HowtoChooseTheRightDomainName by Nicole Dean

Learn More from Nicole at her blogl! → www.NicoleontheNet.com

Expert Briefs: Nicole Dean Asks Successful Marketers the Questions You Wish you Could How To Choose The Right Domain Name

By Nicole Dean of www.NicoleontheNet.com

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NOTICE: THIS REPORT COMES WITH GIVEAWAY & MASTER RESALE RIGHTS INCLUDED.

You MAY sell it, AND give it away. However, this report may NOT be altered in any way! What CAN You Do With This Awesome Report? − − − − − −

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© Copyright Nicole Dean ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER. Theshort, direct, non-legal version isthis: Some of the links in this report may be affiliate links which means that I earn money if you choose to buy from that vendor at some point in the near future. Yes, I am proud that I feed my family by finding the *best* learning resources on the net and sharing them with you and I am humbled and thankful that you trust me to do so. I do not choose which products and services to promote based upon which pay me the most, I choose based upon my decision of which I would recommend to a dear friend. You will never pay more for an item by clicking through my affiliate link, and, in fact, may pay less since I negotiate special offers for my readers that are not available elsewhere. DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES: The information presented herein represents the view of the author as of the date of publication. Because of the rate with which conditions change, the author reserves the right to alter and update his opinion based on the new conditions. The report is for informational purposes only. While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided in this report, neither the author nor his affiliates/partners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. Any slights of people or organizations are unintentional. If advice concerning legal or related matters is needed, the services of a fully qualified professional should be sought. This report is not intended for use as a source of legal or accounting advice. You should be aware of any laws which govern business transactions or other business practices in your country and state. Any reference to any person or business whether living or dead is purely coincidental.

You may certainly share this document with a friend! © - Nicole Dean, Groovy Slug, LLC

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Learn More from Nicole at her blogl! → www.NicoleontheNet.com

About Nicole: Nicole Dean is the Mostly-Sane Marketer. (Ask anyone who knows her and they’ll say that the “mostly” part is up for debate!) Nicole loves to help online business owners to earn more money AND have more fun! She is an expert in Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Management, “Lazy Marketing” for passive profits, Outsourcing Effectively, and Marketing with Content. But, she’s got a secret. She uses a LOT of shortcuts. Nicole juggles a lot of things, but she does it all without owning a Blackberry or giving out her cell phone number. The reason she works from home is to have the freedom when and where she wishes to work. She enjoys work very much, but lives to spend time with her much-adored husband, her two silly children – and also her two slightly neurotic puppies, Eddy & Einstein.

Resources from Nicole Learn the secret shortcut that many niche marketers use to stop working so darned hard Quality PLR Articles & Reports

Find out how Nicole has gotten a waiting list of people who want her to steal their web traffic: How to Guest Blog

Jimmy D. Brown called her Wonder Woman when she was his Affiliate Manager. Why? She got more done in a day than he thought she'd accomplish in a month. Check it out here: How do you have a Business AND a Life at the Same Time

Are you ready to get your infoproduct out of your computer and into the Internet — where it can start making moolah for you? Check out: How to Sell Your Products on Clickbank

Learn how to Blog without Going Bonkers: Blog CPR

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Welcome It’s another Expert Briefs, where I ask really smart business owners to answer your burning questions. Today’s question is -

“How do you choose a domain for a new blog or project you’re working on? What factors do you take into consideration? What’s a deal-breaker for you? Any examples of bad domains you’ve bought in the past?” And, here are our answers…

Connie Ragen Green says: I’ve got 561 domains, so choosing them has become something I am comfortable with. For me, choosing the right domains is like choosing the right name for one of your children or pets.The name must be catchy, not too long, and let people know what to expect. You also absolutely must have your own name as a domain. Someone else had my name when I was first online and wanted to sell it to me. By then I was already using my middle name – Ragen – so I was not interested in purchasing ConnieGreen.com at a premium price. The next year she let it go and I bought it for ten dollars! I like to use a verb at the beginning of my domains, so it will seem like I am requesting you to take some type of action – write, start, click, live, market, sell, reinvent. It all begins with a keyword search for the phrase that will describe what I am doing, over at Google’s free site – Keyword Tool External. Keep your domains as short as possible. I’ve seen ones that are so long – ThisIsMyBusinessNameAndIAmGoingToSqueezeInEveryPossibleKeyword.com – and those will not serve you well. No matter what anyone tells you, there are still plenty of excellent domains out there, and you’ll find the ones that will describe your business in just the right way. Think of it as your virtual real estate and enjoy the investing process.

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Shannon Cherry says: My name is Shannon Cherry. And I am a domain junkie. Yup, I admit I love buying domains. So much so I have 83 right now. (And no, not all of them are in use!) Part of the reason I have so many is that I buy them through CherryPickedDomains.com, a reseller site I own. (Yes, I own the domain too. But that one is cute and turns a pretty little profit!) Usually, I try to buy domains with one or more keywords in it that I know are ranked high. I also look for ways to incorporate the product or service I am selling into the title. For example, my S.A.L.E.S. System Formula program also works as a great domain because Sales and Sales System are well ranked. Looking back, there are a few I shouldn’t have purchased. And two of them I blame Bob The Teacher for. He suggested I buy ExplosiveExposure.com and ExposureExplosion.com Honestly they could have been good for me, especially since Bob knows I like alliteration. However, there was one thing that ended up hurting these… (and truly, I am certain Bob would have NEVER thought of this): the words Explosive, Explosion, and Exposure, paired with my last name, Cherry, brings on some… shall we say… interesting search results. So now I have another criteria to my list. All keywords, including ones in my domains, have to be rated PG.

Susanne Myers says: I like to start with a little bit of keyword research before I buy a domain name. I try to figure out what one of the main keywords is for the topic the site will be about. Then I play with those keywords and other words around it until I find something I’m happy with that’s still available. I stick to only .com domain names. I have bought .info and .net in the past, but not for important sites where I eventually want people to remember the domain name. No one ever remembers to add a .info or .net and will go to the .com version of the site instead. I stay away from names with dashes or numbers in them for the same reason. Now, let’s look at some bad examples: © - Nicole Dean, Groovy Slug, LLC

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SewingandEmbroidery.info My first mistake was to go with a .info extension. If I remember correctly, the only reason I did it was because the .info was cheaper at the time. The second reason I don’t like it is because it is a little hard to spell and misspellings are pretty common. I made that mistake with a few of my domain names. Lemony-Snicket-Stuff.com When this domain was registered there was some talk in the SEO community that it might help to have dashes between keywords. It doesn’t and just makes it almost impossible for people to type the domain name and get it right. I haven’t put nearly the time and effort into either one of these sites that I should have and part of the reason is because I ended up not being very happy about the domain name.

Nicole Dean says: The advice we’ve gotten so far has been awesome. My favorite domain names are usually two to three words max. Although I’ve got a few really good four word domains like this one (NicoleOntheNet.com). Why didn’t I just put this blog on NicoleDean.com? Well, when I started this blog, NicoleDean.com was not available. It was owned by a lingerie model. (NOT me.) Plus, I didn’t have to worry about people thinking my name is “Nicole Bean” instead of “Nicole Dean” which happens more than one would think. (Although I do own NicoleDean.com, now.) My unbreakable rules for choosing a domain are: •

No hypens. Been there. Done that. Regret it to this day.

•

No numbers. Do I spell it out “four” or is it the number “4″?

•

Nothing difficult to spell. Although I once was really excited about using a domain with the word “catalyst” in it — I find that no one could spell the darned thing.

•

Domain must end in .com. I don’t mess with other endings.

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•

Domain must NOT have any copyright names in it. I would not recommend using “Google”, “Disney”, or any other company name in your URL or prepared to be “ceased and desisted”.

•

If I’m looking to sell the site down the road, it must be generic enough. For instance, I wouldn’t buy “NicoleKnowsTomatoes.com” to teach about growing tomatoes if I planned to sell the site ever, because I’d have to find someone named Nicole – or who wanted to call themselves that — to buy it.

And my big, bad unbreakable rule. •

It must pass the Oprah test.

What exactly is the Oprah test? Well, I picture Oprah saying it out loud. “Today I have with me, Nicole Dean, author of Blah blah blah and owner of NicoleontheNet.com”. Is it memorable? Easy to spell? It’s not just the Oprah test, though. It’s the Willie Crawford test, too. If I’m in an interview with Willie Crawford and he introduces me – I want people typing or writing down my URL easily – and remembering it long after the fact. You can’t do that with MyNumber1-BestHome-Remedy-Treatments4New-Mothers.net. Why is this Important? A difficult domain is actually wasted opportunity and wasted traffic slipping through your fingers. If you’re promoting via audio or video (in webinars, iTunes interviews, on BlogTalkRadio, live radio, TV, or even your own podcast) – you need a domain that is EASY to remember. It has to make it into the person’s ears and to his brain and stick. Plus, honestly, it’s a credibility issue. Would you really buy something from MyNumber1-BestHomeRemedy-Treatments4New-Mothers.net? I hope you wouldn’t even think of getting out your credit card for a site like that. SCARY. And would you feel comfortable referring it to your friends? Not a chance. What impression is your domain giving of you? How to Avoid the REALLY Bad “Oh My GOSH I CAN’T BELIEVE I DID THAT” Ones? I’ll also touch on avoiding really bad ones. BAD ones that I’ve run across in the past include: © - Nicole Dean, Groovy Slug, LLC

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• •

ArticlesHit.com PenIsland.com

Yes, strategic capitalization was intentional. lol. In fact, I, myself, was nearly guilty of a doozy. My degree, as you may or may not know, is in Psychology. And, I believe that a HUGE part of business success is what’s in your mind – just as much as your marketing & business skills. You have to overcome your personal obstacles – and Lordie, did I ever have a lot of them. Anyway, awhile back, I was trying to brand myself (I was reaaaaally struggling and focusing on branding for awhile until I gave up on it all together) – and I thought Marketing Therapist had some potential. I came up with a bunch of cool tag lines and headed to buy the domain. I searched it in Go Daddy and amazingly it was available. So, I was about to buy it when my husband walked into the room and said … “Uhhh… Nik. Sweetie? What in the HELL are you doing?” Well, after some confusion, I realized he was reading MarketingTheRapist.com rather than MarketingTherapist.com – because it was in all caps on the screen. Yeah. Marketing for rapists is not even close to what I’d planned to do. I’m hoping no such thing exists. So, I’ll give you the same advice as I give my friends who are expecting a baby. Run the name by your most juvenile, dirty-minded friends – before signing on the dotted line. You’d be amazed at how something totally innocent can go bad in a big hurry.

So, now, I’ll pose this question to you. What are your best tips for choosing the right domain name for your blog? I’d love to hear your comments! Warmly, Nicole Dean If you’re new to expert briefs, these are two of our most popular: • •

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