Business Blogger

This is one of those emails that you have to love to hate. First of all I keep very good track of all of the domain names in my portfolio. I know where each one of them resides and I also know when each one expires. This is a must for any domain investor. The funny thing is, this domain was nowhere close to expiring. On the other hand there are people out there that may only own a couple of domains or even just one domain. These are the folks that may have been concerned when they first looked at this email. The email even came with a nice clean looking header and footer image to make it look more legit. Sorry guys but I think your time could be better spent somewhere else. Here is the email as it was sent to me, domain replaced with “mydomain.com.”

It is time to renew your domain name www.mydomain.com

————————————————————————————————————————————-
Your domain name www.mydomain.com will expire within 90 days.
You may renew your domain with Domain Renewal. Click on the link in this
e-mail to renew the domain for another year. You should renew your domain as soon as
possible in order for it to continue to be registered in your name.

Click here if you wish to renew your domain
——–> http://www.domainrenewalonline.com/for.php?d=mydomain.com

————————————————————————————————————————————-
Services and information about Domain Renewal
Domain Renewal maintains domain addresses, and registers and consults companies in relation to Internet domain ownership. We inform businesses about which domains are registered, and remind them if a domain is due to expire, or when it is time to renew a domain. If you want Domain Renewal to extend the domain for you, we ask you to click on the link in this e-mail. If you do not wish to use your domain after the due date for renewal, you may disregard this e-mail. When Domain Renewal extends your domain no information will be changed in the “Whois” information section. The domain will be extended for 1 year. You will therefore continue with your current supplier. You may also request your Internet Service Provider to renew the domain for you. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact our customer service centre by sending an e-mail to support@domainrenewalonline.com

domain renewal
Click here to unsubscribe

The domain in the email is domainrenewalonline.com but the email came from domainrenewal-online.com (212.116.64.65) which looks to be the same outfit. From the looks of their numbers they get quite a few people to click-through to their site. If you see this email be sure to stay clear, it’s no good.

I don’t quite understand what motivates people to do things like this. People that do these kind of things are obviously smart enough to set up a system to capture your data, money, etc., but they refuse to take the time to make a project legit. These folks seem like they don’t want to work for their money anymore. Taking the easy way out is always easy but never quite as rewarding as putting together something that takes off to become a huge success.

You might wonder, why would anyone want a dot info attached to their domain name. If you’re like many domain investors you figured it out a long time ago, the dot info has some pull. The fact of the matter is that the .info tld has become more respected since its induction into the domain world. Even though the .info is oftentimes seen as spam related, because developers can pick the tld up for cheap and slap up some content, dot info still commands respect amongst the top tld’s.

The reason .info gets the attention and respect it does is because of its versatility. Its versatility is directly related to one thing and that’s information. Information is what people are looking for when they search the web so why not use the .info tld to put this information on the web. As the .info becomes more popular with businesses as an alternative to the dot com and other top tld’s, the price will continue to rise. Recently Sedo.com sold travel.info at the premium price of $116,000. That’s nothing like the dot com would command but it says something about the .info tld, mostly that it’s here to stay.

What is the domain that’s selling at such a premium price? If you were thinking that it had to be something sex related you would be correct, the domain name in question is sex.info to be exact. Sex.info went on the auction block as soon as the reserve price of $200,000 was met. Currently it’s bidding at just over the $200,000 mark, so if your interested, hop on over to Sedo and place your bid.

This is a post that I was going to do a few days back but I just didn’t know how to approach it (before the Snapnames buyout). I was doing a post on how domain names are online real estate and I was going to try and explain why the big domain name backorder companies need to either sell off now or diversify within the next few years. I’m a true psychic, right. Snapnames saw the numbers here and Oversee.net saw an opportunity to grow. The question is what kind of deal was struck? I would really like to know more.

Oversee.net owns domainsponsor.com which could be a good business match for Snapnames.com if it’s done right. The problem with Snapnames.com is that they get most of their good domains from the aged and large domain registrars like Network Solutions and Register.com. So how does Oversee.net plan to address these issues? They say that “Snapnames will continue to operate the firm, which will remain in Portland, Oregon” but in reality they can do whatever they see fit. If they choose to close Snapnames down to the public there are going to be a lot of upset domain investors. There is just a lack of great domain names to be had at a good price. This is because there are only so many dot coms available. This is only a problem for those of us that need a good domain as the domain investors that already have a good portfolio will be happy campers.

Years ago when domain names were being bought up by all types of people, registrars were pushing ten year registration periods. Although the ten year registration periods were good for both parties, the one thing the registrars did not push was automatic renewal. Lots of people who bought up domain names then are now seeing (or not seeing) them expire because they forgot to renew their domains. A lot can happen in ten years. The companies that registered these domains went out of business and the individuals have all too often changed their email addresses from those listed in the database. This topic made mainstream news a while back and more people have picked up on the fact that their domains they bought years ago will be gone unless they do something about this.

The other problem is, the good domains are all but gone. Just in the past year I’ve noticed a difference in the quality of domain names expiring. The domain industry is so competitive and there are a lot of hungry business people out there. Mainstream businesses have started to come around to the fact that a great domain is a very valuable tool in online commerce and have started to play the game as well. Plus, in the next five or so years most if not all of the good domains will already be had by investors that have backordered and are sitting on these domains. Where does that leave the average guy? Most likely you will have to pay a good deal for a great domain name because the high prices will not go away any time soon. With a domain investment company like Oversee.net at the wheel of the largest domain backorder company in the world should you be worried?

If you had the chance to go back in time and buy up property in Manhattan would you? I surely would. Just like the best real estate in the world the best domains in the world are becoming highly priced commodities. Just like Manhattan property, the top keyword domain names are selling for record prices. The only difference between real estate and top keyword domains is the domains will not take a hit in price any time soon.

The domain industry is alive and kicking. The top keyword domains are already out of reach for the average domain buyer and the top keyword phrase domains are quickly following the same path. Popular keyword domains can be great tools to get your business off to a fast start, but are they worth the money? The simple answer is yes. The right domain can be the difference between owning a gas station next to a huge business center, movie theater, and hospital or owning a gas station on an old country road in a town with a population of 300. Domains are being treated as valuable online real estate and are only going to become more valuable in the very near future.

Generic keyword domains can even come with type in traffic, the absolute best kind of traffic. You don’t have to pay a dime for this traffic it just finds you and it happens to be very targeted. I own domains that get a great amount of type in visitors just because they are popular keywords or phrases. Lately the trend for web users has become to type in a keyword or keyword phrases they are looking for followed by a TLD. The most typed in TLD is dot com by far. There are other TLD’s that are typed in but usually for the more highly sought after keywords and keyword phrases. Search engines are great tools but people don’t always rely on the search engines to find a good site for them.

If you have a great idea for a site you need to obtain the right domain name. When I purchased BusinessBlogger.net I knew that I would not be getting any type in traffic (because “business blogger” is not a highly searched phrase) and that the dot net could work against me but I knew that the phrase business blogger would explain the blog fairly well. Domains don’t have to be keyword domains to be effective but they can help. If you have the chance to snatch that dream domain do it now or you might be telling your grandchildren how you had the chance to buy that great piece of real estate that just sold for a ridiculous amount of money.

Have you ever had an idea for a project running through your head and then it hits you. “I have the perfect idea for a great domain name!” You think “OK,” now all I have to do is find out if it’s taken or not. You go to your favorite whois to do a search. Oh, it’s taken. Well, let’s see if the other extensions are available. Stop!

When you choose a domain name just remember, dot com is king. I recommend going with a dot com for almost every site you build, but I always recommend going with a dot com for a commercial venture. Never stray from this school of thought. Oh wait, you say. Chris, you have a dot net extension on your domain. I’ll explain.

The reasons I chose to go with the dot net extension for this project are:

• This project is not a commercial venture.
• The dot com is not in use. - If you are running a commercial venture you still need to acquire the dot com.

The dot com has three things that the other domain extensions don’t:

1. It’s Respected By All Web Users - Anyone that uses the web knows the dot com.
2. The Trust Factor -This is huge, especially if you are going to be taking payments of any kind on your site. You don’t need roadblocks when it comes to being trusted by users.
3. Recognition Around The World -Another great thing about the dot com is that it’s international.

I’m not saying that a dot net venture can’t be a great one because several very successful sites have started and stayed as dot nets. Even though this is the case, always go with a dot com for your commercial venture. For Business Blogger, if I make enough money to pay the hosting fees then I’ll be happy, but if I don’t, not a big deal. This all ties in with branding your domain and how choosing the wrong domain name can be disastrous. If you are going to pour your heart and soul into a project, just remember to make it a little easier on yourself by making it a dot com.

When it comes to keywords in your domain the short answer to that question is both yes and no. Don’t get me wrong, keyword domains can be very powerful and very useful considering the search algorithm at Google uses anchor text to rank your site. When I chose BusinessBlogger.net as a domain, it was for a very specific reason. I wanted people to be able to look at my domain and immediately know that I blog about business, plain and simple. I want my readers to understand what I do. I have been posting on this blog fairly regularly, but this is not my main project so I rely on my domain and the posts I do have to tell my visitors a story so that they will come back or subscribe to the Business Blogger feed.

When branding your domain you have to grab attention fast. For instance, if you blog (assuming you’re branding a blog here) on something different than what you usually blog about and it’s the first post a new visitor sees, you run the risk of losing a possible reader. Your goal is to keep every possible reader you can, especially when your site is new.

Your domain name doesn’t have to be a keyword or keyword phrase, although it can have its advantages. The easiest type of domain to brand is one that says something to your core users. Just remember that your domain is the first thing your readers see. First impressions are lasting impressions, especially on the Internet.