IS YOUR DOMAIN NAME BROKEN?

By Don Meeker
Posted Sunday, November 21, 2004

If your present domain name doesn't get you top placement in directories, it's broken.

A second domain name pointing to your web site can give you guaranteed top placement in Yahoo (with over 25% of all online searches).

If you are just starting a web site, you can choose a domain name that will get top directory placement and bring visitors to your site.

Most online traffic is directed to web sites by search engines and directories (over 50% by most estimates). Many sites get more visitors from specialized directories related to the subject matter of their site than from search engines. Visitors coming from directories specializing in what you offer are much more likely to be genuinely interested in your products or services. That means qualified customers coming to your site.

When people input search words into the search engines and directories, they produce lists of web sites (often thousands) related to the search words. Unless you are at or near the top of the list, it's very unlikely people will ever find your listing. How do you get to the top of the list?

Here are some key strategies for getting your site placed at the top of the list ahead
of those thousands of sites in the search results. Use these strategies to get major numbers of qualified
interested visitors to your site.

Top Directory Placement

To place high in directories you must learn to use the key features of directories. All directories list alphabetically:

Yahoo lists alphabetically by domain name Yahoo puts a few web sites at the top of the list that have the key search words in the domain name Many directories list alphabetically by page title

For guaranteed high placement in directories you need:

Domain name with alphabetical priority Domain name with high scoring search words Page title with alphabetical priority

Alphabetical Priority

The key here is that numbers appear before letters and symbols appear before numbers in alphabetical listings.

Domain Name - Your domain name cannot begin with a symbol, but it can begin with a number. For example, "1st" gets high alphabetical priority and suggests the best or the first. Some names from our domain auction that use this principle are:

1stAirline.com
1stAutomobiles.com
1stHTML.com
1stPeopleSearches.com
1stPictures.com

"4Naming.com" and "4WebDesigning.com" are other examples from our domain auction of domain names beginning with numbers.

Page Title - Getting priority with the title of your web page is easy. Use a symbol or a number or both at the beginning of your page title. For example:

#1 Source for ... (whatever products your site offers) 1,001 Ways to ... (whatever services your site offers)

Key Search Words

The words following the number in your domain name and page title must be the key words related to your site subject used the most in actual online searches. They should also attract visitors to come to your site by telling what is available on your site.

There are many great generic names available with high scoring key words by placing numbers at the beginning of the names. "Airline", "automobiles", "html", "people searches", and "pictures" are all highly used search words.

You may want your company name to be your primary domain name because people already know your name and can click to your site. But, you can have any number of other domain names with high alphabetical priority and high scoring generic search words pointing to your site. To point additional domain names to your site can cost as little as $1 to $5 a month depending on your web host.

The cost of a second domain name and low monthly pointing cost are certainly worth getting thousands of visitors. You can get the qualified visitors who may not know your company name, but who use generic search words to find products or services like yours.

So, for guaranteed top placement in directories, like Yahoo with over one fourth of all searches online:

Use a domain name beginning with a number Use a domain name with high scoring search words Begin your page titles with a symbol and/or number

Use these strategies and your site will be on top of the directories, including Yahoo. You can get all of the qualified visitors you want with the right domain name and page titles.

About the Author
Don Meeker has top ranking domain names in an auction, sale & custom name service at (http://www.namespecialists.com)