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by John Pawlett

Let’s say that you’re creating a website for Barb’s Specialty Pet Products. Should the domain name be barbsspecialtypetproducts.com?

Perhaps — but don’t stop there. Having the right domain name, or domain names, can bring more traffic to your site.

Why more than one domain name?

One domain is all you need to set up a website. But with more domains directing to your site, you can have these additional benefits:

- Bring site visitors who type variations of your domain name

- Acquire traffic that might otherwise go to your competition

- Harness the marketing power of keyword domains

Your primary domain name

If it’s feasible, use your business or brand name in your primary domain. People will remember it and associate it with your business. Also consider the following factors when choosing your primary domain.

Domain name extensions

Should your primary domain end with .com, .net, or .biz, or with a country-specific extension such as .ca or .co.uk?

If your website is aimed at people in a specific country, having a country-specific domain can help:

- Site visitors will recognize right away that the business has a presence in the country of the extension. They may therefore be more comfortable buying from you.

- Some country-specific search results include sites with the relevant country-specific domain extension even if the site isn’t hosted in that country.

On the other hand, if you’re targeting an international audience, a country-specific domain could work against you. People from outside the country of the extension may be less inclined to buy if the business looks foreign to them.

If you want to attract both people within your country and those in other countries, have both. Each domain could direct to the same site, with each audience seeing the domain intended for them. For country-specific search results, the primary domain should be the country-specific one.

Chances are that the .com domain you want is already taken. If you use the .net or .biz version, you risk having potential site visitors go to your .com competition instead. Be sure to use the full domain name on all promotional material to reduce this risk.

Domain name length

A short domain is easier to remember, it has less risk of being mistyped, and it’ll fit easily on your business cards and correspondence.

Conversely, if a short name doesn’t represent your business, it’s more difficult for people to remember. The short names you like may already be taken anyway.

GoDaddy.com - World’s #1 Domain Name Registrar

If your business name is up to three easy-to-spell words, it’ll probably work as a domain name. For a longer business name, the initials or just one or two words may be easier than remembering a combination of words.

Secondary domain names

Secondary domains directing to your site are for online use:

- For people who type your primary domain name incorrectly

- For people who search for your products or services online

Typing and spelling variations

How many ways can people spell and type your business name?

barbsspecialtypetproducts.com

barbs-specialty-pet-products.com

barbspecialtypetproducts.com

barbsspecialitypetproducts.com

barbsspecialitypetproducts.com

barbspecialtyproducts.com

barbspecialtyproduct.com

Hyphens aren’t recommended for your primary domain. When people tell others about your site, they’re likely to omit the hyphens. They may also forget to type them.

For secondary domains, hyphens make long domains easier to read. Each word stands out when people see your domain. However, domains such as buy-keyword-product-now.com make some people view hyphenated domains, especially those with more than one hyphen, as spam-like.

Having the words in domains separated may help some search engines recognize keywords. With Google, though, hyphens don’t make any difference.

Consider all of these variations for secondary domain names:

- With and without hyphens

- Different ways of spelling some words

- Singular and plural versions of nouns

- Extensions with .com and .net as well as a country-specific extension if relevant

What people search for

If you want to find the website for Time magazine, you might do a search for it, or you might try typing in time.com. If you do the latter, you’ll find yourself at the Time site.

This type of search behavior extends to generic words too. Searching for dog collars? Try dogcollar.com, for example, and you’ll be redirected to dogidcollar.com. Do you want life insurance? Lifeinsurance.com redirects to nmfn.com (and so does northwesternmutualfinancialnetwork.com).

While having keyword domain names may not draw a lot of site visitors, using them is a technique to consider.

How to use more than one domain

Set up your website with your primary domain, and use that domain on your correspondence and with your customers.

Point secondary domains to your site using URL forwarding (also called domain forwarding, domain redirect, or URL redirect). To have the secondary domain appear in the browser, use domain masking. You can set up these features when you log in to your account with your domain registrar (if your registrar offers these services).

With domains that are simply variations of your primary domain, you can expect additional traffic just from having set up these domains. With domains that contain keywords, you can get more from them by using them to list your site in online directories. When these domains appear in search results, searchers will see the keywords.

The next step

Once you decide on the available domains that you want, register them immediately. They might not be available tomorrow.

If you don’t already have a business name, you’ll find it easier to market your business online if you choose a primary domain and a business name together. If your first choice for a business name doesn’t work well with any available domains, consider a business name that you can easily market with an available domain. Once you’ve registered that domain name and your business name, register secondary domains and put them to use.

Is it worth registering multiple domains for one site? That depends on your site, but any variations that you don’t register will be available for competitors to register and use. If a domain is valuable to a competitor, it’s valuable to you.

About the Author:
Domain Names Unleashed is an informative Domain Name site that looks into all aspects of Domains from SEO to The Site Itself. To find out more visit Domain Names.

by Hooshmand Moslemi

Probably, you have heard about making money online. Also, you have seen lots of different programs and systems that help you earn cash on the Internet. It could be selling stuffs, being an affiliate, running a website, etc. Now, there is another surprising concept: making money with your own domain names. But, is it really true?

Shortly, I have to say that it is possible to earn a living with domain names. Today, there are lots of people starting their own businesses based on this kind of opportunity. But, first of all, you will need to know how it works.

Basically, there are 3 different ways to make money with your own domain names:

1. Buying domain names at low prices, then selling them higher:

Believe it or not, one of the most important secrets of a powerful and popular website is having a good domain name. Thus, many website owners are looking for such domain names and willing to pay a lot in order to own them. Suppose, you had registered that domain name earlier, so you are the person who sets the price and win the deal. That´s it. You have purchased the domain name at a very low price and have sold it many times higher. But the secret is that how you could get those good domain names. Actually, several years ago, it was not difficult to register a good domain name. But, today, it has become harder and harder. Yet, there is one promising solution: buying expired domain names. Everyday, thousands of domain names are being expired due to forgetting the payment of annual fees. After a while, the expired domain names will be deleted and then be available for everybody who wants to purchase it. Among those expired domain names, you can find some valuable, well-established and attractive domain names.

There are some sources on the net where you can find the needed information about expired domain names. On the other hand, you can find some sources to put your domain names for selling. At those auction places, you will see how the customers are bidding and competing in order to grab your domain name. Doing this business properly with working carefully can bring you a lot of profits.

GoDaddy.com - World’s #1 Domain Name Registrar

2. Selling advertisements on your parked domain names:

Another way in this approach is to put advertisements on your parked domain name. You register a domain name, then park it on a specific marketplace. Besides, most of them allow you to choose some keywords related to the topic of your domain name. Afterwards, you can see the related advertisements on your parked domain name as sponsored links. These ads are often based on pay per click action and you will get paid whenever someone clicks on the ads. This way is a good idea, even if you intend to sell your domain name later. In fact, the earnings depend on the amount of your visitors. So, it would not be a huge amount of money. However, it could help you earn extra money with your own domain name.

3. Redirecting your domain name to a specific page:

The third method is actually an accessory way. For example, you are an affiliate, a person who sells the others´products or services. In most cases, you, as an affiliate, have a web page like the seller´s, but the difference is your URL address, that is to say your domain name. It is too long and full of various numbers and letters. Sometimes, it would be difficult to market or advertise a page with the URL address like that. Thus, you may need a better web address. So, it is time to register a related domain name and redirect it to your affiliate page. It means, whenever someone types your domain name in the address bar, the page will automatically be forwarded to the affiliate web page. In this way, you send traffic to that web page and if a sale is made, you will make money. So, it could be another way to make money with your registered domain name.

The above mentioned methods are the main ways that help you make money with your own domain names. But, naturally, it is business and there is always risk with any businesses and don´t forget that the whole process of making money depends mostly on your ambitions, individual capacities, expertise, business experiences and desires.

Good Luck!

Hooshmand Moslemi

About the Author:
Hooshmand Moslemi is the Author and Owner of ” Make A Website Now “, (www.make-a-website-now.com) a very helpful guide full of information, tips and resources for creating a web page in easy steps.

The following is a sponsored review.

We recently got a chance to look at the website of CardroomSupply.com. They were founded in 2003 by Lee Weber, CEO.

As you might have seen on one of my other blogs, I’m an avid watcher of the World Series of Poker. I love to watch Joseph Hachem and Daniel Negraneu work the other players at the table.

And speaking of Poker tables, Cardroomsupply.com has them in all shapes, sizes, finishes, etc.

I saw one over there that made me want to build a room onto my house just to put it in. It’s cherry and it’s just absolutely beautiful. They package it with all the coasters, poker chips and other accessories that you’d ever need.

With thick felt and extra padding, you’d be provided with unmatched playing comfort.

It accommodates up to 8 players, who’d love to play all night long while sitting in Italian leather chairs that happen to come complete with rocking and height adjustment features.

Lee says that since poker players usually have access to a wide enough selection of poker products at their local gaming store, he thought there was a need for a poker store that could delivery a wide selection of poker products nationwide.

And shopping over there seems to be easy enough, due to the fact that he uses the Yahoo! Store platform as the main selling source. That allows Cardroom Supply to offer a huge selection of gaming products at wholesale prices.

And if you’ve already got a great looking table and just want to cover it with a fold-out table when it’s time to play, how about using this 2-in-1 folding poker tabletop ?

This baby is a double sided game table top, one side for poker game and other side for Black Jack. The poker side has 8 player positions, with individual trays for poker chips and a drink holder.

The blackjack side has the standard Las Vegas style markings on it. It’s high quality green felt and you can fold it into 2 feet by 4 feet for easy storage and travel. It only weights 18 lbs, so it will be easy to take from location to location, if your group changes houses every week.

As for the website, itself, Cardroom Supply, we were very impressed. We’ve been doing a lot A LOT of reviews of company websites lately. Determining which sites meet certain criteria, which adhere to the laws of good web design, and (most importantly) which are customer/visitor-friendly. Cardroom Supply.com gets top marks in each category. The navigation is flawless, the overall atmosphere is friendly and approachable, and being on the website “feels” like you’re about to sit down to a great round of poker. And win!

There is even an article that could help cement that last part: 31 Winning Texas Holdem Strategies.

The website features the things we look for when reviewing a website, the necessities as well as the above and beyond the call of dutyfeatures.

The necessities are:
1. It loads amazingly fast.
2. Navigational row at the top.
3. Navigational row at the bottom.
4. Sidebar navigation.
5. Easy to find Contact information.
6. Easy to find telephone number (In big red numbers! Sweet. I get the idea that a lot of businesses are afraid of telephones - they hide their number or, worse yet, don’t even put it on the site. I bet the thought of having to talk on the phone keeps them up at night.)

They also feature the extras that we love to see:
1. A section for articles and tips. Nothing says, “We love our visitors” quite like giving them the information they need….especially if it’s information that could lead to victory!
2. A newsletter. Again, this is a very visitor-friendly feature. Their newsletter features “…new offers, discount coupons & news in your mail box each month…”

Check them out the first chance you get. And be sure to visit the page for Board Game Tables. There’s an ebony 6-in-1 Game Table with Monopoly & Scrabble built in to the table!
(It also includes Chess, Checkers and Backgammon) All the game pieces are included - all convenient and in one place!

I SO have to have one of these. And the Cherry Poker table, too, of course. And some great looking new chips, and……