All you need to know about stuff related to domain names and web hosting

Archive for September 2011

Many web publishers will often try to buy domain names that target a particular keyword that they believe will prove profitable when they go to monetize the site in question. There are a number of ways to monetize a site, such as forms of paid ads, like AdSense, or other methods, such as affiliate sales, CPA offers, and the like, and for most of these models, having a highly optimized domain name is critical to the on-page search engine optimization (SEO) efforts that these models require. When the publisher decides to buy domain names, there are some things to consider. Right now the search engines still give extra weight to domain names that contain keywords for which the publisher might be trying to rank. Currently one of the strongest types of URLs that publishers consider when buying domain names for this method of SEO is known as an “Exact Match Domain”. That basically means that the domain is made up only of the keywords that make up the keyword phrase for which the publisher is optimizing. In other words, if someone was trying to optimize for “big blue widgets”, the domain name that that publisher would try for is “bigbluewidgets.com”. The problem with this method, however, is that if the keyword is popular, several people might be trying to optimize for it, and they all might be trying to get an “exact match domain” for it as well. One possible solution is to use different “generic top-level domains” other than a .com, such as a .net, .org, .info, and so on, which would yield “bigbluewidgets.net” or “bigbluewidgets.org” for instance, but even that approach is limited, and if the keyword is really popular, all the available top-level domains will get used up quickly. Also, additionally, while .com, .net, and .org are considered the best top-level domains for serious business and branding work, domains such as .info and so on are sometimes considered rather spammy, thus narrowing options even further. There are other ways of working around this limitation. For instance, a publisher might decide to add a value-added term to the end of the domain name as a suffix, such as “bigbluewidgetsGUIDE.com” or “bigbluewidgetsINFO.com” or whathaveyou (capitalized for clarity), but that might not always be practical, and there is still some debate as to whether the extra word and the end dilutes the strength and impact of the exact match domain. Well, there are two other effective solutions that a publisher can try, that can prove effective. The first is well known, that of putting hyphens between the words, so that “bigbluewidgets.com” becomes “big-blue-widgets.com”. While there is also some debate as to whether the hyphens dilute the EMD effectiveness, the method is generally considered to be viable. The other method is rather clever and innovative, and has tested to show good results. In essence, the publisher uses the EMD for the main keyword, but then will buy domain names with an extra, random letter added to the end of the name, so “bigbluewidgets.com” becomes “bigbluewidgetsV.com” or “bigbluewidgetsX.com” (capitalization for clarity). Here’s how this works. Google and the other search engines have very strong auto-correct qualities when it comes to working out keyword spellings and discerning string searches. In other words, among other things, Google is essentially one huge spellchecker (for lack of a better term). As such, it will assume that the errant letter at the end of the domain name (V and X in our examples) is a misspelling, and will correct for it in it’s search algorithm, treating it like what it perceives as the intended “bigbluewidgets”. You can test this for yourself. Enter a search string into Google with a purposefully misspelled word, and Google will either auto-correct for it, or provide a choice of search results with either the correct spelling or the misspelling. Likewise, it does the same thing internally when analyzing the keywords in a given domain name. Whether a publisher chooses to go this route, or try something less experimental is ultimately up to the person who will buy domain names for their sites, but definitely consider giving this a try. It has worked for a number of SEO experts in the past, and it might just prove to be the missing key to making your SEO efforts work.

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Sep/11

26

The Advantages Of Reseller Web Hosting

Reseller web hosting permits an account owner to take the hard drive space and bandwidth allotted to his or her account and let other parties use it for their own websites. The original account owner essentially becomes a middle man who buys space and bandwidth at a wholesale price and sells sections of it for retail. These transactions are common among certain types of individuals and companies involved in web commerce.

This sort of transaction begins when someone rents an account with a dedicated server from a standard hosting company. They acquire permission to resell or share their account. There may or may not be limits on how much space can be resold.

The typical reseller is an independent web developer or a web design company. They offer hosting space to customers as an extra part of their business transactions. Web entrepreneurs also use this opportunity to earn money as they start a business on the web. They rent the space and bandwidth that they are not using to provide an income for a new company.

Getting involved in reseller web hosting does not require the reseller to know much technical information about hosting services. This is why it is such a popular alternative, especially for new web businesses whose focus is something other than web design. The space that they sell is governed by the original web host, and the same services and control panels. In some cases, interested resellers are able to create custom control panels and other services for their clients. However, they remain simply as providers, and are not responsible for maintenance. All issues with hardware or software, as well as connection problems, are the domain of the host site from whom the reseller is renting space.

Reseller web hosting provides a great opportunity for everyone involved. Web hosts want to sell as much space as possible. The reseller may not need the space that these hosts sell, even in their most limited packages. The ability to sell off portions of this space makes it affordable for them. It also enables people with even fewer resources to buy small chunks of bandwidth and space in order to start their businesses.

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