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jamesray50
12-08-2010, 11:45 PM
How many years do you register your domain name for? The name I originally wanted was already taken so I added the dash between each word: top-notch-bookkeeping. Now the domain is up for auction on GoDaddy (topnotchbookkeeping) without the dashes. The auction is up in two days and I suppose if no one bids on it then it will be for sale. Would it be worth if for me to buy that domain? :confused:

Spider
12-09-2010, 12:00 AM
Depending on the amount, I would definitely say, yes, but only if it is the .com

I think, too, it would be worth paying a little extra to buy it in auction. It is too easy for someone to secure it before you, once it is available for registering.

Business Attorney
12-09-2010, 01:09 AM
I would definitely say yes. While you can register a domain for $10, even if you had to pay a couple of hundred dollars, think of how little that really is compared to the time and effort you have already put into your website.

Conventional wisdom is that many people will leave out the hyphens. Whether that is true or not, why take a chance when you can pick up the name without the hyphens?

billbenson
12-09-2010, 01:17 AM
A couple of thoughts on domain names. One is branding which would make topnotchbookkeeping a good choice. It's pretty long though. Remember with the domain you will probably want to use it for email addresses. joellen @ topnotchbookkeeping.com is a lot of typing and prone to misspellings. From an email standpoint hyphens are hard to type and may create errors. Have you thought about something like TNbookkeeping? Remember domain names aren't case sensative so you can change that around as you see fit.

Another thing to think about in a domain name is SEO value. A domain name with keywords in it will frequently help SEO. The only keyword in topnotchbookkeeping is bookkeeping. If your target market is small businesses (I'm only using this as an example), SmallBusinessBookkeeping could be a good choice. To long again, but you get the idea. There was a time that separating the keywords with a hyphen in a domain helped google figure out the site keywords. That's probably not necessary today, but something to consider.

Of course you don't have to use your main site domain for email and it doesn't need to match your company name. I have a keyword rich domain and it doesn't have anything to do with my company name. For the way I market my products the keyword rich domain is more important than branding. In fact I do zero branding. It's just one business model that works for me.

Also you will see people register multiple domains and redirect them to the main domain. You might want to register topnotchbookkeeping .com, .net, .us and top-notch-bookkeeping.com and redirect some or all to your main site. This might be done for branding reasons or to keep competitors from taking your name and registering a .net with it for example.

There have been instances where domains that you search for are registered by domain name squatters the next day. If you see a domain you like its usually best to go ahead and register it. If you don't use it, you only lost $10.

Consider using private registration for domains you register as well. Email harvesters will look at your whois information and send you both mail and email spam or scams with this information. If you keep it private, they can't do that.

Just a few things to think about...

Harold Mansfield
12-09-2010, 01:18 AM
If the price is not too astronomical, I would. Funny how domains that are similar to ones you've already registered mysteriously all of a sudden come up for auction.

Spider
12-09-2010, 09:15 AM
Following on from what Bill has said - you don't only need one domain - you can use several for your business.

If you can get topnotchbookkeeping you can keep the top-notch-bookkeeping and forward one to the other = one website, two addresses. Set up e-mail for both of them and forward them both to a third e-mail address that is easier to type but less useful as a URL.

I just checked and topnbk .com is available. Look how short and easy to type that can be -- je @ topnbk .com That's a terrific e-mail address.

jamesray50
12-09-2010, 10:51 AM
I just placed a bid on topnotchbookkeeping.com for $12. Only 3 people have even looked at it. The auction doesn't end for a couple more days, but I think I have a good chance of getting it. I have no idea how to forward one domain to the other. I checked the whois on the website a while back and it was owned by a lady in Canada. It was registered a year ago. I guess her business just didn't do any good. Of course mine is going to do better. As for shortening my email address, I hadn't condsired that because I figured most people just clicked on the email link rather than typed in the email address, so it wouldn't make any difference how long it was. Am I wrong?

vangogh
12-09-2010, 11:39 AM
On your first question of how long to register a domain I usually register most of mine for a year or two and then keep renewing. There's no reason why though. You can register them as long or short as you like.

You already bid on the non dash domain, but I was going to say you should. You could buy up as many domains as you want around your brand. A domain is relatively inexpensive after all. I wouldn't register every similar domain, but owning .com, .net, and .org might make sense. I do think the non-dash version will be better as people won't have to remember to include the dashes. Had your site been online awhile I might say to stick with what you have, but I think it's relatively new so it wouldn't be too hard to switch to a new domain. If you do decide to switch domains know there are some issues with search engines as well as people not knowing where you moved to. There are ways to deal with that so if you get to the point where you have another domain and want to switch everything to it ask the question of how here and we can walk you through what you need to do.

Spider
12-09-2010, 12:46 PM
If this is an eBay type auction (and even if it's not, I suppose) know that some people will wait to the very last minute to bid. If this were eBay, I would consider 3 bids two days ahead of close to be indicative of some interest.

Here's what I would do if I really, really wanted this domain name--

1. I would not bid at all until the very last minute.

2. If the rules were like eBay - where the bid increments are set and the winning bid is always that increment over the next highest bid - I would bid very high during the last 15 seconds.

Here's how this works on Ebay (or did the last time I bid for anything)--

a) If the bidding has reached $10, let's say, and the bid increments are $1. That means you would be required to bid not less than $11. You bid $11 and the next bidder must bid at least $12.

b) If you were to bid $20 in the above scenerio, the site would show your bid as $11 ($10 plus the $1 increment)

c) Another bidder comes along and bids $12 (against your showing $11 bid)

d) But you have $20 on this, so the system automatically puts you ahead at a bid of $13

e) the other fellow must bid again - $14. Again the system ups the display to $15 latest bid - that's your automatic bid.

f) Every bid under the $20 you have staked gets beaten by you until the bidding reaches $20 and the autiomatic bidding stops for you.

g) suppose the time runs out and the other bidder is the last actual bid at $18. You still get it because your earlier bid of $20 is higher and you get the item for $19 - his $18 plus the $1 increment.

But all of that took time and the other bidder might have gone on and beaten you but he ran out of time.

So, if you really, really want this domain name, and you are highest bid right now at $20, I would expect there to be at least one other person waiting in the wings until the auction reaches deadline. He will come in at the last minute and take it from you with a last-second higher bid, giving you no time to retalliate with a higher bid.

How do you counter this?

Decide what the highest amount you would be prepared to pay for this domain name. If this was me, I would consider having the unhyphenated domain name would be worth $500. If someone had it up for sale for $500, I would think it worth it to you in the long run. But suppose you wouldn't spend $500 if it was for sale, and suppose you would pay $250 if it were for sale.

Log on to this auction at least 15 minutes before the closing time.

Watch and wait. Make sure your computer is all set up ready so you can make a bid with only seconds to spare. Pull up the bidding form and have it ready, with the full amount you are prepared to pay entered and whatever else, so all you have to do it hit the 'Enter' key.

Then, no matter what the bidding is (unless it has already passed your $250 limit) hit the Enter key at 10 seconds to go. If the bidding has reached $45 bid $250. If it has reached $100, bid $250. Whatever the highest bid is , bid your $250.

If the you beat a $150 bid and the increments were $5, you will get the domain for $155, even though you bid $250. (Unless, of course, he is playing the same game and has a bid in for $300 in which case he beats you anyway, but now he has to pay $255 for it. If he had a bid in for $200, your $250 beats his $200 but you have to pay $205. Get it?)

If that isn't clear, let me know and I'll try again. Just make sure that the bidding at THIS auction functions as I descrbed above.

Have fun!

jamesray50
12-09-2010, 01:04 PM
I've bid on ebay and other auction sites before and have entered auto bids with the highest amount I would pay, then would check back and see that I had been outbid, and would auto bid a higher amount, and bid again. I didn't even see where I could enter an auto bid, so I don't even know if anyone else has bid on it. It just said I had to bid starting at $12. I know when I have done the auto bid if it was lower than another auto bid I would get a message saying so. Maybe I'll go back and see if there is a way to enter an auto bid. But I am unemployed right now and cannot afford to pay an arm and a leg for the domain. I couldn't believe how expensive some of the names were going for. Some of them were in the thousands of dollars!

Spider
12-09-2010, 01:13 PM
The auto bid, as you call it, is not a separate type of bid. It's just the same as any other bid.

If the bidding increment is $1 and the highest bid is $5 and you enter a bid of $10, the highest bid is then shown as $6, not the $10 that you actually bid.

grabbd
12-09-2010, 08:32 PM
As for registering the domain I use godaddy and they have an automatic renew option for each domain name. This way it automatically bills your credit card when it is about to expire for another year. I use this on several of my domains so I don't have to worry about it.

vangogh
12-09-2010, 09:37 PM
I do the same, though some domains I buy I'm not sure I want to keep so they won't automatically renew. I just get the message that they're about to expire.

grabbd
12-09-2010, 10:47 PM
True. There are some domains that I don't have set for the auto renew function. I get an email that they are about to expire and if I don't use them I just let them go.

vangogh
12-10-2010, 10:53 AM
And of course those emails start about 6 months before the domain will actually expire so you begin to train yourself to ignore them. :) Most of my domains are set to auto renew, since I'm going to renew them.

jamesray50
12-13-2010, 07:29 PM
I won the auction for the domain topnotchbookkeeping.com. But I have to wait until the 19th before I can register it in case the former owner still wants it. I'm optimistic.

Business Attorney
12-13-2010, 11:00 PM
Congratulations. Good catch.

Spider
12-13-2010, 11:52 PM
Excellent! I hope it goes through.

vangogh
12-14-2010, 01:40 AM
Congrats. Let us know how it goes on the 19th. That's not too long to wait.

Also before making any changes to your site let us know how you're wanting to use your domains. There are a few issues to consider with both search engines and real people who are familiar with your current domain. We should be able to help you set things up without causing any problems.

Paper Shredder Clay
12-14-2010, 11:40 AM
I have heard that if you have your domain name registered for 3 years or more, you might score better with SEO, because that shows more of a commitment to the site than just having a one year registration.

vangogh
12-14-2010, 04:09 PM
That was something that was going around a couple years ago. The idea being that spammers tend not to register domains past a year since they expect the domain to get banned within that year. Registering a domain longer was thought to potentially be a signal that your site wasn't spam. I doubt it could ever really be used as a signal for ranking since there are lots of reasons why people only register a domain for one year and not more.

I wouldn't make the decision of how long to register a domain on anything having to do with seo. That said if you plan on keeping the domain for more than one year there's no reason not to register it longer. Sometimes registrars will even give you a better deal if you register for longer term. But seo shouldn't be a consideration in how long to register a domain. It was likely more someone reaching for a theory than anything based on actual fact.

jamesray50
12-18-2010, 10:21 PM
Good news - I heard back from GoDaddy and I got the domain name I won in the auction, so now I also own topnotchbookkeeping.com.

Spider
12-18-2010, 10:34 PM
....... Cool!

Harold Mansfield
12-19-2010, 12:57 AM
Did you get it for the $12?

jamesray50
12-19-2010, 02:31 PM
Yes, but I had to pay $4.99 to register for the auction and then another $12 to register the domain. But it's mine so I'm okay cos it's the name I originally wanted and just settled with the one with the dashes.

501graphics
12-19-2010, 03:42 PM
I bet that overall, the domain-sans-dashes will work out better for you.

Spider
12-19-2010, 04:03 PM
Depends. My understanding is that search engines find it easier to parse hyphenated domains than unhyphenated domains. OTOH, people are more likely to remember the unhyphenated version. I'd use both.

The techies amongst us will tell you how to do that properly, I'm sure.

jamesray50
12-19-2010, 04:54 PM
I was thinking there was some way to use both for one website, but wasn't sure.

vangogh
12-20-2010, 09:59 AM
Jo Ellen you would direct one domain to point to the other. It's not going to help in regards to search engines, since they ultimately only see the resulting domain. However real people may use the 2nd domain and it prevents the competition from using it.

To set up the redirection look in the control panel for your hosting account. Look for something to set up a parked domain. The parked domain will point to the other domain so anyone typing the parked domain will end up on the other domain. I hope that makes sense.

Harold Mansfield
12-20-2010, 10:31 AM
Just to expound on what VG said. Eventually if you are going to keep both, you can use one as a landing page or mini site just to put it to use and take up one more spot in the SERP's.