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When It’s Critical To Own Your Product Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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6

Some companies argue that as long as they own their brand domain name, it’s much less important to own their product domain name(s). They may believe this because they carry many products, and it’s easier to manage one domain name and website than a group of them. In my opinion, when a company’s product is more well known than its manufacturer, it’s critical for them to own the product domain name, as that’s what consumers will obviously be looking to find when searching Google or typing in the domain name.

Case in point. I read an article in the Boston Globe yesterday about a new cleaning product called “Spaghetti Scrubs.” This cleaning product is apparently less abrasive than steel Brillo pads, and it molds to whatever pot or item you are cleaning. The idea is that it takes less effort to clean your pots and pans than if you were using a sponge, and it can cause less damage to your pots and pans.

The article mentioned that Spaghetti Scrubs were invented by a Japanese designer, and it named a couple of stores where it’s available to purchase. However, the key takeaway for me is the brand name’s domain name, SpaghettiScrubs.com, is unregistered. From direct navigation and SEO standpoints, this is a mistake. There really is no reason why the manufacturer shouldn’t spend the $10 to buy the domain name. Even a simple forward to the Crate & Barrel website would be better than nothing.

Using Your Domain Name in Another Company’s Google Local Listing

Elliot Silver
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9

I found something very interesting today while looking for a hotel in Paris and think it’s a pretty great way to drive traffic to a domain name, although I am not exactly sure if it’s legit if Google were to know about. I am not going to name the url but want to share this story anyway.

I found a hotel that looked interesting to me via Orbitz, and I wanted to see where it was located in the city. I did a Google search for it, and the top result was the Google Local business listing, which contained the address, map, phone number, and url for the hotel (3 hyphen .com name).

When I clicked the url and opened it in a new window, it was a hotel booking engine that looked very familiar to me. It was a one page website, and although it was in French, I saw that there was very little to the website aside from the booking engine. A Whois search confirmed what I suspected, and the domain name was privately owned and unrelated to the hotel.

I don’t know if this is legit and/or against Google’s TOS, but it’s pretty ingenious for a company or person to have their domain name inserted into the Google Local result, especially when that comes up #1. Ironically, the hotel’s official website is ranked #3 for a search of the hotel, with TripAdvisor.com coming in at #2.

Hong Kong Geodomain Name For Sale

Elliot Silver
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8

Wan Chai is a highly populated and popular area in Hong Kong, and I am looking to sell the domain name WanChai.com, which has a registration date of May 1998. My asking price in WanChai.com is $15,000, and the domain name is registered at Moniker. Email me if you are interested in buying the name, or post something in the comment section.

Not only is Wan Chai one of the busiest commercial areas in Hong Kong, with many companies operating there, but it is also home to many hotels, restaurants, and bars. The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre makes its home in Wan Chai, and there are a number of skyscrapers and office towers in Wan Chai. In addition, the district had a population of 167,146 in 2001.

According to Hotels.com, there are 30 hotels within a one mile radius of Wan Chai, including five 5-star hotels and eleven 4-star hotels. (The default Hotels.com link shows 121 hotels within 25 miles, but you can see the 30 hotels if you toggle to a 1 mile radius).   There are a number of tourist attractions, landmarks, and cultural activities in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. In addition, there is also great shopping in Wan Chai as well as dining.

Here are a few links to websites with information about Wan Chai, Hong Kong:

Most of the common domain extensions with WanChai are taken, and related IDN names are taken as well. I think owning the .com makes sense in this case since many foreigners who do business in the area will look for hotels, restaurants, and things to do, and the .com makes sense, especially for English speakers.

5 With… Patrick Carleton, Executive Director, Associated Cities

Elliot Silver
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9

Associated Cities’ annual GeoDomain Expo in New Orleans is coming up at the end of the month, and I asked Patrick Carleton, the organization’s Executive Director, to answer some questions about it.   The   early-bird rate of $995 will expire tomorrow, April 6th, as will the room block at the Roosevelt Hotel, though they will do their best to help latecomers find rooms at close hotels.

Due to extensive travels this summer and a previous engagement during the conference, I will not be able to attend this year’s conference. I do think it’s a great opportunity for anyone who intends to develop geodomain names or would like to learn ways to better monetize their geodomain names.

ES: What will make this conference different than years past, and are there specific themes that will be covered?

PC:   The 2010 Geodomain Expo in New Orleans this April 28-30 will include sessions ranging from beginning startup development to some of the hottest topics of today including maximizing geo brand traffic revenue, social media, business directories, mobile apps and the mobile web.   We continue to bring in cutting edge speakers and sponsoring companies to partner with you to take your company and sites to the next level.

EJS: Who should consider attending the conference, and how does it differ from other general domain conferences?

PC: The Geodomain Expo was the first domain conference to spotlight development, and continues to focus on development topics to stay on top of the pulse of the ever changing geo space.   Anyone vested in Geodomains, Geodomain development, or even those interested in learning to develop any of their domains should attend the Expo to form relationships with and learn from the brightest and most successful minds in the local domain development space.

EJS: My favorite part of the GeoDomain Expo is the networking. Can you talk about the great networking opportunities that are happening in New Orleans – and are there special events happen because of Jazz Fest?

PC: Year after year attendees tell me that the networking at the Geodomain Expo is second to none – there is next to no competition amongst any of The attendees, so the sharing of best practices in the development of Geodomains is widespread. The networking alone at the Geodomain Expo is worth the price of admission. Learning from the best of the best like the Castello Brothers, Dan Pulcrano, Josh Metnick, etc. is what this conference is all about.

The welcome cocktail reception will be held in the world famous Blue Room of the historic Roosevelt hotel, a venue where musical greats like Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and Tony Bennett were all regulars.   This cocktail reception and the Thursday night party will each have a New Orleans Jazzfest flare and feel.   Breakfasts, lunches, breaks and receptions will provide ample opportunity to form long-lasting relationships with fellow developers which will pay dividends on the growth of your businesses.

The New Orleans Roosevelt Hotel is one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen.   Elvis Presley stayed there while he was filming King Creole

EJS: How has Associated Cities changed over the years, and what are the future plans for the organization?

PC: Associated Cities has just become a 501(C)6 non-profit association. With this new structure, every Associated Cities member will now have a larger voice in the growth of the association and its impact on the industry.

EJS: What are the 5 most important reasons someone should attend the conference?

PC:

  1. No other event this year will bring together the owners of the most successfully developed Internet properties and brands in the world.
  2. Local media experts, recognizing the opportunity in the GeoDomain space, are coming to this event to learn directly from GeoDomain pioneers and practitioners.
  3. Two full days of presentations, panels, networking and learning opportunities.
  4. Great after-conference-hours events for fun and invaluable networking.
  5. Jazzfest!   This event draws as many people as Mardi Gras. And did I mention Pearl Jam is playing the day after the conference ends?

GeoDomain Development Idea

Elliot Silver
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17

I know a lot of people who own city keyword .com domain names, and I own several of them as well. I want to share a development idea I have, as I have found most of the longer tail geodomain names I own (most are attorney or lawyer names) don’t get much type in traffic and make very little revenue as a result. I haven’t put this idea into practice yet but want to share it with those who might wish to do so.

Using a modified classifieds theme or a directory package, create empty directories that cost anywhere from $9 – 99/year to sign up. The advertiser will receive a full page within the website to promote his business, and the company will be listed on the primary page. It will be very similar to Frank Schilling’s MontrealRestaurants.com. Payment will need to be made via Paypal and should be an annual subscription for easy re-billing.

The idea is that once you create and customize your platform for a few hundred dollars (unless you are able to do the work on your own), you can then version it out to your other similar domain names to lower your development cost per domain name. Contrary to what some people might say, I do happen to think a site like this should look good so potential advertisers are more interested in advertising. I received many more comments about DogWalker.com’s look and style rather than its searchability and functionality.

By doing this, it will help generate revenue, once you’ve done enough SEO work to get it ranked in Google. As a comparison, DogWalker.com ranked #1 in Google for the term “dog walker” within 2 months of launching it, and it had been a Godaddy landing page for a while, so the SEO aspect isn’t as difficult as it might seem.

Like I said before, I haven’t done this yet so I can’t give any feedback about the likelihood for success. I tried to sell HattiesburgAttorney.com, LynnAttorney.com, BozemanAttorney.com, and a few others similar names without much luck, so I will probably try this model out on these names before the end of the year. If it fails to yield any signups, I imagine getting these names ranking in Google for their keywords will at the very least increase their saleability and value.

Feel free to share your experiences with this.

It’s a Busy Saturday

Elliot Silver
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3

As my friends and family know, I can be a workaholic. I love what I do, and if I am not working on my laptop, I am generally on my Blackberry pretty much non-stop, especially during the week. I try to lay off on the weekends, but when I have a big project, I can usually be found working. This weekend is a working weekend, as you will see below in my Saturday updates:

  • I’ve been reading about the domain theft and hijacking situation on Domain Name Wire and Patrick’s Blog. As a friendly reminder, there are a few companies that offer extensive protection against domain theft like Name.com featuring a security key fob. I wrote an article about domain security last July, and you may want to check it out to see what some companies offer.
  • After a couple of months worth of work, Lowell.com has been re-vamped and re-launched with the help of Mike McAlister of Six One Five Design. Businesses will now be able to sign up, create listings, and pay on their own, much like I have successfully implemented on a couple of other websites. There are still a number of links that aren’t working and things that need to be fixed, but it’s almost there. If you have a few minutes and check out the site, please let me know if you see any bugs (I know the site is running slowly right now).
  • I want to send a BIG THANK YOU to Tony Kanakaris of eCyberMedia.com and SocialDomainers.com for making a $500 contribution to the Ronald McDonald House for our 5 Boro Bike Tour. Not only is this the largest contribution to date, it also put us over our $2,500 goal. The Ronald McDonald House does some great things for children with cancer and their families, and they can use all of the funding people can contribute. I think Karen and I may raise our goal since some friends and family haven’t contributed what they pledged in private.
  • If you are celebrating, I want to wish you and your family a happy Easter. I hope you are able to enjoy the holiday with family and friends.
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