I often write about the importance of managing your domain names and caution people about what could happen should they fail to do so.
I recently witnessed a chilling example of this. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending.
Erella Ganon is a Toronto-based artist whom I have known for over a decade. She also happens to be a friend of my wife. On Friday night, my wife asked me to look into something on behalf of Erella. A few days prior, Erella had lost ownership of her domain name, erella.com, and she was very upset.
Erella had first registered erella.com in October, 2000 with domain registrar GoDaddy, and had been using it since then for her Website and email address. Her Website, located at www.erella.com, is where Erella showcases her work and promotes her services. It is her primary means of generating employment.
An artist and single mother, Erella supports her teenage daughter by doing a number of freelance creative assignments. Sadly, for many years, Erella has also been battling brain tumours. 2008 has been especially difficult for her as she's been in and out of the hospital for seven different surgeries. The good news is that she's on the mend.
During the last few months, in between surgeries and post-operative recovery, Erella was unable to do a lot of her normal day-to-day activities, and due to a misunderstanding, didn't renew her domain name like she normally did. The domain expired, and 26 days later it flowed into GoDaddy's expired domain auction, where it was bid upon and eventually acquired by a domain name speculator based in Hawaii.
Since I work at Tucows, one of the largest domain registrars in the world (and, full disclosure, a competitor of GoDaddy), I am very familiar with the domain name lifecycle and expired domain auctions. I knew that the domain speculator had broken no laws when he acquired the erella.com domain name. It expired. He bid on it. He paid for it. He now owned it.
To him, erella.com was just another domain name he won at auction. He didn't know the story behind how and why the domain expired, nor would anyone expect him to have known that.
At the time I first heard about this, Erella was convinced she'd lost her domain name forever, and was understandably very upset. Email messages to her were bouncing, and adding insult to injury, the domain speculator had added a banner ad for his Hawaiian real estate business to Erella's homepage.
I promised Erella that I would investigate what had happened and see what I could do to help. After researching and identifying the domain speculator, I contacted him via email on Saturday in Honolulu and convinced him to transfer the domain name to Erella.
By Sunday morning, erella.com was back in Erella's hands, and by mid afternoon her email and Website were up and running again.
Needless to say, Erella was ecstatic. I, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised. This domain speculator responded to my inquiries and could be reasoned with; that is not always the case, and I have the scars to prove it.
The truly frightening thing is that this can happen to anyone who owns a domain name, and most people who find themselves in this difficult position don't know a domain name specialist like me that they can turn to for help.
With that in mind, I'd like to offer five very specific pieces of advice to you on how to avoid ever ending up in a situation like this.
My good friend Kindha Gorman officially launches her own Web writing boutique, MightyThink, this week. Since I have always admired her wit and way with words, I thought that interviewing her about her new company and writing for the Web might be both educational and fun.
Q. So I just have to ask you, Kindha, what motivated you to leave the stability of a full-time job to launch your own boutique, MightyThink?
Starting a content development firm like MightyThink has been one of my long-time goals. After spending considerable time learning about the domain name business, I saw an opportunity to contribute.
As the domain industry changes, relevant and quality content is becoming essential for premium domains. Websites have so much more potential when the content is useful, timely, and engaging. That's where MightyThink comes in.
Sure, a cushy full-time job has its perks but writing is my passion. Launching MightyThink is my way of being involved in this exciting domain industry by doing what I, and my team of writers, do best.
Plus, my fourth grade teacher said I had a problem with authority, so I figured I should just become my own boss. It's best for everyone.
Q. What's the most frequent mistake you see people making when it comes to the copy on their Websites?
Sadly, the Web is full of boring, irrelevant, and outdated copy.
Above it all, the most common mistake I have noticed is Websites that don't properly cater to their target audiences. When creating content for your site, think of your readers and the reasons they're likely on your site. Does your site give them all the information they need? Is it clear? Is it engaging? Is it visually friendly? Is it easy to read?
When you have a domain name, or a brand you want to market, you have a great opportunity to captivate your audience and make sure they visit again.
Since we're on the topic, here a few more of my pet peeves:
- Unclear messages;
- Long pages;
- Outdated information;
- Long paragraphs and no white space;
- A lack of keywords to entice the search engine;
- Off-topic and/or boring copy; and
- Spelling and grammar mistakes (A big no-no easily fixed by hiring an editor. The spellcheck function, by the way, is not an editor.).
Q. A lot of companies are interested in launching a blog but struggle with creating the content for it and keeping the blog updated. What advice do you give to clients like this?
A blog is a great tool to ensure there's fresh content on your site. The downside is that you have to invest a certain amount of time and energy to make sure people come back regularly. It sounds easy but there's some planning involved.
If you want to get your blog bookmarked by your target audience (and I imagine you do), the blog needs to be:
- updated daily;
- about relevant and timely topics;
- written in a conversational tone;
- professional looking and sounding; and
- interesting!
This may seem like a daunting task, especially since there are only 24 hours in the day. Many companies hire outside writers, who understand their goals and messages, to act as their voice. This frees up much-needed time, but still maintains a relevant blog.
Q. How important are online press releases?
A keyword-rich and well-optimized press release is quickly becoming an invaluable marketing tool for businesses to generate traffic and drum up clients.
Not only do online press releases tout news about your business quickly and effectively, they also can be easily optimized with keywords to ensure they're indexed by the almighty search engines. By adding some strategic links and relevant keywords, your little press release (and your Website) will attract the eyes of journalists, researchers, RSS feeds, search engines, news subscribers, and most importantly, your target audience.
Here's a tip: If you're writing the news release yourself, keep your press release to one page, two pages if absolutely necessary. If it's any longer than two pages, journalists become grumpy. No one likes a grumpy journalist.
Thanks, Kindha, and best of luck with your new company!
Kindha Gorman is the owner and brain behind MightyThink's brawn. With over 10 years of experience in writing, marketing, and strategic planning, Kindha has written for magazines, newspapers, Websites, large retail chains, healthcare organizations, financial institutions, and high tech outfits. Throughout her varied career, she has learned a thing or two about good writing. Just ask her. She has bored many of her friends with lectures about the proper use of commas, hyphens, and semi-colons.
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