product.
Once you’ve come up with a product name, you’ll need to register a domain. However, some domains are much better than others, so I want to take a few minutes to explain it to you right now…
(Watch this video…)
Main points:
– .COM is usually the best, especially if it’s for the primary website of your business
– .ORG can be beneficial in gaining trust, and may be preferable for some information and service oriented websites.
– Country-specific extensions (ex. .CA, .IN, .JP) can be advantageous if you’re marketing exclusively to a niche within a certain country.
In general, I would prefer a domain with no hyphens. It’s debatable, but hyphens may create a visual advantage in some cases for SEO and PPC. However, it also makes the domain harder to remember, and more difficult to say out loud.
– If your product name is 2 or 3 words, it would be ideal for the domain to match it.
– If your product name is not available to register as a domain, you’ll want to check to see if that domain is currently in use. If someone is using that domain to sell a product in your niche, I would recommend coming up with a new product name to avoid conflicts.
– If your product name is long, you’ll need to come up with a shorter domain. (see example on video)
– There are hundreds of places on the internet where you can register a domain. Some are better than others. If you’ve already found a good and reliable registrar, feel free to stick with them.
– I recommend registering your domain with someone OTHER than your web host. (reasons explained)
– It’s important that you have good control over your domain (easily be able to change DNS, set up child name servers, etc)
– I recommend using www.LifeDomains.NET
(see registration walk-through on video)
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY:
You may want to consider getting your own domain sales business, like mine. There are always people who need to register domains, so if your business has anything to do with business or money, then this could be a good side business for you. Domain resellers are making as much as $37k per month with this opportunity!
Click here for info about getting your own turn-key domain business
(Includes bonus advertising credits and other freebies. See details on site…)
Action steps:
1) Register a domain for your business.
Use the guidelines from this lesson to register a good one!
After you’ve registered your domain, the next step is to get it hosted. There are good hosts, and there are bad hosts, and choosing the wrong one could be a costly mistake. Having been a web hosting company owner, it’s a subject that I know a fair amount about, and I’ll be sharing the important facts with you in the next lesson.
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 🙂 (Feel free to let us know about your new domain, even if it’s just parked right now)
Have a great day!
Eric,
This is a very important lesson. I would suggest that if someone is unsure about a particular domain name, they should register a couple names. I think another important point here is that the .com extension is probably the most popular and widely used domain name extension. The majority of people will automatically attach the .com extension to website names that they type in.
It is very important to come up with a name that people will remember. Eric, your site is very easy to remember and also to spell. If you are able to come up with a name that is short and is easy to remember, this is the best possible way to go. If you pick a domain name that is complicated, people won’t remember your site and this could cost you potential customers.
I agree with Eric. I think that hyphens should be avoided unless you have a very good reason for using them. When someone tries to remember your website name, they may forget to put the hypen in and they will never make it to your website. You want to make this whole process easy for people to remember without having to write it down. Eric’s domain name is so easy to remember that you don’t have to write it down.
Eric, another excellent lesson.
Thank you for your time and thanks for sharing this valuable information. It is greatly appreciated.
Tom
http://www.vipmarketingsecrets.com
Whoooooooooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooo
It’s here. (Not that I’ve been waiting or anything)
Okay Eric Ive gone thru your recomended products and they have covered the next lesson Getting hostgator to host your site and parking your other domain on there. lesson 25 I think will be Christmas for me..
What Do you suggest I do in the mean time constructively. I am trying to get my head around HTML but other than that?
Please help regards
Mark
ps ” http://www.onlinemarkseting.com ” anygood?
that’s exactly right, thanks Tom 🙂
In the mean time, I would suggest spend some extra time developing your product and backend monetization strategy.
I’m not too sure about your domain. markseting is a misspelling, right? I think it looks a bit funny, and will be hard for people to remember. I’m guessing it’s a play on your name? If you’re trying to play your name into it, I would suggest something along the lines of MarksMarketing, or MarketingMark…
Thank you I managed to bag one of them.
http://www.marksmarketing.com it’s not pretty but its mine.
regards
Mark
Cool, I like it 😉
Eric,
That was a great eduaction on domain names and registration. Before listening to your lesson I was thinking there couldn’t be much to this at all…however thats only because I didn’t realize the depth or details that go into the complete process. As you can tell I’ve used hyphens in my past domain names but will no longer do this.
Ps: Also Eric…I Hope thats your affiliate link you provided for Joel Comm’s new book. I’ve been waiting for that book release for awhile and was happy to get the book while giving you credit in return for these wonderful lessons(as always).
I do have a question though thats been in the back of my mind for some time now. If it’s none of my business…just let me know 😉
How does someone like you or any other well established marketer(guru) get to a point where their able to rub elbows with all the other Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trumps of the internet marketing world? I’ve always wondered this because evertime there’s a major release from someone well known, I always receive an email from all the other high profile marketers as well. From a newbie point of view this can seem a little overwhelming or self defeating because we have to stand on our own(at least for now). Not only does each marketer(guru) have a large email list but every other well known markerter has a large list and I take it that your all emailing each others lists. In the meantime us newbies are just trying to establish one list that we can use for ourselves. Did you have to prove yourself first? Just wondering what your thoughts on this was since your by far the most approchable high profile marketer I’ve come accross. It almost feels like a club that we can never be a part of.
Thanks,
Gary
😉
Get 150 *Top Quality* NICHE Websites With Your Paypal ID On Each!
http://Instant-Paysites.com
Thanks Gary. Again as for the hyphens, it depends on what the domain is for. If it’s just going to be marketed via PPC and organic SEO, hyphens are probably fine. But if it’s the flagship of your company and you want people to remember it, I’d skip the hyphens.
To answer your question…
To rub elbows with the guru’s, all you really have to do is go to an internet marketing seminar and be a cool enough person to carry on a nice conversation without acting like you’re trying to “get” something from them.
But I know what you’re saying about the “club”…
It really comes down to having a list or other way of driving serious traffic. If you promote a guru’s product and sell a ton of it, that’s your ticket into the club.
It’s also possible to start with “lesser known” marketers and work your way up to the bigger gurus. For example, start by building a list of 300 subscribers, then do a JV email swap with someone else who has 300 subscribers. Then with someone who has 500 subscribers, then 1000, etc. Once you have 1000 subscribers maybe you can find someone with a 5000 list who is willing to swap ads. Then when you have 5000, maybe you can jv with someone with a 10k list, etc. If your goal is to be a part of the club, the best way into it is through list-building and relationshop building.
It’s a club that is open to anyone at any time, and new players are always welcome.
On the other hand, there is NO actual club! It’s just a matter of relationships and lists. And the theoretical club that we’re speaking of consists of only a tiny percentage of all the successful internet marketers in the world. We’re just one niche. There are plenty of successful online marketers out there who make tons of money and don’t care about being a part of any so called club 🙂
Great points on registering a domain. What seems like a straight forward process that there is much more to it then simply get a domain and away you go.
Would you ever recommend if someone has a domain that is the same as your business to try and buy it or just come up with something close?
Rich
Hi Eric, I agree with Gary that just when you think “how much can there be to know” you show why you’ve had the success you’ve had and why every little piece in the jigsaw is vital.
I guess I’d just reinforce to try and be pretty sure before you start with your domain name because once you have you pages up loaded and you start to get quite a lot of stuff on the server it can be a bit of hassle if you decide you didn’t like your original choice of domain name.
Cheers
Glen Crosier
Brighton, UK
Hi Eric, What a blessing! I am going to register my domain name tomorrow, and looks like I need to change the name now based on your advise on selecting the correct domain name. You saved my life Eric. Thanks so much. Warm regards, Charles.
Choosing a good domain name is crucial to the success or failure of your business.
6 Qualities of a Good Domain Name
1.) Memorable
It should be easy, memorable, and straight forward.
2.) Short and Sweet
Twenty characters is the maximum that you should use for a good domain name, ten is even better.Keep it short and sweet.
3.) Be Choosy On Your Extension
There are several domain extensions available to you such as .com, .net, .org, .tv, .info, .gov and so on. The .com domain name extension is the best by far, because it is the most widely used.
4.) Spelling Means Everything
If your domain name is hard to spell, they may end up at a competitor’s website.
5.) Tells a Story
A good domain name should be descriptive and tell a story.
6.) Avoid Fancy Symbols
It is never a good idea to use numbers or hyphens within your domain name. Many people will not pay attention to the symbols, which could lead them to someone else’s website.
To your Success
Bryan Hee
for example:what about careweelcom.com? is it bad?
is i am affiliate marketer and i promote lots of products its not better for me to buy domain .info? cause .com is 8 dollar and . info ists 2 dollar.
thanks so much
Eric, much help always for your help, concern and genuine good character. Your links for biz info for domain sales very inoperative.
I had to revise link on domain sales itself
to get to it. thank you again, jm
Yes! I agree with all the tips. Now, my domain must include Web 2.0, I cannot avoid figures, but I think it is enough to put
…Web2…,
3 words Web2 being the middle one, 2.0 I think it an unnecessary complication. What do you think?
Michaela
Thanks for being straight forward Eric. I’ve never been to one of those expensive(in most cases) internet marketing seminars but I hear you when you say:
“be a cool enough person to carry on a nice conversation without acting like you’re trying to “get” something from them”. I imagine theres a lot of networking going on at those meetings and good sincere communication is always best.
One thing I’ve learned in the medical field is to always be compassionate, sincere and genuine with patients who are looking to you for help. I assume this would carry over to all aspects of life and is a good outlook also when dealing with business customers and carrying on conversations(networking) with other marketers.Thanks again for the great advice!
Gary
Thanks eric, I actually have a domain reseller
account, but I don’t do heavy marketing for that website since a domain is just about $8 and I have to sell decent numbers to get a decent income… and beside domain registration are every where… and just like hosting, everywhere… or may be I am overlooked with this business I don’t know..
Anyway Eric your comment is generally good but
if you want to attract search engine traffic and forgot the branding use keyword rich domain
like if you are targeting seo niche, your domain should include seo in the name to increase search engine traffic. I speak like that because I have a website rank top 10 in google using the keyword “affordable web hosting hong kong” and also I have a seo cert at searchenginecollege.com, one of the respectful search engine coaching site.
Proson
want to have some f.ree money making products?
for a limited time, you can download 1000+ Meg of ebooks, software, videos for f.ree! Get your instant access here now!
http://www.prosoncheng.com/recommends/newbie-giveaway
It doesn’t matter that you are an affiliate marketter. The com ext. is more acceptable. People just love the .com. Stick with that.
All you need to then do is register your name for branding(Eric talked about that already), and then use affiliate cloaking software to soft sell which means you will be talking like an expert recomending good products or services which are your affiliate products or services.
That makes you look like you are helping them while you make cool sales.
You can buy this tested recomemded cheap one here
http://hotshorturl.com/rf26
You Can Calculate Success
Kola Adebayo
The affiliate cloaking i talked about is what proson is using below.
Look at that link as it says recommends. It works.
You Can Calculate Success
http://www.IncomeChamber.com
Kola Adebayo
Thanks again Eric,
Your tips help clear up some questions I had about the hyphens, since I’m seeing a lot of them on some popular sites. I used the word “best” as part of one website name, but will change it based on your recommendation…
Hey Glen…from the UK!
I just saw your website and twitter page…looks like some fun stuff. Also looks like you’ve been doing this for awhile. I’ve got to get a twitter page set up myself but haven’t had time yet 😉
Hello Eric….thanks for all the good tips…question if you have 4 sites, biz, info, net, i forget the other one but would you run them together like a group with different subject matter, or should they be kept seperate? what are your feelings?
thanks Liz
Hi Eric,
Thanks for this guide on domain name registration. A quick question If we are to host a e-commerce site, SSL is definitely needed right? Any additional features that we need to include in our hosting packages when we are hosting a ecommerce site?
Your Free Digital Resource Center
http://www.dbookworm.com
Hi! Eric,
The domain part was easy, I choose only 2.
As usual you give us very good and practical advice.
Please, I need free software to create covers for eBooks; actually I need the feature to rotate the Picture after I created on flat. What I have is not handy. Can you suggest good software for me?
Thanks
Michaela
Hi Eric,
This is the second time – lesson 22 & 23 has stopped before it reached the end. Lesson 23 only last 2min but they could have important information and lesson 22 last 18min. Has anyone else had this problem? Can you resend them to me? I have very fast broadband connection.
Otherwise all is good and I am enjoying the content.
Ann
I use Photoshop… but I’ve had a couple of requests now for a free e-cover program, so I’ll be sure to look into it for when I get to that point in the product development process. I’ve seen a couple of free ones before, but they weren’t good. But maybe there’s a good one out there…
SSL is generally not needed unless you’re planning on processing credit cards on your site. There are some other places you might want to consider it, like if you want to offer secure login on a membership site, but in general you only need SSL for credit card processing. If you’re going to use a 3rd party payment processor such as Paypal, then you do not need SSL.
For an e-commerce site you would likely need a database such as MySQL. The hosting I recommend is Hostgator and my coupon code is: ERICSTIPS.COM
It really depends on your business strategy. If it’s your main company site, I would put the site on the best of the 4, and just direct the others to it. Then focus your traffic efforts (SEO and otherwise) on the one domain rather than creating 4X the work for yourself.
If you actually want to utilize all the domains, I’d put the main site on the best domain, and then use the other domains as “feeders” to feed traffic to the main site. You can try various SEO and landing page techniques on each of the domains, to capture a veriety of traffic sources.
However, if the domains are different, with different subject matter… that’s a whole nother story. You would treat them as individual sites and develop and optimize each of them seperately.
If the topic involves “Web 2.0” then it’s fine to have the number 2 in the domain name.
I’m not sure about ‘weelcom’… isn’t that a mispelling?
I recommend closing ALL programs. Clear your internet files. Then reopen a browser and try again. (The reason for this is perhaps your computer was low on memory). If the problm persists, I recommend trying a different browser, such as Firefox, which is a free download at http://www.mozilla.com
Hi Michaela,
Just an option….I use a product called web graphics creator. It’s high quality,easy to use and I like it very much. However it’s not a free software product…I think it was 29.00 but it’s something worth looking at….it does a lot more than ecovers, like logos and much more! You can find it at laughingbird.com 🙂
Hi Eric
I purchased web traffic machines from you , but it will not run on my comp,i had a techi check it .He say’s the problem is from the source,they do not rsepond to my queries.How do i get refund.
Kind regards
Pat
how do I promote my site?
Eric.
I followed directions from lesson 22 and 23. Registered two domains (used your service too). I will continue developing my product and brand and hope to have much more done by the next lesson.
I looked at several of your sites and was happy to see that on the prayer site our basic beliefs seem to be the same. So many people say one thing and do another, it looks like you do what you believe.
My educational site about rare fruit and plants is:
http://www.quisqualis.com
Bob
Ecc. 10:12
I am not writing this to make politics, it just struck me this week, and I want to share with you.
The idea is – an element of surprise works very well, starting with politics and ending with Internet Marketing.
If you can find a good quality element of surprise on your Info Products, sale pages, campaigns etc is going to work. Actually, what is it a “USP”, it can be a unique element of surprise as well.
I don’t like “leeches”; in 90% they are tasteless. I am talking only about pure, honest, quality elements of surprise.
Michaela
Gimp is a free program that has many of the same features as Photoshop. You can find it at http://www.gimp.org/.
If you need any help with the program, reply here, and I will contact you through your website.
What are you using now? Maybe, I can give you a suggestion.
Try GIMP, Opensource image editing. Very similar to Photoshop. You can get it at:
http://www.gimp.org
Read up on their documentations and search for some tutorials on google. There’s plenty of it when I typed out GIMP tutorials.
Hope this helps. Good luck. 🙂
Hi! Eric, I was a little surprised when you said at the end of #23 lesson “Feel free to let us know about your new domain”. Ok! I’ll share with you:
1) I register with my registror, namecheap.com 2 domains:
freeweb2traffic.com and
freeweb2traffic.info
One of them I want to use for a web site in which I’ll adv. all my web 2.0 activities and the blog.
The other one I want to use it for the squeeze page of the first eBook
2) My host is hostgator; I create the addon domains for both. I can concentrate now on my first digital product. (the name is not identical with the domain; the domain has a generic name for all I intend to do with Web 2.0)
3) As I already said I’ll work with 2 niches, first will be an application of Web 2.0 which has potential to make money (I badly need to start with this one). The second niche is like your invention, no money on ads but I like it and I think it is useful and that will be the second Digital Product, the subject is strongly related with Web 2.0.
4) Actually the intention is to take One Web 2.0 Application at a time and create a digital product; this will keep me busy the next 2 years at least. And considering the variety of Web 2.0 Applications, some can be profitable, some cannot, but I’ll definitely help to clarify some Web 2.0 issues, teach to get free traffic, expend the potential of Web 2.0 beyond imagination. It has some risk because it is a competitive market, but I’ll try to do my best.
Your comments on what I want to do will be very helpful.
Michaela
I just created a lens on the idea of surprises, which is dedicated to conservative republican VP Sarah Palin, who is the best surprise you can get in the last 2 weeks:
http://www.squidoo.com/2008Surprises
Hello Eric,
I was following your lessons step by step but I think I got a little bit a head of you.
Like 2 lessons ago I asked you about some marketing system I think it was a scam but thank god I did not have to pay for anything.
The reason that I’m posting a comment it’s because I feel very proud to present you my new webpage, I did my research and well found out that Tamarindo Beach in Costa Rica has a very competitive market, but I still decided to go for it and I´m doing well(for an amateur)
This my website is still under construction
I hope all of you will Like it.
This is it
http://www.tamarindobeach.ws
Please I would like you to tell me some comments.
Pura Vida
Nicolas Velasquez
Thanks Gary, I’ll lookit over
Michaela
Hi Eric, great article is really important in choosing a right domain, would you suggest that a person first name is more important in the begginning of a domain site also; Eric would you suggest that buying a domain name in the beginning of a person first site. Thanks again, http://www.learnhowtotradeforex.blogspot.com
Hi Eric,
I have been follow your lessons and excited to have my own domain after years blogging from free website.
I have two domain now. The first one http://www.ihomecash.com is where I setup wordpress to become my main domain in blog form.
I use this domain to create subdomains to promote affiliate’s through my landing page e.g. http://ihomecash.com/secretofworkfromhome.
Is this the correct technique to be use?
The second one is http://www.smartonlinetoday.com. I registered the domain and get the free generated website to promote affiliate products. Again I hope you can give suggestion whether it is good or not to have this kind of free already setup website.
Now in a way to produce good contents and learn to generate traffic to my new websites.
I will continue follow your lessons and thank you for all the information.
Ida
hi ! erics , you are so great ful who share such tricky ideas for all public
Rajendra
Thanks,Eric,for giving us so much practical info for us newbees.
1st question – When a person is just getting started, does the business name (DBA) and domain name have to be the same?
Thanks again. You are appreciated!!
2nd question – Since you can have multiple domains, do their names need to be similiar to the business name (DBA)?
Pingback: LESSON #24: Choosing a Web Host | Eric’s Tips
Hi ! erics, ofcourse we have to consider what is our websites objectives? why are we going to register a domain? it’s a primary factors before register a domain or web address. we can register yourdomain.com for commercial purposes, yourdomain.org for organizational and communities, yourdomain.edu for educational purposes and others for special purposes. we also provide all informations about website design, web development, domain registration, website hosting.
thank you erics for your good tips for publics.
best regards
Rajendra
info@meroblog.net
http://www.meroblog.net
thank you very much for such a wonderful online lessons that have actually brought a great understanding to many people online.
Michael
http://www.joboppoortunities.blogspot.com