Archive for February, 2007

How Does Your Domain Taste?

Domain tasting is the practice of registering a domain with the intention of taking full advantage of ICANN’s “Create Grace Period” (CGP), holding those domains for up to five days, analyzing traffic and revenue statistics over the course of that 5 day period and discarding them for a full refund if they have a lack luster performance. Domains which have the potential to earn the minimum of the registration fee are kept and parked or littered with a smorgasbord of ppc ads.

Now, this term has been around for some time, but there has never really been any solid evidence of this practice that I am aware of.

The following is an excerpt from Bob Parsons (CEO and founder, Godaddy.com) Online Blog.

“DirectNIC registered more than 8.4 million domain names in April 2006, but only permanently registered — or paid for — 51.4 thousand of those. The trend was the same in March, when DirectNIC registered 7.6 million names and only permanently registered — or paid for — 52.5 thousand. Whatever could DirectNIC be doing?”

This is sadly as close to actual proof that we can get, not definitive by any means but very interesting none the less.

We as webmasters must take the right precautions to avoid such a detrimental set back to a new project. The loss of an amazing keyword domain or perhaps worse the best possible brandable domain could mean your project is “chewed”.

The following are a couple of tips to help you avoid domain tasting and register the domain you want without any hassle.

1. Do not search for your new domain without having the funds to purchase it readily available, you want to avoid tipping anyone off to an unregistered name that you have your eye on so make sure you have your credit card handy if you do choose to search, if you find a domain you want or even 10 domains, register them then and there, this way you are not giving anyone the opportunity to taste them, and use the CGP to your advantage, cancel the 9 that don’t seem to fit and keep the gem.

2. If you do choose to search without taking the necessary payment precautions and your domain does get registered while your off looking through the washing machine to see what pair of khakis you left your wallet in, don’t blame us, but do take the correct steps to get it back.

If you think it was a taster because the odds of it being registered by anyone else are almost incalculable, leave it alone, thats right leave it. If you think about it, tasting domains is to see the traffic the domain receives, if you view it over and over again you’ll never get it back because the taster will think they have a keeper. So abandon all searches for 1 week, after 1 week go to a different registrar, search for it, if its there congratulations, register it and move on, if not sorry about your luck you did everything you could.

So to everyone reading this, remember, if you think you have found “the” domain, make 100% sure you have the funds to register it and do so without thinking, it may be your last opportunity.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dylan_Kingsberry

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Domain Name Search – How To Find Your Treasure

The domain name search is the secret pass-time of future millionaires. This might sound like a bold statement to make, but domain name search, and investing, is one of the safest and least known methods of gaining financial assets today. I was reading a study on millionaire attitudes the other day, and it turns out that most millionaires are just good investors. Sure, some of them started off with a good idea; and sure, some of them had experience in their industry – but the fact is that investment is the fastest way to pave the road to wealth. But unlike traditional millionaires, you do not need a ‘good idea’ when using domain name search techniques, and you certainly don’t need experience in your industry when carrying out a domain name search. Yet once you find that golden domain name, you can pretty much be set for a very long time.

A typical domain name search has many facets. Before starting your domain name search, you should identify a popular niche. A ‘niche’ is a subject matter which you will be focusing your domains on. This is not to imply that you should only have a few domain name niches; instead, you should have many. For example, before we start the domain name search, we might identify ‘football’, ‘cooking’, and ‘first names’ as our niches. You can choose any topic you want, just be sure to choose niches which interest you (your interest in a niche translates to interest in your business, and hence will provide base-motivation that you will need to identify names in your domain name search). As soon as you have a few different categories, draft a list of about 5-10 more specialized terms for each niche (we will use this to extend our domain name search later on). These can be sub-categories or simply different terms for the same niche. Under our ‘cooking’ niche, we could draft ‘thai cooking’, ‘french cooking’, etc. and under our first names niche we could draft ‘boy names’, ‘animal names’, etc. As soon as you have drafted a substantial list, we can start our domain name search.

The actual process of the domain name search differs according to the various techniques which may be used. Some very successful domain name search experts simply check for the availability of names manually. Others use domain name search tools, and others still use highly effective comparative keyword research methods. This later domain name search technique is the most reliable. It will provide high quality domain names that have a certain known amount of interest in the topic. It is also recommend to stay away from domain name search tools. These tend to only find poor domains (valued under $20 apiece), and the domain name search tools nevertheless cost around $70-$400 to purchase. The most reliable domain name search methods are always manual, and always involve a small amount of time – but the pay off is big.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zach_Bastick

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Web Hosting: What to Look for in a Hosting Company and What to Avoid

If you are looking to go into business on the internet, one of the first things you should do is find a web host for your site. There are literally thousands of choices, but most of them use the same types of servers and provide identical services.

First, the one thing to avoid at all cost when it comes to your hosting decision is to sign up for hosting through an affiliate link. When you use an affiliate link you will pay twice as much, because they make as much every month from the referral as the web hosting company makes.

What that means is if you are currently signed up through an affiliate for hosting at $9.95 a month or more is that you can cut your hosting bill in half with no loss of service or reliability.

I have been in business on the internet since 2001 and have never paid more than $29.95 a year for a domain name and web hosting package. When I first started, I found a company that would allow me to pay monthly. That allowed me to get my first site started for less than $12.00. I am still with them today.

Another thing to avoid are reviews of web hosting companies, especially if they have an affiliate link attached to them. If someone is selling something they cannot be trusted to give an impartial review.

It is not uncommon for the reviewer to imply that the only place to get the offerings of the particular hosting company they are promoting is from their link. The truth is that 95% of all web hosting companies offer the exact same services and control panels.

To find a good web hosting company, look for three things:

1) Reliability. Most web hosting companies can rightfully boast a 99.9% uptime. They all basically “lease” server space from the same places anyway and operate their businesses from their PC like you are.

2) Price. How much does it cost and how do you have to pay it. A dollar a month difference in price is not going to break your web business, so if you need to pay monthly (like I did starting out), find a host that allows you to pay that way. If you have a credit card, just sign up for a standard web hosting and domain name package. You can find them for less than 30 bucks in a lot of places. When you figure the $10 a month packages being sold by affiliates cost $120 a year, that’s an extra $90 to promote your business.

3) Support. You should test the support staff before signing up by sending them an email to see how responsive they are. If you don’t get a response within a few hours, you may want to keep looking. My web hosting company provides very good service, and you will find that most of them do.

Finding a web hosting company is really one of the easier things you will do as you get your business up and running. There is no need to overcomplicate the process.

If you can’t build a website, some will offer tools that will make it easier for you to do it. That may cost you a little extra, but if you need it you need it and it is worth the expense.

Find the host that meets your needs, but learn about them from their main site and disregard the opinions of any third party that finds it neccessary to attach an affiliate link to that opinion.

Darell has been in business on the internet since 2001 and has recently introduced a web site dedicated to disclosing the truth about internet marketing scams and money making products.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darell_Mckissick

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Cheap Web Hosting Providers — Resellers Of Expensive Web Hosting Providers

Have you heard of those people making fat checks with Google Adsense or any other publisher programs? Did you know that these people do not actually own a single site but hundreds earning them at least .25 cents a day? That means if you have a website that at least earns an average of 25 cents, one hundred sites will give you an earning of $25.00 a day or at least $750.00 a month. Imagine earning that amount from your home, from your own small business. No Boss. No pressure. Work whenever you want.

Building one hundred sites a day is not impossible anymore. There are so many automated tools to carry out the task and they all come in cheap prices. Building a website itself is much easier than before. Just go for a web host with an on-line website builder and you can build your first site in as little as one hour. Or choose one with one-click installation of popular scripts and you can build your blog and make your first post in five minutes or less.

With thousands of people logging into the internet everyday looking for ways to earn money, cheap web hosting comes into picture. The phrase “cheap web hosting” itself returns 220,000 searches last month and it only means that people are now after cheap web hosting services.

With the boom of home business industry along with the development of different Content Management System platforms, everybody now is thinking of turning to the web for alternative income. Cheap web hosting after all are not really a bad choice. The number of cheap web hosting companies grows because of the growing number of demands. They need to compete with the major hosting companies and the only way to do it is to offer a much cost-effective alternative. By the way, these major hosting companies are now diversifying their services and selling reseller accounts to anyone who wanted to start their own web hosting companies. Thus, cheap web hosting providers are growing continuously.

So if any web hosting provider tells you not to go to a cheap web hosting provider, look at their website and look at the services they are offering. Compare it with what a cheap web hosting provider has to offer. Sometimes you will only see that their main difference is the price. There is also a great possibility that they both lies on the same server, the cheap web hosting provider being a reseller of the first one.

So if you are planning to start a business and thinking of hosting your site with an expensive web hosting provider, why not do your own investigation first. Cheap web hosting isn’t really that bad. I actually have my website hosted with one.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J.F._Lucero

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Which Is Right For Me: Windows Hosting or Linux - Unix Hosting?

We all have our preferences when it comes to operating systems some people prefer one of the many flavors of Windows, while others prefer one of the several distributions of Linux. It is all the matter of what works best for you. Another aspect that should be taken into consideration when determining which type of hosting you should use Windows or Linux/Unix, is what you intend to do on your website.

There are many differences between the two operating systems. However, when it comes to hosting there are just as many differences. Some people with Windows operating systems choose to use Linux/Unix hosting. On the other side of the coin, some people who use Linux/Unix operating systems choose to use Windows hosting. Do you find this confusing? If so, you are not alone. You may be wondering how this would work.

Well essentially, when you acquire hosting for your website, you are basically paying someone else to host your website on their computer. These computers also have operating systems. Therefore, when you choose Windows or Linux hosting, this will mean that the computer your website is run from is using that chosen operating system.

Windows Hosting

Windows is perhaps one of the most well-known and popular forms of operating systems. There are many advantages to using Windows hosting. Because millions of users have Windows and use the many Microsoft products such, using Windows hosting would allow you to easily integrate any of these products into your website. Windows hosting would also allow you to run ASP (Active Server Pages) on your website, which is placing dynamic content on your website using computer scripts.

What is great about Windows is that it boasts an easy to use interface perfect for beginners. There are usually many options such as ASP mail, Access Database, ASP.NET, and SQL Database, IIS, and PHP. Windows hosting also allows for publishing websites with FrontPage,

As with almost anything in this world, Windows hosting does have its disadvantages. One of the main disadvantages is the costs. One Microsoft server, if buying your own, will cost you a couple of thousand dollars, if you were running the software yourself. You have many choices when it comes to software such as Windows 2003, Advanced, and Windows 2000 server. However, with the competitiveness of the hosting industry, you will find the Windows hosting is extremely affordable when using a remote server.

Linux/Unix Hosting

Linux and UNIX hosting are two different types of operating system that are extremely similar to one another. In essence, the two are closely related something like cousins; therefore, they are generally combined in hosting. Now what is great about Linux/Unix is that you have the ability to integrate unmatched security into your website. There are also many other benefits of the duo that make it the choice for many people.

One such benefit is the fact that Linux/Unix is extremely compatible with PHP, which is the latest craze in programming languages. Cost is another very attractive benefit of the duo. In many cases, the operating system is free. Some distributors have begun to charge for the system, but many are still available for no costs. For little to no cost, additional software can be obtained for Linux/Unix such as BIND, Sendmail, Apache, and APF Firewall.

Security is probably the most popular benefit of using Linux/Unix hosting. The level of security offered by this duo is unmatched by Windows hosting. To add to the benefits, statistics show that this operating system offers more overall stability and control in operation as well.

With Linux/Unix hosting, you have the ability to integrate Chmod permission, Mod Rewrite, Apache Web server, as well as MySQL and PHP.

Of course, as with Windows hosting there are some disadvantages to using Linux/Unix hosting. The main disadvantage being ease of use. Unlike Windows hosting, Linux/Unix hosting does not contain an easy to use, user-friendly interface. Basically, it requires a large list of commands to use and is not recommended for the beginner. This type of hosting requires a great deal of technical knowledge and familiarity to install and control.

Which one is for you?

Well, in short, it depends on what you need. If you need intense security, PHP compatibility, have technical knowledge, and you do not need to have all the latest website features, Linux/Unix hosting may be the right choice for you.

However, if you need a website that offers ASP, an easy to use interface, and the ability to integrate Microsoft products, then Windows hosting is the best decision for you.

As you can see choosing between Windows hosting and Linux/Unix hosting, all depends on what you need on your website, your level of experience, and of course, your overall budget.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fei_Lim

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Traffic – 5 Unique Ways You Have To Know To Get Great Traffic

Profitable online business depends on great traffic to make money. Without these traffic visitors will not buy products. Therefore you will agree with me that great traffic is the main ingredient for a profitable online business. To be able to generate constant flow of great traffic, there a few concepts you will need to master. If you can master these concepts then you will be on your way of making money online.

5 unique ways to get great traffic.

1. Writing Articles. This is one of the cheapest ways to generate traffic. The bad news is that you will have to write the articles yourself and the good news is that articles’ writing is not as difficult as you think. To attract readers to your articles, you need attention grabbing title and easy to read content. If readers like your style, they would like to know more then you can direct them to your website.

2. Pay Per Click. Before you start applying pay per clicks concept make sure you understand the concept and all that is involved. It can be really expensive if you don’t know how to use it. Be specific and concentrate on your target traffic. Set your target budget and don’t go over. Have an effective tracking system for everything you do to be able to analyze what works and what does not.

3. Ezine advertising. If you are new to this start small with one advert. Track your success. This can produce great traffic if you learn from your success and implement it on a bigger subscriber ezine. The goal is to test in small ezine and apply your success to bigger ezines.

4. Link exchange. Exchange links that makes your website strong. Do not link your website any links just the purpose of getting links. Seek for links which will compliment your site and vice versa. Avoid links with your competitors.

5. Co-registration. Co-registration is when you offer your subscription with others so that when one opts in one subscription, he or she is given the opportunity to sign up for yours. With co-registration you can generate a great number of targeted traffic.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kwame_Ofori-Atta

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Tips On Choosing The Best Affiliate Program

Marketing and promoting products have completely changed since the introduction of the Internet. Like Pandora’s Box, the Internet has offered multitudes of new avenues for expressing oneself, gaining vast information, promoting services and products, and even incurring huge sums of money. The beauty of the World Wide Web is that businesses, both budding and centuries-old, have equal access to resources and exposure. Moreover, the Internet, unlike traditional marketing media (newspaper, television, etc) is more affordable and is far reaching.

For people who have personal or company websites, a good way to capitalize on this new wave of online advertising is through affiliate marketing. Basically, this marketing style mimics a symbiotic relationship. A person who has a website can help an online business by drawing the visitors of his or her website to the site of the said online store. In return, the web-based business will give the person commission or reward for every actual sale made by the visitors that the person led to the store’s website. In short, the person acts as a marketing agent of the online business.

Affiliate marketing is now a buzz word on the Internet arena; thus, it will not be very difficult for you to find an affiliate program. However, just like in any industry, there are also many unscrupulous people and companies that are lurking on the cyber world. These Internet predators will try to lure you to parasitic affiliate programs, which is only beneficial to them but not to you.

If you want to try affiliate marketing, be sure to read the tips below so that you will not only find the best affiliate program that will suit you, but also veer away from unhealthy business relationship with fraudulent and misleading entities.

It pays to research before entering a particular affiliate program

One way to prevent being tricked by unscrupulous companies and individuals is to do some research on the company and the product of the website you want to affiliate with. It would be advisable to check the background of the owners of the website too. If an online store conceals the identity of its owners, be a little wary.

Another important thing you need to look for is charges because there are some that require fees. Since there are many affiliate programs that are free, then maybe you should check them out first before you consider the ones that asks you for monthly or yearly charges.

Lastly, so that you would have credibility, it would be advisable to try and buy the product that the online store you want to affiliate with is selling. At least, you would know if the services and goods of this particular company is competitive and of high quality. This is very important if you value your name and reputation highly.

Figures and statistics must be readily available to you

A vital figure that you should look into is the website’s conversion ratio. This is important because you want to know the number of people you need to bring to the website before an actual sale is realized. Usually, you only get commission on consumed sales. If the ratio is 1 sale per 100,000 visitors, then you might want to find another affiliate program.

Moreover, you want to deal with websites that can easily and speedily provide you with the information you need. How would you be able to track you commissions if the website you are going to affiliate with does not have a tracking system?

Have a clear understanding of the merchant’s terms

You need to read the terms over and over again. Some people just skim through the terms so they do not realize that the affiliate program that they are entering is one-sided and do not provide any benefit to them at all. Thus, read carefully and if you don’t understand, ask for clarifications. There are many merchants that put really tricky clauses so watch out.

When it comes to commissions, think in terms of money

The main reason why people join affiliate programs is profit. Therefore, a program that gives the best commission and payment scheme in terms of actual money is what you are looking for. Merchants give commissions ranging from 10% to 75%. At first glance you might be excited to get the one that provides the 75% commission. However, you should also consider the monetary value. A 10% commission on a $500-worth product is higher than a 75% commission for a product sold at $10.

Aside from monetary value, you should also look at conversion ratios. Considering the example above, you might want to choose the one that gives 75% commission if its conversion ratio is 25 for every 100 visitors over the one that gives 10% commission if its conversion ratio is one for every 5,000 visitors.

Also, you might want to look at the payment scheme. If the payment is given annually, you might want to look for others who pay affiliates twice a month or even weekly.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mario_D._Churchill

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Search Engine Submission To Major Search Engines and Directories

Submit Your Site To 10,000 Search Engines!

No, don’t bother.

Search engine submission to ten thousand search engines is a waste of your time, and you’ll probably just receive lots of unwanted email for your efforts. Actually, you don’t even have to submit your site to the major search engines these days as they prefer to find your site rather than the other way round.

Simply get a link to your site from a website already listed on the major search engines - i.e. Google, Yahoo! and MSN - and wait for your site to also get listed.

(Hopefully the web pages on your site contain informative content, good page titles and text in your meta description tag that sounds compelling. If your site is not optimised properly then you need to learn how to do this first, because getting found on search engines is more difficult than just getting listed on them.)

Should You Use Auto-Submission Tools?

Automatic site submission tools are of very little use when you consider a) there are very few major search engines and b) these search engines prefer to find your site. So, no, do not use these auto-submission tools (read above).

Instead, hand submit your site to search engines important to your niche and get found by the major search engines.

How Do I Get All of My Site Listed?

The major search engines, GOOGLE, YAHOO!, MSN, will index your home page first. These search engines will then explore the whole of your site via search engine robots and add all of the pages they find.

This means that it’s important to create a site map - a page that contains all of the important links on your website - and link to this site map from your homepage.

You can be even more proactive than this and actually add your site map to the major search engines. (Here’s how Google lets you do this - http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/.)

What About Directories?

There are important directories to get listed on. This can be easier said than done, however. In the case of DMOZ, a volunteer-edited directory, you can add your site and it may take months and months to get listed or it may never get listed.

Still, you should try to get your site added to important directories like DMOZ.

What makes a directory important? Lots of factors, not least of which is how popular that directory is (how many people use the site). StrongestLinks.com maintain a list of important directories, with details about popularity, what types of sites are allowed to be submitted and whether submission is free (quite often it is not).

Get your site added to a few directories per month, if you can afford to do so. Do not let cost put you off. Strongest Links maintains an updated list of major directories here - http://www.strongestlinks.com/directories.php

Search engines and directories can still be a great way of getting free traffic to your website. But you only need to bother with a few search engines these days (particularly Google). Make sure your site is listed, but make sure your site is optimised first.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Nash

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Responsive Emails

Writing responsive emails is probably as much art as it is science. Maybe one way to look at it is like painting or drawing - there are proven rules for what works, but there is a lot of creativity that goes into making the painting poignant.

Responsive emails can sometimes be so unfriendly and impersonable. Adding that special touch of human contact lets the reader know that they are important and that there concerns and needs matter to you. Ensure that your responsive emails are set up to generate quickly. This providing the customer with quick responses if there was some form of mistake on either party’s part. Customer service is important even online.

Keep your responsive emails short, simple, and to the point. Readers hate to read long draw works. You already advertised the “product” and they “bought” it, keep the email scannable. The important parts should be bolded or highlighted, make them stand our and grab the readers attention. This focusing on what they received. This will help keep your customers coming back. However, do not keep them so short that they aren’t informative enough. I know this is tricky but too little information is as devising as too much. You know what the middle ground is. Use the KISS method, Keep It Simple Stupid!

To summarize, greet them by name, address particular information, provide contact information if they questions or concerns, and provide a turnaround time. Providing these simple yet strategic methods will prove to assist in your responsive emails and provide that personal touch that seems to be lost when using the internet.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Ray

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SEO Tactics That will Work for You

For sure, a lot of people who own a website in the internet have heard and know SEO or search engine optimization.

Indeed, knowing what SEO is a good thing but understanding SEO is different. There are heaps of people who don’t give some time in understanding SEO, and what they do, is just look for someone to do SEO for them. But there are some people in order to earn quick money, gives loads of misplaced advices, and what really matter to them is earn money. There are some techniques that really work, that this article will tell you.

Beware to people or SEO experts (which they say they are) who tells you that they can get you to be on top rank on Google, that you will be on the first or second page of this particular search engine quickly. Indeed, you wanted to be rank in that particular search engine, but think again, can the so called SEO expert do that. Maybe this so called SEO expert can make you on the top rank in doing some techniques, but techniques that will make your website be banned soon. The techniques that this so called SEO expert can do are by making hidden pages or cloaking, these are some of the favorite ways this people do.

The great way you need to do is attract users and visitors to your website. One of the great ways to do this is by working with other webmasters, make them link with your website or they will add your link to their website.

Looking for websites to link with your website is not that easy, it requires hard work. Great way of learning about SEO and to find other websites to link with yours is communication. Communication plays a big part in this certain field. It is wiser to talk and communicate with other websites by knowing their experiences. You can learn through their experiences. And of course, you have to ask them if they can put a link to your website on theirs.

In order to promote your website, you have to do some communicating to other webmasters and by learning through their experiences.

But you also have to bear in mind that the content of your website has value, make sure that it is original and unique. Having contents with value will make visitors visit your website. You also have to make sure that you can give readers and visitors valuable information, in order to attract them. And another advantage of ensuring the value of your content is that it can encourage other websites to link with yours.

These are the tactics that really work; all you have to do is take these tactics into consideration. If you really want your website to be on the top rank, hard work and communication are important.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eliza_Maledevic

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