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!
Good thinking 🙂
No you can’t give away these lessons on your website, but I have other stuff that you can give away, such as the PDF tip sheets from this page:
Also I will be extensively teaching how to build your list.
Hi Eric,
I would like to become a reseller with your affiliate link http://www.getgator.com but some of my buyers might be abroad and not
As I was saying…
how would they read in their language the first page from hostgator without leaving the site and putting hostgator.com.+(the country extension)?
You could set up landing pages to translate it for them.
I thought I knew all I needed to know about the domain names to register before watching this video. Thanks Eric.
Hi Eric,
if I would choose form these domain names, and my Exact kw is (XXXXsoftware)
1- xxxxsoftware.biz
2- xxxxsoftware.us
3- xxxxsoftware.ws
4- xxxxsoftware.cc
5- xxxxsoftwares.com
Which one will rank better and faster??
I would definitely choose the .biz or .us over the ws or cc.
Tough call on the .com since it’s not an exact match of your keyword.
I generally do not prioritize SEO when it comes to my domains (I prioritize memorability and marketability).
But if you’re prioritizing SEO then I would definitely also look into possibilities where there is a hyphen between the xxxx and software.
I’m guessing this is a breed of Australian humor that I was not aware of!?
Is it recommendable to use “.ws” as an extension? What is the downside to the use of this extension?
I actually do not recommend the ws extension. You *could* certainly build a successful site using it, but I would prefer one of the other top level domain extensions (com, net, org).
.ws was originally a country code domain extension for Western Samoa. My understanding is that a company (GDI) made a deal with Western Samoa to be the exclusive licensee of the extension for a period of time. They marketed it agressively, leading people to believe that “ws” stands for WebSite, and they used an MLM program to market it virally. I’ve been pitched on their program more times than I can count. I’m not a big fan of it 😉
Hi, Eric:
On your Lesson 23 presentation page, there was a link to Keith Wellman presenting his Automated Sales Formula which he is selling for $497. Is he associated with you and do you endorse him?
The only extent to which we are associated is that we are affiliates of eachother’s products.
Keith has been a good affiliate of mine for the past few years, and has referred hundreds of customers to me.
Likewise, I have endorsed some of Keith’s products and sent him many customers.
I have known Keith since early 2006, and have met him in person a few times. I have literally seen him build his business from the ground up… starting from $0 and growing to a $1M+ business. So I can certainly vouch for the credibility of his business.
I have heard from another of my subscribers in the past week that there are some complaints about Keith circulating on the internet. I am not familiar with the complaints, and I can not confirm or deny their veracity. If there are legitimate customer service problems, then I expect Keith will take care of them.
As always, this is an open forum and I am willing to remove my endorsement from anyone at anytime if it is warranted, and I have done so on a couple of occasions.
Thank you so much Eric you are very generous sharing this very valuable knowledge.To your continued success!
When they ask you legal questions on the domain site. How do you answer,if you have no LLC?
Just use your personal name, or else register a “trade name” in your state if you’re in the US.
Hi Eric,
I’m enjoying the lessons very much. Thank you for them.
Now I started to build my online business, but i have one question!
How I can register a domain name for one time purchase? in lifedomains.com i noted that i have to pay every period of time.
keep the good work.
Thanks
Liked this one… and your advice on best top etc was spot on!
I won’t touch them.
I am wondering What is the trick to have videos like yours. I mean, they load and play almost instantly. Is it the format, the player, the hosting, What is it?
Most videos online take a long time to load and play. Even the one’s from the top “gurus”. Not Yours. Can you share on this topic?
Thanks
It’s a combination of all of the above, but mostly it’s the file size.
I’ve formatted these videos as SWF, with a fairly low frame rate because there’s not a lot of action on the screen. As a result, the videos are less than 1MB per minute, even with decent quality audio.
The small file size means it downloads quickly to your computer with no buffering.
Also it is formatted to stream instantly when you click play, rather than loading a % of the video first.
All this is done when I export it from Camtasia, which I talk about in lesson #41.
Thanks Eric. You are clearly a different kind of a guy. I’ll be following you.
Have you tried the .info domain on SEO?
I’ve used some .info domains, but not specifically for SEO. So I do not know the answer, but my hunch is that they are slightly worse for SEO than the main top-level domain extensions. I believe this to be true partially because .info domains have been sold under several super-cheap promotions over the years ($1.99, etc), and thus were snapped up by a lot of spammers, sploggers, etc.
I believe you can choose whether you want it to automatically renew or not. You could choose the option to NOT automatically renew.
Another option would be to simply register the domain for a longer period of time (like 5 or 10 years), then you won’t have to worry about it.
this the best program i’ve on to in 5 years of doing online business. i never got all the tips. this program is for people like who is internet stupid. so thanks eric. at least you are honest.
If i already have a domian name and website, what do i need to drive traffic to my website?
ERIC, i’M TERRIBLY THICK SOMETIMES…I WANT TO REGISTER A DOMAIN NAME THEN I’M TOLD DO NOT USE A FREE EMAIL ADDRESS. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO CREATE A PAID FOR ONE…..DID I MISS SOMETHING?
Eric, the tips are wonderful. I have a question for you. How does I turn a book in pdf into an ebook that cannot be reproduced or resold without my consent?
I show how to make an ebook in lesson #47:
You can password protect your PDF, which may prevent it from being resold, but there is not a 100% reliable way to protect an ebook.
That is a catch-22 isn’t it 😉
I teach how to setup an email address on your own domain in lesson 26, but you have to register the domain first.
Most registrars do allow some free email addresses. For example they might not allow hotmail, but maybe they allow gmail or some other email provider.
Most ISP’s (your internet provider) also offer email addresses, such as Comcast, Qwest, etc. If you can use your address given to you by your ISP, that should work.
I will be covering web traffic in lessons #72 – 85.
Sir I have a site and is hosted.:: americanfarmclocks.com but is incomplete and not sure where to go from here w/ all I would like to put in this site or how to add any thing. In the few short lessons I have read from you I have learned more than the expensive programs I have tried. I just wish I had run on to you before. Thank You
lol,this is a good lesson but i already buy a domain name not to long ago.this lesson is good for next time when i buy a new domain name.
please ignore my last post i mispelt one of the domain names i have. although i already have 2 domain names which are http://www.ebooklion.com and the second one which im getting help with which is http://ebooklicious.com. todays lesson gave me food for thought when choosing a domain for other products.
thanks eric for the domain information. the informations are great. i had little information
about domain and i did not payed too much attention to it, but with your lesson, i understand now how important it is for a business that want to look professional.thanks again.
I enjoy your lessons very much and yes I am still kicking with creativity. —- JAD
Great lesson Eric. I’m trying to get a domain but the ones I chose are already taken so I’m left with a looong name.
Hi Eric,
Love it, awesome lessons. Working on my domain name, i need to get it right. Thank you so much. WOW
Hi Eric, I registered a domain with Dreamhost back in October, and went with their 2 year plan for $190.80, with next payment due on 10-05-2012.
I did not know anything about how to properly name a domain at the time, I was told in my previous training to set this and that up ASAP!!, and the domain was one of the items in the lineup, and I was following instructions from a trainer with the name that I will only reveal with initials(R.B.), and his recommendation was Dreamhost as he must be an affiliate of it, and I hope it is a good one for what I paid for it??…I will have to find a evergreen product that will match my already name domain “lloydsmarketingsolutions.com”, and there is no reason why I cannot make something fit, unless you see something that I don’t at the moment before proceeding further in using it?…Friends, Lloyd.
Hi Eric,
What is the different between: create a sales page of your products and create a website of your products.
I understand that to create a website, I need to have a domain name. How about creating a sales page of the products, do I have to have a domain name for it?
Thank you action man eric.
Hi Nicolas,
You would still need to own a domain name to upload your sales page to.
A sales page is just one page people may view when they visit a website.
A website may be filled numerous pages, including sales pages, pages with download links for purchases, testimonials, reviews, etc.
Hi Lloyd,
If you sell a product that provides marketing solutions, your domain name should be great.
Hi Eric,
What do you think if I use a domain name with the number 365 in it. Suggesting what you do in a year? Like Turn365.com?
I think it’s not bad, if it’s applicable to your business. I generally prefer not to use numbers, but there are some exceptions. Keep in mind, it’s usually best if your domain makes it evident what your business is about.
Eric,
First let me thank you for the extremely valuable and helpful lessons. I am planning to create a blog for mostly personal reasons in the short term and is not the income producing project I am pursing. However, the subject is in a very large and competitive market and has potential to generate income down the road if people start reading it. For that reason, I want to put it in the best position now.
I can choose my preferred blog and domain name using high value (meaning oft searched) key words, but with a .us extension (.com and .net are not available). Alternatively, I can choose a less desirable name (from both a keyword and personal preference perspective) but with a .com extension.
Which would you suggest I choose? If it matters, the .com and .net sites are empty, but they are owned by someone else (they requested about $4,000 for the .com extension).
Thanks.
I noticed my original comments hadn’t posted yet so I thought adding a little more detail might help.
I did more research and found a few other options (and I might be wrong about how much each key word is searched for, but I still like my first choice best). The keywords are Weight Loss vs. Fitness or Fit. Here are the domains I came up with (in order of personal preference for the phrase – i.e. ignoring the extension), any thoughts on which I should choose?
MyWeightLossJourney.us
MyWeightLossGuide.net
MyWeightLossProgress.com
MyFightForFitness.com
MyFightToBeFit.com
MyFitnessSuccess.com
Again, thanks for the fantastic lessons (and all the free advice you offer in the comments)!
Kenny
What are your thoughts on using a .mobi domain extension in addition to your standard .com or .net? Is it necessary? useful? useless?
Thanks,
Kenny
Hello Kenny,
That’s a high price to pay, when you could try another domain name for under $10, to test your product initially.
Also, have you considered changing your domain name by using hyphens. While Eric doesn’t prefer this method personally, many hyphenated domains still do very well! It may be a good fit for what you’re offering.
Hello Kenny,
If you’re catering to users on mobile devices, .mobi extensions are a great option!
Hello Kenny,
While it’s best to keep your domain name under 4 words, MyFightToBeFit.com is pretty eye catching, and memorable!
hi eric. thank you very much for these amazing lessons, you are truely a wise person indeed. eric when i try to load some of your lessons, it doesnt want to load completely, the longer ones more than the other. can you please give me some advice? thank you again for a great service.