Are You A Cheapskate? - Part 1 Your Blog Domain Name

Writing by Brick Marketing Staff on Wednesday, 3 of October , 2007 at 9:36 pm

Well, are you? I understand that if you are blogging as a hobby or just getting started with blogging that you might not be able to or may not want to invest too much money into blogging.

However, if your goal is to be a professional blogger or to run an online business of any kind, you need to invest a little money to make it happen. It’s not that different from running an offline business. You have to spend money to make money.

The investment of your time, or “sweat equity”, is also important. So if you are unwilling to put the time into your online business or blogging career, then no need to plan on what you will do when you become a successful blogger. It won’t happen.

Let’s go over some of the areas where I find people who want to make their living online, but are unwilling to spend either the time or money to make it happen.

Let’s start with the basics;

Domain Names: I hear people all the time say that they are going to get their domain name at the cheapest registrar they can find. Why? Is the difference between paying $6.99 per year for your domain name and paying $50 per year for your domain name going to make or break you? Is your business plan so weak that this will eat into your profits? If so, you have the wrong business plan or you are not very confident in it in the first place.

Find the best domain name for the main key phrase you want to target. It does not matter if it is dot com, dot net, dot org, dot cc, dot pn, or dot whatever.

I can’t wait for the domainers to read this because they will come in and argue that ccTLDs like dot pn don’t do well and that dot com is the only way to go. If you think you are a domain expert and you are reading this, before you try, you have to know I can prove you wrong.

I can show you blogs with dot pn, dot cc, and others that are PR5 and above and have great search engine rankings for their main keyphrases. The ONLY way that dot com is better than other TLDs is IF you plan to advertise on the radio or TV. People do remember the domain name with dot com better than other TLDs.

However, on the web, they click links in search engines and on web pages or they click banners and ads and do not care what the domain name is. They use bookmarks and still do not care what TLD is at the end of your domain name.

So choose a domain name that is your exact key phrase you want to target in whatever TLD it is available in. Some ccTLDs will cost you more money. You might have to pay as much as $100 per year for your domain name. OMG!

Again, if your business plan will not support getting the domain name you want, then maybe you should re-examine your business plan.

Now I’ll probably get the SEO gurus saying the domain name does not matter. Again, if you are an seo expert and plan to say thyat then I warn you I can prove you wrong there as well.

I can show you many many blogs with the number one listing in google that have the exact key phrase they are targeting as their domain name.

And before you say it, of course JUST having the domain name that matches your key phrase does not automatically mean you will rank high in the search engines for that phrase. But you want to do everything you can to get those listings and it all starts with the domain name.

So the domain name is worth the investment. Invest in the domain you want. Don’t settle for something that will not help you such as abbreviations only you understand or made up words no one will ever search for just to save a few dollars.

I know I planned to continue blogging about blog directories, but I’ve decided to go back to the basics and to the beginning to help people get started on making some money on the web.

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