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huggytree
06-20-2010, 09:15 AM
i got an alert today from google that someone took my website name

instead of waukeshaplumbing.com they got waukeshaplumbing.org

i assume there's nothing i can do about it...wish i would have bought it

im still #1,#2 on google...he's #5

the business i gain from my website is almost 0, but it bugs me.

can anyone buy the .com, .org , .net names???

Business Attorney
06-20-2010, 10:31 AM
Yes, anyone can buy the .com, .net and .org names (and also names with most other TLDs such as .biz and .mobi). I believe that in the early days there used to be a restriction on the .org names but not any more. There are still restrictions on some domains, such as .us, where you must have some connection with the US.

If someone owns a trademark in the name, they may be able to get the name back through a WIPO action, but that costs a few thousand dollars.

The lesson for anyone here is that if you don't want someone else to buy a URL, the practical answer is to buy it yourself.

On the other hand, I occasionally get emails from some registrar in the far east falsely claiming that someone has tried to register one of my domains with a .cn (China) or .hk (Hong Kong). Then they try to sell you the domain with the .cn, .hk, .tw, and .asia CCTLDs, as well as variants such as .com.cn, .org.cn and .net.cn. Plus, their reg fees are pretty high. I guess they figure if someone is enough of a sucker to buy a dozen ccTLDs, they won't know that $99 a year is a rip off.

billbenson
06-20-2010, 03:30 PM
Huggy, I just did a search and you didn't come up on the list of local plumbers in G either. You came up 1 (I think) in the natural SERPS and he came up about 5. Just FYI

Spider
06-20-2010, 04:27 PM
Yes, and the other company - Clear View Plumbing - has optimized his front page for Waukesha Plumbing, rather than Clear View Plumbing. Even though Waukesha Plumbing is a legitimate term for him - he is a plumber and he works in Waukesha - it does seem like a direct attempt to steal traffic.

Interesting! What would the SEO experts here recommend?

nealrm
06-20-2010, 04:53 PM
Since he is using the name of your business on the website I would check to see if he is violating your trademark. Per the US trademark site "You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark." Since you have been in business for years, I would check if that counts as legitimate use. You won't be able to get the site taken down but he may have to remove the "Waukesha Plumbing" wording. You can get more trademark info here - Basic Facts About Trademarks (http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/Basic_Facts_Trademarks.jsp)

On the SEO front, this guy appears to be one step ahead of Huggytree. First I would suggest that HuggyTree adds a link to his site in his signature using "Waukesha Plumbing" as the anchor text. That will help to keep Huggytree at the top. I also suggest working on getting links for site related to plumbing. He also needs to register with Google as a local business. It's free advertising.

Business Attorney
06-20-2010, 09:40 PM
Since he is using the name of your business on the website I would check to see if he is violating your trademark. Per the US trademark site "You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark." Since you have been in business for years, I would check if that counts as legitimate use. You won't be able to get the site taken down but he may have to remove the "Waukesha Plumbing" wording.

Although common law trademarks are established by use, and are determined by courts based on state common law, I suspect that huggy would have a hard time enforcing rights in a name that consisted of the name of the town and the type of service he provides. I can't imagine a court giving a Chicago photographer rights to "Chicago Photography," a New York delicatessen "New York Deli," a Las Vegas resort "Las Vegas Hotel" or a Memphis Realtor "Memphis Real Estate" just because the business chose that very generic and descriptive name for its business in those locations.

Now, if a restaurant in Chicago opened with the name "Memphis," or a hotel opened in Memphis called "The Las Vegas," that would be different. Depending on prior usage in the area, I could see the business acquiring rights in those names.

It runs against the concept of trademarks to tell every other plumber in Waukesha that he can't use "Waukesha" and "plumbing" together to advertise that he does plumbing in Waukesha.

Harold Mansfield
06-20-2010, 10:10 PM
i got an alert today from google that someone took my website name


Google doesn't send out alerts concerning domain name registration to owners of similar domains. Registrars do that.

They are a licensed domain registrar, but unless something has changed, are not in the domain business.
I would check the validity of this alert.

On the other note, is waukeshaplumbing the name of your business? Or just the domain that you use?

If it is not the actual name of your business, unless you have it (waukeshaplumbing) trademarked, there is nothing you can do about it.

nealrm
06-21-2010, 08:06 AM
David,
True, It's hard to enforce a trademark based on a name and a service. However it has been done. Example - St. Louis Bread Company (started in St. Louis). For those of you thinking about naming you business reread David's statement 10 or 15 times.

In this case look how the page is designed. This is not a case of using "Waukesha" and "Plumbing" together in an effort to promote a plumbing company in Waukesha. Instead the page design appears to be more of an effort to use Huggytrees business name to promote another competing company. The use of "Waukesha Plumbing" is awkward and little was done on the page to promote the term "Clear View Plumbing". In addition the page title is setup in a manner so that "Waukesha Plumbing" is prominent and "Clear View Plumbing" is completly hidden.

Truly not the best case, but maybe enough that a well written letter might scare him into changing the page a little.

Huggytree, another suggestion. There are 6 commen dot extension. Buy the 4 that are remaining and place advertisment for you on those pages. It will cost you about $50 per year. (Very cheap advertising) Be sure to make them different and optimized for your company name. With a little luck, you maybe able to knock the other goy down and off the front page.

cbscreative
06-21-2010, 10:51 AM
Since the legal battle could be very expensive, I would go for the SEO approach to outrank him. I suspect if the competitor is lazy enough to try to steal your name to get ranked, he probably lacks the knowhow or stamina to counteract some good SEO. The best way to respond IMO is to bury him so deep that no one ever sees the site.

Business Attorney
06-21-2010, 02:12 PM
I suspect if the competitor is lazy enough to try to steal your name to get ranked, he probably lacks the knowhow or stamina to counteract some good SEO.

I think there are 3 assumptions in this quote that are likely wrong: that the competitor is lazy, that his intent is to "steal the name" and that he lacks the knowhow (or at least the resources of someone who does) to counteract good SEO.

Well, I can't really comment on the lazy part, but from what I see of the competitor's website, I don't see a basis for assuming that he is trying to steal the name or lacks knowledge in SEO (or, more likely, has someone working with his website who does have an understanding of SEO).

Let's see. If you were advising someone who wanted to attract business to his website and he ran a plumbing company in Waukesha, Wisconsin, what key words would you want to rank highly for? If you don't name "waukesha" and "plumbing" in your top 3 three key words, then I would probably not hire you for my SEO work. Ranking for the plumber's own name is secondary (or even lower) since he really wants to find someone looking for a plumber, not someone looking for him. The former is like using the yellow pages and the latter is like using the white pages of the phone book. Who wants to limit their marketing to people who are already looking for them?

If your client's competitor had the foresight or luck to choose a name that had your client's top key words, would you completely cede those key words and choose key words that were much less relevant to your client's business, or would you try to still rank your client's website for the most appropriate key words?

Now, if your client's key words are "waukesha" and "plumbing", what is one of the oldest and still best ways to let the search engines know what his site is about? The answer I see repeatedly and have done very well with is, "Get a domain name with the key words in it." If the .com is not available, the common recourse is to get a URL with another TLD.

Next, for your client to rank well for his key words, one of the basic SEO rules is to put the key words in the page title. Why should a plumber in Waukesha not put the words "waukesha" and "plumbing" in the title of his home page?

Looking at huggy's competitor's actual page, it seems he has done all the basic SEO steps. Following basic SEO steps is not stealing huggy's name. Huggy has a great business name for SEO purposes, but that does not give him exclusivity with respect to the words "waukesha" and "plumbing."

I think trying to push huggy's competitor off the front page is the wrong approach and will be difficult to achieve. Huggy would be much better off concentrating his efforts on his own SEO to maintain his #1 ranking for his key words.

Spider
06-21-2010, 02:48 PM
... from what I see of the competitor's website, I don't see a basis for assuming that he is trying to steal the name or lacks knowledge in SEO ...I have to agree with David's post in general and with the above point in particular.

In my post, I said...
..Even though Waukesha Plumbing is a legitimate term for him - he is a plumber and he works in Waukesha - it does seem like a direct attempt to steal traffic... ... and I think there is a difference between stealing a name and stealing traffic. Stealing traffic is what SEO is all about, isn't it? That's why we go through the machinations of using particular words in particular locations on a webpage - to manipulate the SE to recognize our page as more relevant to the search term than other pages. It is legitimate "stealing."

"Stealing a name" is something quite different and less benign, and I don't see Clear View Plumbing as guilty of that. Perhaps their's is an example of good SEO.

Harold Mansfield
06-21-2010, 03:06 PM
The bigger picture is, what is the actual name of your company?

If it is not "waukeshaplumbing", without a trademark on it, you really don't have a leg to stand on legally.

Big lesson learned. In hind site, 'waukeshaplumbing' is a good domain for a plumber in Waukesha. You really can't ask for a much better keyword combination.
For $10 a pop, I would have registered at least the .com, .net, and .org...probably the .us as well. $40. You probably could have gotten the .info even cheaper and that would have built a little fortress around your real estate.

Business Attorney
06-21-2010, 03:58 PM
The bigger picture is, what is the actual name of your company?

If it is not "waukeshaplumbing", without a trademark on it, you really don't have a leg to stand on legally.


In one of my earlier posts, I was trying to say, in too many words and examples, what is said very succinctly at uspto.gov:


Under U.S. trademark law, geographic terms or signs are not registrable as trademarks if they are geographically descriptive ... of where the goods/services originate. The theory is that other producers in that area would need to be able to use a geographic term to describe where their goods/services are from and that one person should not be able to prevent others from using that term.

The same is true of words that describe type or essential nature of the goods or services. The mark cannot be merely descriptive.

In other words, a plumber in Waukesha cannot claim a trademark on Waukesha Plumbing even if that is his business name. There is no "if he doesn't have a trademark" or "if he has a trademark." He doesn't and can't.

The words "waukesha" and "plumbing" are descriptive words that his competitors are free to use because the words describe his competitors just as much as they describe his own business.

If someone wants to create a trademark, they need to choose a name that is not merely descriptive. There may be marketing reasons why a business would prefer a generic, descriptive name over a distinctive one, but doing so means there is little, if anything, they can do to protect their name.

That is why companies that are building a brand choose names like Google, Flickr, YouTube and Facebook which do not describe the underlying product or service. You don't find someone building a major business named "Search Engine," "Photo Sharing Website," "Video Sharing Website," or "Social Network." On the other hand, those are great keywords and a small business that could have grabbed one of those as its business name and URL would find a lot of value in the names even if they could never be protected by trademark. It's a tradeoff.

By the same token, Dave may find that Waukesha Plumbing is a name that is perfect for his business, but the downside is that he can't make those words proprietary like Google or Flickr can with their names.

cbscreative
06-21-2010, 04:28 PM
I probably should have pointed out that my comments were not based off the site itself, but an earlier post indicating that the competitor appeared to be emphasizing the domain as their company name and potentially trying to pose as Dave's company.

I didn't mean for my comment to be any kind of accusation, which is why it's worded as a suspicion based obviously on an assumption with an opinion offered. That automatically means I could be wrong. But in my experience, if the assumption turns out to be true, then the solution would work.

There, if I didn't just make things more confusing, then it should clear things up. :)

This could easily be one of two things just as others have noted. It could be someone trying to deliberately come off as Dave's company. Or, it could just be they wanted to optimize for the area and took advantage of the .org availability. Dave still has the advantage with the .com either way.

huggytree
06-21-2010, 09:09 PM
my business is registered on Google...i dont live in the city of Waukesha...i live in Waukesha County.....i chose the name because im very close to the city of Waukesha and its a large area.

if you typed in Plumber Mukwonago,WI id come up

when i type in Waukesha Plumbing i have the #1 and #2 spot...that #2 spot is new...does that mean people are viewing that area of my website more?

ill just deal with it...i will have words with the owner of Clear View when i run into him next....i think its an obvious attempt to take over my website presence......

in the end i get almost nothing from my website....few thousand a year at best....less than 1%

Steve B
06-22-2010, 07:42 AM
I took a look at the site and it seems pretty clear that he's trying to get the traffic that otherwise would have gone to HT. There is some text that doesn't seem logical - unless he was trying to get some of HT's traffic. For instance "Whether you need Waukesha plumbing repairs, maintenance, or new installations, the experts at Clear View Plumbing, Inc. will get the job done." It seems to me it would have been more logical to say "if you live in Waukesh and need plumbing repairs ...".

Anyway, since HT's name can't be trademarked, I'd have to say the other guy is just being smart since he's not doing anything illegal. HT probably gets lots of business because of his name having a good local feel to it, but this is the trade off.

Harold Mansfield
06-22-2010, 01:27 PM
I think that you are looking at this all wrong..sort of like you have some entitlement on the web that no one can attempt to rank and get traffic for "Waukesha Plumbing " and that simply is not how the web works.

When you want to control a term, phrase or even domain (s), you either out SEO everyone, or register every domain that is even remotely close to protect your "territory".
You didn't do that and someone found a loop hole that you left open.

There is no attempt to muddy the name of your company or confuse potential customers because that's not the name of your company...it's simply the domain you choose for it online.

You don't really have a right to say anything to the domain owner. He has every right to market his business to people in Waukesha , who are looking for plumbing. You don't own the rights to keep people away from marketing using those terms.

Anything that you say to the domain owner will sound like sour grapes.
We have had this discussion here many times about protecting your terms online and you have enjoyed sole ownership of the keywords for sometime and NEVER thought to register the other popular extensions?

I'd be upset too, but not at the guy, at yourself because for $10, you could have avoided this and you knew it this whole time.

I have a lot of domains that I only have the one extension for, but on the ones that I'm really serious about...I'll register what ever I don't want someone else to have.

I'm not bagging on you Huggy, but you really just learned and taught a valuable lesson about how the web works.

nealrm
06-22-2010, 08:17 PM
There is no attempt to muddy the name of your company or confuse potential customers because that's not the name of your company...it's simply the domain you choose for it online.
That's the issue - it is the name of HT's company. The way that the term is used on the page and in the title does appear to me to be an attempt to use HT business's name to promote themselves and not an attempt to place for a [Local] [Service] combination. Otherwise I would expect the title to have their company name first, followed by other terms. In addition the headings appeared to be forced into using the term and don't really flow well. Instead of say "Tracking Down the perfect plumber in Waukesha" he says "Tracking Down the Perfect Waukesha Plumbing Contractor".

Of course it could just be that the guy need to work on integrating his content better with his keywords.

As for entitlement's, I don't see that in any of that in the comments.

Harold Mansfield
06-22-2010, 08:32 PM
That's the issue - it is the name of HT's company. The way that the term is used on the page and in the title does appear to me to be an attempt to use HT business's name to promote themselves and not an attempt to place for a [Local] [Service] combination. Otherwise I would expect the title to have their company name first, followed by other terms. In addition the headings appeared to be forced into using the term and don't really flow well. Instead of say "Tracking Down the perfect plumber in Waukesha" he says "Tracking Down the Perfect Waukesha Plumbing Contractor".

Of course it could just be that the guy need to work on integrating his content better with his keywords.

As for entitlement's, I don't see that in any of that in the comments.

Ah, I thought that it wasn't his company name. Well...in the words of Gilda Radner, "Never mind".

vangogh
06-22-2010, 09:00 PM
You don't need to apologize. Other than being mistaken about huggys business name you aren't wrong. The other site has every right to try and rank for phrases around Waukesha and plumbing. If you go back to what David pointed out the name can't be trademarked. It's also pretty clear what the other company's business name is. They aren't trying to pretend they're someone they aren't. They're simply trying to get plumbing business in Waukesha.

The copy on the other site might be a little awkward in places, but it's far from being horrible. What he's written in his page title is perfectly natural for someone looking to market to the Waukesha area. Like it or not huggy doesn't own the phrase. Other people can try to compete with him.

Harold is pretty much right in everything he said above. The truth is this other site doesn't exist on that domain if huggy had thought to purchase it at any time over the last few years. (By the way huggy if the .net version is still available you probably want to register it). Also had huggy spent even a little time working on or having someone else work on the seo of his site this wouldn't be an issue.

huggy do you promote the site? You've never added a signature link here. Why not? Is your site address on your business card? Invoices you give to customers? Is it in brochures? Any ads you place anywhere? Maybe it is. I don't know, but I'm suggesting it should be if it isn't. Submitting the site to the Google local listings isn't enough. If you want the site to do well you have to work at helping it do well.

The new .org site isn't optimized all that well either. It does a few things right, but it also misses quite a few things too. We're not talking about particularly competitive phrases here either. This thread is currently ranking around #30 for the phrase "waukesha plumbing" It's showing #17 for me if I wrap quotes around the phrase. Truth is I could probably have this thread ranking #1 with a few weeks worth of work. Top 5 definitely. The exact match domains might trump anything I could do within a few weeks time.

This is simply called competition. You don't get to tell other sites that can't compete with you because you want to hold on to a #1 ranking. If you want to hold onto it you have to work at it. If you don't work at it then accept that someone else might take it away from you.

huggytree
06-22-2010, 09:34 PM
my website is on everything. stickers,cards,letterhead,bids,invoices, my truck.

im proud of my website and spent a lot of time on it. i use it as a sales tool for customers i meet with. i tell them to visit my website to learn more about my company.

i wanted it to bring in more business, but 1% of my annual sales is all it does....he can have 10% of my 1%....any money he spent will be wasted...i dont know why it bugs me, but it does...someone is plotting to take my customers...i plot to take theirs, but dont think much about people doing the same to me

vangogh
06-22-2010, 10:04 PM
I'm glad the address if everywhere that's good.


but 1% of my annual sales is all it does

You might not like me saying this, but the truth is you don't really put in a as much as you think when it comes to the site. Again why not add a link to your site in your signature? Do you work to get links from other sites? Those kind of things are what helps the site to rank. You've been ranking #1 for some good terms, but that may change now with the .org site.

Also while you have local listings at Google and other places your site isn't visible in them. In those few local sites that show up above the regular results you want to be one of those few sites and ideally the first one on the list. The last time I checked Google your site was a few pages back in those local listings. People aren't going to find it. Getting more links pointing into the site, especially from local sources like the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses will help.

Are you measuring how your site performs. Do you have Google Analytics set up? Do you know how much traffic you get and how many and what pages it views on your site? Websites are never done. You build the site and measure to see what's happening and then work to improve it. Do you know how many customers who call you first found you by visiting your website. People do find sites first and then look for the number to call.

It's obviously your decision, but there are more things you can be doing with the site to bring that 1% of annual sales up.

Steve B
06-23-2010, 05:38 AM
I bet you're missing a lot of opportunities if you're only getting 1% from the internet.

I get closer to 20% of my business that way. There are a lot of people that throw the phone book away before it ever gets into the house.

Re: putting a link on this site. I no longer put a link on this forum because these posts also get found by search engines. You may not want your competition or your customers to see your posts.

Harold Mansfield
06-23-2010, 09:34 AM
You know, as much as I have no idea where my Yellow Pages book is right now, or what it's propping up, I still think that I would look to it for a plumber, electrician, or some kind of repair service before the internet.

Hopefully they do have a website listed, because I am going to want to see it too.

I can't explain why. The same with certain other types of businesses that I need locally, Dry Cleaners, Shoe Repair, ...I don't know why.
It still just seems like the easier place to find stuff like that. Also I know that every business is not online, so I will not get a complete listing.

It also seems that if a business is on the Yellow Book (or what ever they call it) that it has been around for a while. I know that is completely unfounded, but when I see Yellow Pages, I think "old school"...experienced.

(Wow, I should get a consulting job for the Yellow Pages)

Patrysha
06-23-2010, 10:47 AM
You know, as much as I have no idea where my Yellow Pages book is right now, or what it's propping up, I still think that I would look to it for a plumber, electrician, or some kind of repair service before the internet.

I know where ours is...it was tossed out onto the upstairs deck by the kids when they were playing some sort of army game and was doused in the last rainstorm...so pretty much utterly useless now except as the base camp they had turned it into.

I wouldn't have used it anyway...my method of finding a service professional (if I couldn't think of any off the top of my head...which is rare since I know, or at least know of, most of them) is calling someone I trust and asking their recommendations.

If I were to look them up online it would've been to look up their phone number...most of them do not have websites, but nearly all of them are listed in the local business directories.

vangogh
06-23-2010, 11:38 AM
I found both my electrician and plumber through the internet. I know exactly where my phone book is, but I haven't opened one in years.

KristineS
06-23-2010, 12:16 PM
I don't use the phone book any more and, if I did, I'd look for companies that had their website listed. I always check websites before I hire someone. I just feel like it gives me a better picture of who they are as a company.

Steve B
06-23-2010, 02:04 PM
I agree that Plumbers and Electricians are going to be about the last categories to be successful in the phone books. I just can't imagine at this point that the internet would only account for 1% of his sales unless that part of the country is seriously computer/internet phobic. I'll bet if he gave his website and SEO some attention - that number would climb significantly.

vangogh
06-23-2010, 02:23 PM
Only huggy could tell us for certain, but I suspect there's not much going on in terms of measuring where calls are coming from. It's not uncommon for someone to visit the a site, find the phone number, and give a call. On the receiving end we don't necessarily make the connection that the call actually originated through the website.

An obvious thing to do is ask people where they heard about you, but that's only going to be so accurate, since people may have come across you in several places prior to calling. You could set up a unique phone number that's only displayed on your website or you could offer some kind of discount that's only displayed through the site.

You can even set up your site where people click a button and the site rings your phone and the customer's phone. That way you can track even more like where that customer came from and what they did on your site prior to visiting. I think Google has a set up to let you do this for free and I think they also allow you to create unique phone numbers that can be forwarded to one single number on your end.

nealrm
06-23-2010, 03:15 PM
I have found the yellow pages to be extremly usefull. I use it as a listing of potential advertisers for my site.

AGirlyGirl
07-27-2010, 04:31 PM
So what if someone (A) who was contracted to do business for another person (B) purposly cancelled a domain name for(B) to eliminate their(B) website and puposely cause them(B) to loose business?

Harold Mansfield
07-27-2010, 04:47 PM
So what if someone (A) who was contracted to do business for another person (B) purposly cancelled a domain name for(B) to eliminate their(B) website and puposely cause them(B) to loose business?

That can't happen if you register your own domains. Never let someone else register your domain in their name and that will never be a problem.

vangogh
07-27-2010, 07:18 PM
True. I always make my clients go through the process of registering domains for themselves. I'll walk them through if they need the help, but I want them to have the domain in their name. If they don't mind giving me a credit card I'll sometimes do it for them, but I always want the domain to be in their name, not mine, for their protection.

billbenson
07-27-2010, 10:45 PM
True. I always make my clients go through the process of registering domains for themselves. I'll walk them through if they need the help, but I want them to have the domain in their name. If they don't mind giving me a credit card I'll sometimes do it for them, but I always want the domain to be in their name, not mine, for their protection.

In fact I would consider that to be a credibility factor in using a web design company or individual. If they were to suggest they do the registration or don't tell you and the registration goes to the design company (or web hosts that have design platforms), take your business elsewhere. It leaves you wide open to abuses and scams.

vangogh
07-28-2010, 12:12 AM
Unfortunately many people wouldn't realize its a credibility factor until it's too late. I doubt most people realize how important it is to register their own domain. It's the difference between owning your home and renting it from someone who could decide not to renew your lease at any time.

cbscreative
07-28-2010, 12:59 PM
Unfortunately many people wouldn't realize its a credibility factor until it's too late. I doubt most people realize how important it is to register their own domain. It's the difference between owning your home and renting it from someone who could decide not to renew your lease at any time.

You could be right, vg, but research would be very easy. The advice to avoid getting taken is all over the Internet. I even have pages dedicated to educating those who want to learn, and it includes a warning against not registering your own domain, along with reasons like those stated here. Smart business people spend a great deal of time planning and researching. Even then, the failure rates are over 80%. But I'm sure those stats include all the half baked businesses that fail because of little or no planning, and a refusal to heed advice or follow proven principles.

Unfortunately, this is not something a person is likely to think of on their own, and there are too many wolves looking to take advantage of the uninformed.

vangogh
07-28-2010, 02:08 PM
research would be very easy

Very true. The question is how many people will have done that research prior to deciding who to contact to design their site. If they haven't done the research how much of a selling point can it be. I like your idea of having a page on your site about it and talking through the issue with potential clients can certainly help establish trust and help close the deal. Is it a selling point though? Maybe. I'm not really sure.

cbscreative
07-28-2010, 03:04 PM
I like your idea of having a page on your site about it and talking through the issue with potential clients can certainly help establish trust and help close the deal. Is it a selling point though? Maybe. I'm not really sure.

I've never considered it a selling point. It's more a matter of trust as you said, but it also serves as a way to give back in a similar way to what we do here sharing knowledge. On the plus side, it makes good link bait. On the downside, sometimes content thieves help themselves to it. I don't mind them sharing and passing on, but presenting stolen content as if they wrote it undermines the integrity they are trying to portray. Kind of ironic, really, but that's another subject.

lav
07-30-2010, 12:13 AM
out of interest I searched for Waukesha plumbing today and noticed that Clearview is now ranking above huggys site. Its obvious this guy is working on it and unfortunately for huggy he's doing a good job of it.......

lav
07-30-2010, 12:15 AM
Oh and I forgot to mention this thread is looking to overtake both of you as it ranks #7 for the same search terms lol

Patrysha
07-30-2010, 08:24 AM
Dave's site shows up first for me, but the other site shows up below the map on my computer. Looks like the site found a good offline biz consultant or learned the basics for themselves.

vangogh
08-02-2010, 12:21 AM
This thread will probably continue to do well. I suspect the forum has built up more authority with Google than some of the local plumbers.

huggytree
08-12-2010, 09:02 PM
today Google alerted me to yet another company stealing my name....this time its Waukesha Plumbing Service

its a local guy who has 10+ company names...his company is Dave Burns Plumbing, but he uses all sorts of different names...he has a website for each of them and also different phone book names....its weird...the funny part is he has a cheesy picture of his crew on his homepage...very red neck looking...i dont see women hiring this guy from that photo....its a bit scary looking...

is everyone targeting my web name?

lav
08-12-2010, 09:27 PM
is everyone targeting my web name?Everyone except you huggy by the looks of it.....
I dont really think they are targeting your business I think these guys could have a genuine reason for wanting these names it just happens that your business name is very generic.

I just dont understand why you are getting "alerted by google"...... how do you get that?

huggytree
08-13-2010, 10:18 PM
any time Waukesha and Plumbing are used i get alerted!

you can sign up on google for it...if anyone gives me a review it will show up...i find many things that other plumbers are doing.....i find new sites to get listed in

vangogh
08-14-2010, 02:14 AM
So why not buy some of these domains yourself before another company buys the next one? No one is steal your business name here. They're all just doing smart marketing. Here's one to buy if it's not already taken waukeshaplumbingservices.com


i find many things that other plumbers are doing

That's a good thing, but sometimes you want to beat them to it instead of finding out after they've done it. Spend a few minutes with the Google AdWords Keyword tool (https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__u=1000000000&__c=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS#search.none). Type in your business name (as 2 words) and you'll get lots of suggestions for phrases that someone might use as a domain. For $10/year why not stop the next plumber from competing on your name?

br301005
08-31-2010, 06:36 AM
Get your webpage listed in the Google Local Add on the Map.

You currently in position 1 & 2 and this will give you another listing on the page.
www.google.com/local/add (http://www.google.com/local/add)

Huggy Tree:
These other plumbing firms are just picking the Key Words that someone types into Google when they are looking for a plumber.

You just happened to name your business the same as this key word, a generic phrase, which is great, and that just the way a Google search works.

A strategy to block these firms from gaining access to the domains is to buy them yourself. You may have a $200 budget per year to own a few domain names to stop the other firms from developing websites. Forget the Europe & UK names, you would need to focus on the .me, .co, .info, .us, .biz,

The domain names are generic, and are available to the public for a fee.

This problem you are facing is only going to get worse as the other plumbing firms learn about internet marketing or employ someone to do it for them.

The $200 could be consider part of your marketing budget, and they are also assets, so they could be sold with the business at a later stage.