Sweetmantra: Domain Name Strategy

The Mother of All Websites

I've had the remarkable opportunity to oversee the production of dozens of Websites during the last 11 years. Like a proud parent, I love them all, even though each has its own peculiar strengths and weaknesses.

I'm particularly excited about my latest baby, the official Website for artist Jennifer Dickson's new exhibition, The Thief of Time. It's just a simple little informational Website, but it represents the first official online presence for Jennifer Dickson who, in addition to being a world-renowned visual artist, also happens to be my mother!

Jennifer (she doesn't like me to call her "mom") and I have collaborated on visual arts projects in the past. This is the first time we've had the opportunity to work on anything Internet-related, and it's been fascinating and fun introducing mom ... I mean Jennifer ... to the online world I know and love.

I'm sure my parents still don't fully understand what I do for a living, but after working on this project together they are starting to figure it out. For that reason alone, it's been a great experience.

FYI, Jennifer Dickson's The Thief of Time runs from October 13 to 28, 2006 at Wallack Galleries in Ottawa, Canada. You can find out more at www.ThiefOfTime.com.

The Spinbix Effect

There's an established and long-standing process to developing and choosing names for new products. In fact, this is a business in and of itself, and it's not unheard of for companies to pay tens of thousands of dollars to come up with the name for a new product.

Based on what my colleagues and I recently uncovered, I'd like to make the case for this money being spent on coming up with truly unique product names. Why do I believe this? It has to do with something that I've just named "The Spinbix Effect."

We've been working on a large and complex search engine optimization (SEO) project for a client that manufactures and markets lots of consumer widgets. For the purposes of this article, let's pretend the client is "Acme." Each of Acme's widgets has its own brand name. Some of the names are more generic and use words found in the dictionary, such as Acme Mosaic and Acme Hunter. Other brand names are completely unique words not found in the dictionary, such as Acme Spinbix and Acme Bunfob.

As part of our SEO project, we've been looking at inbound traffic to Acme's Website from search engines. More particularly, we've been analyzing the keywords and phrases that are generating traffic for Acme. One of the most interesting patterns we observed was that products that have unique names (e.g., Acme Spinbix) generate higher search traffic (Website visitors) than products with generic names (e.g., Acme Mosaic).

This makes a lot of sense when you think about it. A consumer who hears about a product called "Acme Mosaic" (through traditional marketing channels) and then goes and types "mosaic" into a search engine is going to get all sorts of search results that have nothing to do with Acme and its products. From the get go, when it uses a generic name for a product, Acme is facing an uphill battle in terms of generating search traffic.

Now contrast this with a consumer hearing about, and then searching for, a product with a unique name, such as "Acme Spinbix." When they type "Spinbix" into a search engine, not only are there going to be far fewer search results to sift through, but by default most of them are going to be related to Acme and its products. (Right now, for instance, a search on Google for "spinbix" turns up only 1 page!) When Acme uses unique names for its products, it greatly increases its odds of generating valuable search traffic. In a perfect world, Acme should use unique names for all of its products.

There are lots of good reasons for a company to try to come up with unique names for its products, especially if those products will be advertised in traditional channels. The Spinbix Effect should be added to that list of reasons.

Catch Me on Episode #409 of Call For Help

You may recall that, thanks to this blog, I was invited to be a guest on Call For Help, an internationally syndicated television show designed to help people gain control of technology.

I'm pleased to report that the episode I am on (#409) will finally be broadcast in Canada on Friday, August 18 on G4techTV at 9 AM, 6 PM, 9 PM and Midnight ET. Yes, Call For Help is repeated four times a day on G4techTV!

If you are able to tune in, or record the episode, you'll catch me talking to co-host Amber MacArthur about "Deadly Domain Name Variations."

I'm even more excited to announce that I've been invited back to appear as a regular guest expert in future episodes of Call For Help, so stay tuned for details on those appearances.

Call For Help is broadcast on G4techTV in Canada and the HOW TO Channel in Australia. US viewers can download episodes from Google Video.

Protect Your Domain Name in Seven Easy Steps

I've seen far too many friends and colleagues accidentally lose their Website domain names by forgetting to renew them in a timely manner. This can have catastrophic results, but it doesn't have to happen to you. In fact, it can be easily avoided by following my list of seven simple steps.

Why not take a few minutes right NOW to reduce the likelihood of losing your domain name?

Seven Easy Steps to Protecting Your Domain Name

Step 1: Identify who your domain name registrar is.
If you are not sure who your registrar is, use a WHOIS directory like Allwhois to determine the name of your registrar (the company you registered the domain name with).

Step 2: Determine your registrar's contact information.
Using the WHOIS record information, make note of the email and phone coordinates for the registrar (sometimes listed under "Technical Contact") and file this information in a safe place. And the registrar has to have a Website, so make sure you bookmark it.

Step 3: Confirm your domain name expiry date.
Also using the WHOIS record, check to see what "Renewal" date is listed. This is your expiry date and you MUST renew your domain name before then.

Step 4: Schedule an automatic annual reminder to renew your domain name.
Using your electronic calendar, day planner, or PDA, configure it to remind you to renew your domain name 60 and 30 and 15 days prior to the renewal date. Don't rely on your registrar to do this - this is YOUR responsibility.

Step 5: Renew your domain name before it expires.
This sounds obvious, but when you get the reminder message you configured for yourself, take action right away. Call your registrar's toll-free number or visit their Website to renew your domain name. In most instances, it only takes a few minutes to renew your domain name using a credit card, and the cost is usually in the $10-20 range.

Step 6: Verify that your renewal has been completed.
Wait 24 hours after renewing, then check the WHOIS record again to make sure your domain name's expiry date has been updated to reflect your recent renewal. Even if your registrar sends you emails confirming this, make sure you check the WHOIS record yourself to make sure.

Step 7: Doublecheck your reminder.
After successfully renewing your domain name, make sure you've put a reminder in your calendar, day planner, or PDA to renew your domain name prior to its next expiry date.

By following these seven steps, you can help ensure that you don't forget to renew your domain name, which in my experience is the number one reason companies lose their domain names.