ElliotsBlog.com Unveils New Theme!

Elliot Silver
-
7

Last week, I held a contest on Sitepoint to create a new logo for my company, Top Notch Domains, LLC. I had never used Sitepoint before, but I thought it would be interesting and worth a shot. I received several high quality submissions, and eventually chose a winning design.

I was really impressed with the designer’s work, and I began discussing a revision of the entire website instead of just the logo. We agreed on a very fair price and timeline, and he is currently in the midst of revising the site, which will probably be unveiled this week. While I was reviewing the first round of revisions on my company’s website yesterday, the designer sent me a test header for my blog, just in case I wanted to make it match the company’s website. I hadn’t even asked for it, but he thought it might be good to keep the look and feel consistent.

I am very happy to unveil the new design of my company’s logo – and the new design of my blog! I have been impressed with the quality of work the designer has done, and I think the blog looks great as well. If you would like to learn more about the designer (Mike McAlister), his company is called SixOneFive Design.

Please Be The Judge

Elliot Silver
-
9

The winner has been selected! The Top Notch Domains, LLC website will be undergoing some redevelopment, and it should be relaunched soon. Thank you very much for all your feedback!!

Calling All Designers…

Elliot Silver
-
1

Top Notch Domains, LLC LogoAfter a couple of years with the same look, I’ve decided to move forward and have my logo and business card redesigned.  I  set up a contest at Sitepoint  to open this to as many designers as possible.  I admit that I got the idea of holding a contest from  Sahar  – Thanks!  

Although I like the current style/concept of my logo, I am looking for something more fresh that uses less black for better space.  I like the skyline, but don’t need the actual buildings (an outline of a skyline would probably suffice).  I would also like a more modern looking font for the name of the company.  I’ve given comments to the designers who have submitted their work so far, so you can get an idea of what I am asking.    

Down the road in the next few weeks, I can also see myself redesigning my entire  Top Notch Domains website,  and perhaps this logo and business card design contest will help me find someone for that project.

So check out my contest and show me your skills!

Search Bar – “What Can I Serve You?”

Elliot Silver
-
2

There have been plenty of times where I walked into a bar and asked for a beer that the bar doesn’t stock.    Of course, I ordered a different beer, but for the sake of this post, let’s say that I really wanted a particular kind of beer, and when the bartender informed me that he doesn’t have it, I walked out and went to the bar down the street.

If this scenario happens just once or twice, the lost business probably won’t cost the bar much money.    However, if this is a recurring situation, it would be in the bar’s best interest to begin carrying the requested beers to satisfy the needs of its customers and not miss out on a revenue generating idea.

Likewise on a website, the owner should do his best to provide content that is of interest to his visitors.    Oftentimes if a visitor doesn’t find what he needs, he will use the search bar to locate it.    A savvy website/domain owner will use the search log information to see what his visitors are looking for but can’t seem to find.    He will then make adjustments to his product/content selection to ensure the needs of his visitors are met.    

The lost revenue from one or two visitors may be small, but if you can learn about what your customers want and offer it to them, you are sure to satiate your visitors’ thirst for information.

(Special thanks to Jonathan for reminding me about how important the search bar can be to a domain owner!)

StatCounter.com – Good Stat Tracking Resource

Elliot Silver
-
1

On a few of my domain names, I use StatCounter.com to track information about my visitors.   If I know how visitors find my domain name, what links they click on while there, and how long they view a particular topic, I can optimize my websites to fulfill their needs.   I would recommend this website for stat tracking.   According to the site, StatCounter.com is:

“A free yet reliable invisible web tracker<, highly configurable hit counter and real-time detailed web stats.”

With StatCounter.com, I have access to the following  information about visitors to my websites:

– Popular Pages
– Entry Pages
– Exit Pages
– Came From
– Keyword Analysis
– Recent Keyword Activity
– Recent Came From
– Visitor Paths
– Visit Length
– Returning Visits
– Recent Visitor Activity
– Country/State/City/ISP

I would recommend this site to people who don’t have access to this information from their own servers.   There is no cost for smaller accounts (up to 500 log quota), and there are upgrade opportunities depending on the size of the file you want.   Oh… I am not a paid endorser either – I just like the information they provide.

Direct Marketing via Parked Domain Name

Elliot Silver
-
1

At NYU, I was taught that Direct Marketing is a one on one communication with a consumer where the reaction (or lack of) can be tracked, and a return on investment can be calculated. Direct marketers use specific calls to action to encourage consumers to respond, providing a trackable and measurable result.

Generic domain names that are parked at companies like Fabulous or SmartName provide the perfect direct marketing test bed. You have a trackable medium (using web analytics), with a call to action in the form of related links of enticing offers. If a visitor clicks through, that’s the response, and the revenue generated from the click is part of the return on the investment. If there isn’t a click-through, the domain owner knows the content wasn’t of interest to the visitor.

Using web analytics, the domain owner can determine whether the advertising links are relevant to what consumers want when they navigate to his site. He has the ability to test many different variables (keywords, images, colors, layout…etc), which is also a hallmark of direct marketing. I seem to remember a mantra of “test everything.” Using some parking programs (like Trafficz), the owner can even write content to offer information that may also invite the consumer to click through and/or return.

Parked domain names can be a great precursor to development. Before investing thousands of dollars into a domain name, the owner can see what visitors want and what isn’t of interest. Using my Customs.com as an example, based on the CTR and clicks, I can determine whether people are looking for customs clearance information, customs lawyers, custom cars, or possibly even Halloween costumes due to a typo.   Based on the analysis I’ve done, it’s pretty clear that they are looking to find passport, travel, and other information associated with customs clearance and requirements.

1...50515253Page 51 of 53