Posted by Markcb on April 23, 2010 · 1 Comment
Buying a New Domain
It is important to get good keyword rich domain names, so, as always, keyword research is the most important part of this process. So, to use the ubiquitous ‘widget’ example, if you had a site that was selling widgets you could first try and buy the domain “widgets.com/.org/.net” etc if this is taken try “sellingwidgets.com” and so on until you get the domain you are happy with.
The two hosts I use most are Hostgator and Godaddy, you can click on the banners below to take you straight through to these sites:
If your product or service is country specific then I would always recommend getting a country specific top level domain (ccTLD – Country Code Top Level Domain) such as .co.uk for the UK, .fr for France, .ca for Canada etc. Most registrars will sell these domains, but if you are struggling to buy one for your specific location type your ccTLD followed by ‘domain names’ into the search engine and you should get a good choice from there (for example ‘.co.uk domain names‘). If not then feel free to get in touch with me and I will help.
So which domain extension is the best? There are so many extensions these days that opinion is very divided. The official line taken by Google is that the extension does not matter, but all the evidence points to the contrary. In general the top domain extensions in order of preference are
1 .com
2 .net or .org
3 .info or .biz
.com’s have always been more brand able and tend to do very well in the search engines.
.org’s are good too, but are still often associated with charities and organisation.
.info’s tend to be a little cheaper but because of this have always been seen as a little spammy. Originally they were associated with information sites, and if you have a site which is based mostly on supplying information then this will still be a good bet.
The use of hyphens in a domain name is another grey area. Generally a hyphen will make your site less brand able and harder for people to remember, but can still be a good idea if it helps you get your keyword rich domain name. I would not recommend however any more than 1 hyphen. So in our example above you could use selling-widgets.com but I would steer clear of you-selling-widgets.com
And finally we can move on to prefix and suffix. A prefix comes before your keyword and a suffix after it. So for instance in the widgets example your keyword could be prefixed by ’online’ or ‘your’ or ‘buy’ thus making onlinewidgets.com or buywidgets.com
The suffix would simply come after your keyword, such as widgets online.com or widgetsreviews.com
In general I would recommend using prefix and suffix if it is suitable for your business, if you are selling a product online then putting a prefix of ‘buy’ or ‘buying’ is very viable. Also of course the prefix and suffix are good if the domain name and extension you are primarily after are not available.
That’s it for now. As always feel free to ask any questions or leave a comment.
Mark
Filed under domains, hosting, seo · Tagged with .co domain + opinions?, .co domain extension seo, .co domains suffix, .co is a new domain extension, .co tld domain seo, .co.uk domain availability suffix prefix, .co.uk domain names seo, .com or .co.uk for new domain?, are co.uk domains good?, ARE THE NEW DOMAIN EXTENSIONS GOOD .CO, best domain extension seo, best domain extensions traffic, best extension for uk sites .co.uk or .com, buy a new .domain, buy a suffix .co.uk, buy an edu domain extension, buy new domains, buy web traffic uk, buying .com domain, buying a domain, buying a new domain, buying a new domain name, BUYING A WEBSITE EXTENSION, buying domains, buying of new domains for seo, co.uk country code top level domain, country code top-level domain prefixed with co., does "buy" as a prefix for domain name, does domain extension matter, domain "1 comment" site: .info, domain name seo prefix, domain names buying country suffix, domain names seo .co.uk and .com, domain suffix prefix hyphen .co.uk, domains, domains that are best for seo .co.uk, google uk domains extensions best?, hosting, how to buy a web prefix, if I buy a domain can I prefix, is .co.uk the best extension for uk sites?, is buying domains good for website traffic, new domain, new domains extensions, new to buying domains, new uk domain ext types, PRfix.co.uk domain name, purchasing a top level .uk domain, seo, seo .co domain, seo .co domain extension, seo domain extension uk, SEO UK website ".com or .co.uk", should i buy the co.uk donain if the .com is taken?, uk domain extension, using .co.uk domain in france, what is needed to buy a .co.uk domain, what is so good about a .co.uk domain, which domain extension if co.uk is not available, wich domains are best .com, .co.uk, .net etc.
Posted by Markcb on April 16, 2010 · 3 Comments
Which Domain Extension?
Domain name is the address you type into your web browser ending in .com or .net or .co.uk ie google.com or google.co.uk or twitter.com Domain names can have a big influence on your SEO (search engine optimisation) and can influence the speed of indexing and how high your site is ranked, and can also have a very direct impact on how much money you can make.
It can be a difficult choice. You are looking for an SEO friendly domain. Keyword research is very important in any optimisation as ideally you are looking for a keyword that is searched for many times, but has low competition. This is an idealised view, and rarely seen so easily, but you get the general picture.
Once you have you a keyword or phrase it is important to use this phrase when choosing a domain name. Although the search engines haven’t come out and admitted it, all the evidence points to the fact that they see keywords and phrases as an important factor in ranking.
There are three categories of keyword matching options. Exact match, phrase match and broad match.
Exact Match matches your keyword or phrase in the domain exactly. For instance if your keyphrase is ‘bird seed’ then the exact match domain would be ‘birdseed.com ‘
Phrase match has the keywords in the right order in your domain but with an extra word also to create a new phrase. Using the bird seed example that could be ‘buybirdseed.com’
Broad match has the keywords in a different order, also with an extra word or two thrown in. For example ‘seedbirdonline.com’
There is also non keyword optimised domains, which don’t have any of your keywords included. Again taking the above example this could be ‘avianfood.com’
Generally non keyword phrases are most suited for companies with an established brand, or trying to build a brand. This doesn’t mean that these domains can not be used for your chosen keyphrase, it just makes it a little more difficult.
With all other ranking factors being equal then the search engines will rank in the following order: Exact, then phrase and finally broad.
In my next post I will discuss choosing the best domain if your keyword has been taken.
Filed under Blogging, domains, Google · Tagged with broad or exact to pick domain, can you have a domain name that doesn't match the website, choosing a domain name with broad match, domains, exact match, exact match phrase broad "choosing a domain", is an exact match domain name helpful if it forwards to another domain, phrase match domain name, picking domain names matching keywords, seo, seo do you pick a domain with .co.uk or .com, which domain should i pick
Posted by Markcb on April 15, 2010 · 3 Comments
Affordable Blog Hosting
Well, there is only one choice for me. (OK…maybe two) Most of my blogs are hosted here and you can host an unlimited amount for less than $10 per month. A no brainer as they say. That company is Hostgator
Best Blog Host
I would recommend them whole heartedly for affordable blog hosting. After all, we want our blogs to be hosted cheaply and reliably, and with a guaranteed 99% up-time. My personal experience with Hostgator is a 100% up-time!
An alternative that you may wish to explore is Bluehost. Again similar pricing and guaranteed uptime.
So click the links above or the banner below for the most affordable blog hosting in the business.
CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP FOR BLUEHOST.COM
A weblog web hosting company is a business or an individual that “hosts” ones weblog on their private server. If you want to arrange your personalized blog, going for the weblog web hosting supplier is in all probability among the most perplexing tasks.
Ever since blogging has turn out to be a enterprise in which businesses employ bloggers to take on various topics ranging between consumer electronics to the greatest films of all time, selecting one of the best website hosting company may be the biggest aspect to succeed in a blogging business.
If looking around for weblog hosting suppliers, it is possible to restrict your exploration simply by dividing them into 3 groups – unique blog hosting providers, hosting providers and hosting resellers. Unique blog web hosting companies and hosting suppliers provide both professional and gratis services.
Weblog Hosting Suppliers: Understand Your Alternatives as a Blogger
If selecting a blog hosting company, you must decide your blogging requirements plus preferences and also the designed function of the web site. Many people produce sites as a private journal, whereas many individuals develop blogs to make income. Deciding on your planned function is a component in deciding on the blog web hosting supplier that may meet your requirements.
In case you’re not acquainted with HTML or different encoding, you could seek hosting vendors that allows uncomplicated, no- setup interfaces for websites. On the other hand, if you need to have absolute control by entirely customizing the blog, one might look for blog hosting providers that provide unlimited functions and opportunities for bloggers.
Not like free of charge hosting suppliers, blog hosting companies can offer additional probability of a blogger’s exposure versus paid blog hosting, especially if you wish to arrange a blog to make capital. This is as a result of common blog hosting firms, that are on the leading list of the search engines results, may offer the blog exposure to a broader audience as a result of the programmed encoding integrated in the service.
On the other hand, if you decide to host your blog with hosting firms, you’ll be in charge of appearance, template, interface, add- ons to incorporate as well as additional capabilities you wish to incorporate in your blog. Nonetheless, if selecting web hosting companies instead of blog hosting companies, ensure that you’ve got simple understanding of HTML, various encoding techniques and strategies to promote your web site.
Simply put, picking the blog hosting company relies on how well it is possible to produce, control and promote your blog site. When you are an IT- savvy individual and you need complete control over the website, maybe go with a paid hosting service provider. On the other hand, if you need to blog to make money, to produce your private journal or to acquire immediate fame without encoding or HTML understanding, then your better bet can be to go with blog hosting providers.
Filed under Blogging, Google, hosting, seo · Tagged with affordable blog, affordable blog host, affordable blog hosting, affordable blog sites, best affordable blog hosting, best blog host, best blog host uk, best blog hosting, best blog hosting exposure, best blog hosting for seo, best hosting company for blog, blog "web traffic" blogs, blog hosting, blog providers website integrated, Blog site host germany, blog uk hosting paid, Blogging, comments for affordable home electronics blogs, domains, godaddy hosted in germany, hosting, hosting a website blogs and comment, hosting blog "comment", hosting traffic, how host the site blog comment, selecting blog host seo integrate, seo german free blog hosting, seo uptime web hosting blog, uk cheap web traffic, uk host company blogs, uk host server blog comment, uk weblog blog host
Buying a New Domain
Posted by Markcb on April 23, 2010 · 1 Comment
Buying a New Domain
It is important to get good keyword rich domain names, so, as always, keyword research is the most important part of this process. So, to use the ubiquitous ‘widget’ example, if you had a site that was selling widgets you could first try and buy the domain “widgets.com/.org/.net” etc if this is taken try “sellingwidgets.com” and so on until you get the domain you are happy with.
The two hosts I use most are Hostgator and Godaddy, you can click on the banners below to take you straight through to these sites:
If your product or service is country specific then I would always recommend getting a country specific top level domain (ccTLD – Country Code Top Level Domain) such as .co.uk for the UK, .fr for France, .ca for Canada etc. Most registrars will sell these domains, but if you are struggling to buy one for your specific location type your ccTLD followed by ‘domain names’ into the search engine and you should get a good choice from there (for example ‘.co.uk domain names‘). If not then feel free to get in touch with me and I will help.
So which domain extension is the best? There are so many extensions these days that opinion is very divided. The official line taken by Google is that the extension does not matter, but all the evidence points to the contrary. In general the top domain extensions in order of preference are
1 .com
2 .net or .org
3 .info or .biz
.com’s have always been more brand able and tend to do very well in the search engines.
.org’s are good too, but are still often associated with charities and organisation.
.info’s tend to be a little cheaper but because of this have always been seen as a little spammy. Originally they were associated with information sites, and if you have a site which is based mostly on supplying information then this will still be a good bet.
The use of hyphens in a domain name is another grey area. Generally a hyphen will make your site less brand able and harder for people to remember, but can still be a good idea if it helps you get your keyword rich domain name. I would not recommend however any more than 1 hyphen. So in our example above you could use selling-widgets.com but I would steer clear of you-selling-widgets.com
And finally we can move on to prefix and suffix. A prefix comes before your keyword and a suffix after it. So for instance in the widgets example your keyword could be prefixed by ’online’ or ‘your’ or ‘buy’ thus making onlinewidgets.com or buywidgets.com
The suffix would simply come after your keyword, such as widgets online.com or widgetsreviews.com
In general I would recommend using prefix and suffix if it is suitable for your business, if you are selling a product online then putting a prefix of ‘buy’ or ‘buying’ is very viable. Also of course the prefix and suffix are good if the domain name and extension you are primarily after are not available.
That’s it for now. As always feel free to ask any questions or leave a comment.
Mark
Filed under domains, hosting, seo · Tagged with .co domain + opinions?, .co domain extension seo, .co domains suffix, .co is a new domain extension, .co tld domain seo, .co.uk domain availability suffix prefix, .co.uk domain names seo, .com or .co.uk for new domain?, are co.uk domains good?, ARE THE NEW DOMAIN EXTENSIONS GOOD .CO, best domain extension seo, best domain extensions traffic, best extension for uk sites .co.uk or .com, buy a new .domain, buy a suffix .co.uk, buy an edu domain extension, buy new domains, buy web traffic uk, buying .com domain, buying a domain, buying a new domain, buying a new domain name, BUYING A WEBSITE EXTENSION, buying domains, buying of new domains for seo, co.uk country code top level domain, country code top-level domain prefixed with co., does "buy" as a prefix for domain name, does domain extension matter, domain "1 comment" site: .info, domain name seo prefix, domain names buying country suffix, domain names seo .co.uk and .com, domain suffix prefix hyphen .co.uk, domains, domains that are best for seo .co.uk, google uk domains extensions best?, hosting, how to buy a web prefix, if I buy a domain can I prefix, is .co.uk the best extension for uk sites?, is buying domains good for website traffic, new domain, new domains extensions, new to buying domains, new uk domain ext types, PRfix.co.uk domain name, purchasing a top level .uk domain, seo, seo .co domain, seo .co domain extension, seo domain extension uk, SEO UK website ".com or .co.uk", should i buy the co.uk donain if the .com is taken?, uk domain extension, using .co.uk domain in france, what is needed to buy a .co.uk domain, what is so good about a .co.uk domain, which domain extension if co.uk is not available, wich domains are best .com, .co.uk, .net etc.