This week, I re-launched my corporate website on TopNotchDomains.com. I don’t really love my company name anymore, but it’s a pain in the neck to change it, and it really isn’t worth the hassle of making any type of legal change, especially because I operate in two states and that means additional work and legal fees.
One of the first things you may notice is a new logo. I used Logo.com to create the corporate logo design, and I really appreciate the work they did with the little guidance I gave. The designers came back with dozens of ideas and we eventually decided there wouldn’t be any type of accompanying graphic with the logo and it would be a stylized font. The logo designers chose a design that utilized the “notch” theme, with almost every letter having a notch in it. I kept the same colors as I had in my previous logo for consistency sake. For those who are curious, I used the platinum package giving me unlimited revisions.
I used a html theme I found at ThemeForest, and it cost somewhere around $30. I made several alterations to the theme to adjust it to fit my needs. This was one of those times that having a bit of coding knowledge was advantageous. I also used Tia Wood to make a couple of site design changes I didn’t know how to make, particularly on the developed brands page.
One thing I want to change around a bit is the home page. I think the text needs to be re-written, although I don’t really feel like spending much time doing that right now. I think the site is fairly straightforward, makes it clear that my business invests in good domain names and builds them, and it’s been around for a fair amount of time.
I think it’s wise for domain investors to have a corporate website because it gives some people assurance that you are a “real” entity when you are doing a deal.
Hi Elliot:
Nice redo!
Clean, direct, informative.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Well! If you don’t like your company’s name any more you can change it, but you must take some time to do that; because if you fail to change it, that may leads to lost of interest on the company.
Looks good.
The site looks great – it’s clean and simple, and I like it. You might want to add a range of years in the copyright in the footer, because right now it looks like it’s a new site that launched in 2012.
I’m having naming issues, too. I don’t like having a company name too similar to anyone else’s. I explored a few different possibilities last year and regged the .coms, but haven’t committed to anything yet.
Looks clean, uncluttered, nice work.
Elliot,
Looks great and nice to see you use Adam and Logo.com.
Any reason why you didn’t use 99Designs?
@ Seb
I’d rather give business to a friend, and they gave me tons of designs because I didn’t give a very specific design brief. When I made major changes to my request, they fulfilled it and gave me more designs.
Company website looks nice….and professional.
RK
Hey Elliot,
I actually love the name. Always stuck with me. Love the old and new logos as well.
Nicely done!
Looks solid Elliot.
Where is the “brand”of Burbank.com? I consider that a better name and site then a couple other things mentioned imo.
@ Jeff
Burbank.com, Lowell.com, TropicalBirds.com, and Dreidel.com are owned by my other company, Silver Internet Ventures, LLC. That website had been updated more recently: http://www.silverinternetventures.com
I own 100% of both companies. SIV is only focused on development/
Gotcha!
Elliot – the site looks very nice!
Out of curiosity, why is your LLC based in new Hampshire?
I’m planning on setting one up soon, so I’m curious if there are any advantages to where it’s set up, and if there are any specific benefits to set it up in specific states…
Thanks!
@ Yitzchok
I am originally from NH, although my next move will likely be to MA.
That makes sense 😉
Thanks for the info!
One idea – you may want to change any external links from that site (like to your blog) to open in a new window – just add target=”_blank” to the end of the a href tag…
Nice Redo of the site it is plain but very professional. Clean site keep up the good work. I like checking out your projects.
The logo is, unfortunately, weak. But what matters is that you like it.
@ Acro
One thing I’ve found is that I could ask 50 people to give an opinion on a logo/color scheme, and I will receive 40 different but interesting replies 🙂
Just wanted to let you know that tis typo exists on your brands page – ActingCoach.comm
@ ORM
Thanks for catching that 🙂
I wanted to ask you – I see that you are using an s in some of your names (plural) and non plural in others. Did you do strong KW research to determine if to by the plural name or not? I know this is discussed a lot and it can sometimes be hard to choose if by one or the other or both. Thanks.
@ ORM
Bought the names as opportunities arose 🙂
OK. So the other (plural or non) was not available? If so, are you not concerned that the other will not be developed and steal traffic?
@ ORM
At the time of acquisitions, the alternates were either not available or weren’t priced where I felt they were deals.
Elliot if any of your readers need logo help, they can use the coupon code ELLIOT for 20% off.
@acro – You just won me some money. Thanks buddy.
Elliot if any of your readers need logo help, they can use the coupon code ELLIOT for 20% off at Logo.com
@acro – You just won me some money. Thanks buddy.
Adam,
You were right and I owe you $20.