The Best Domain Names For PPC and SEO

I’m a huge fan of domain names and now own several hundred domains across the dot com, dot net, dot org, dot me, dot us, dot co, dot biz, and dot info extensions. I also own over 100 developed websites across these same TLDs. Domains are the real estate of the future and one of the best investments around, in my opinion. I recently got an excellent question from a PPC Ian reader, Anthony, which I paste below.

Red and Green Apples

Hello Ian,
I came by your site via a dot co article you wrote some time ago. I am in the process of deciding wether to purchase a .co or launch a site under a .info, which the article was critical off. How has you experience been with .co, have they ranked well?
Any advice would be welcome.
Thanks,
Anthony

The post Anthony is referring to is my piece titled Dot CO Domain Names Rock. I’m thrilled to answer Anthony’s question about dot info and dot co domains in today’s post.

PPC Domain Names

The first point I want to call out here is the difference between PPC (pay per click) versus SEO (search engine optimization). If you know up front the domain will be primarily used for paid search, you will have a lot more flexibility. If you’re building a PPC only site, you can really build it on any TLD you’d like.

My main advice for paid search domains: Make sure they are keyword rich. If the keywords you’re buying are in the domain, your display URL will display bold, which in turn helps you earn a higher CTR. These days, keyword rich domains are table stakes in paid search (unless you already have a hugely recognized brand name within your industry). Of course, I always prefer an exact match dot com. Those, however, can be pricey. Quinstreet, my old employer, recently purchased CarInsurance dot com for a cool $49.7 million (domain name plus existing business). By contrast, your going to be able to pick up the same name with a dot me or dot co TLD for considerably less.

In sum: Get the best, keyword rich domain you can find for PPC. Don’t worry as much about TLD as long as it’s one of the big ones mentioned at the top of this article. Want to learn more about paid search domains? Check out my article all about PPC Domain Strategies.

Best SEO Domain Names

Let’s now look at domains for SEO (or for a hybrid PPC and SEO strategy). First and foremost, I’ve had success with all TLDs in SEO, some more than others. Of the second tier domains, dot us, dot me, and dot co are my favorites when I just can’t get the dot com dot net, or dot org (although I’m less of a dot org fan versus dot com and dot net).

There are really two point that go into this. First, I have found that search engines have a higher affinity for certain TLDs, with dot com and dot net topping the charts on Google. On Yahoo, dot com, dot net, and dot us rank the quickest and the best. You might pay more for these domains but they will rank quicker and higher, helping you recoup your investment.

Second, SEO is all about branding these days. Build a great brand and you will do quite well. Gains are exponential so I’m really focused on my top sites and recommend a single site strategy (or handful of sites strategy). I personally own over 100 active websites, but that’s because I love testing new stuff and I’m addicted to big numbers (even though this might not be the best financial decision). In my experience, it’s much easier to build a brand on a dot com or dot net domain. Therefore, if Anthony is going for an authority SEO site, I’d recommend going after a good dot com or dot net. (Side note: Check out my guide for Buying Domains on Sedo. This will come in particularly handy when buying high quality domains on the aftermarket.)

A quick distinction: While my bias is dot com, dot net, and sometimes dot us for authority SEO sites, I’m much more flexible when it comes to smaller minisites. In the case of minisites, I’d consider all the domains listed in the intro and definitely rank dot co ahead of dot info. Dot co has a ton of marketing dollars behind it and is a hot TLD right now. It screams ©commerce" and "e;commercial", making it perfect for most sites. Dot info is regarded as a cheaper domain name and has many questionable sites on it due to its ultra-cheap price for the first year on GoDaddy.

Intent of The Domain Name

I’d like to close out today with one last word of advice: Buy the TLD that most closely matches your business. Let’s say your are going to build a pure, informational site. In this case, dot info could make sense. Let’s say on the other hand, you are building a site for a non-profit organization. Of course, dot org makes the most sense. Let’s now say you are building a personal blog. In this case, dot me might be best. Last, dot us makes a ton of sense for sites that are strictly about the United States. I’ve had a ton of success with finance-oriented sites on dot us. I’m a huge fan of making sure my website strategy aligns with the true intent of the domain TLD.

As you can see, there is no clear answer since there are so many sub-questions that go into choosing the right domain name. The best news: The opportunities in domain names right now are unparalleled. My closing advice is to really think it through, but at the same time just go for it! The sooner you start, the quicker you will achieve success!

Image of red and green apples © iStockPhoto – pederk

Dot US Domain Spam Taking Over Yahoo

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 22 4

Let me start off by saying I’m a huge fan of dot us domains. Dot us is the ccTLD (country code top level domain) for the United States. It’s one of the few TLDs that does not allow private registration. The user needs to enter their full contact information for all to see who run a whois lookup. It’s really for that reason that I respect dot us so much. It’s a high quality TLD since there’s no way to hide!

Also, I’m a huge fan of dot us domains because they rank really well in Yahoo and Bing (Yahoo organic results are now powered by Bing). I’m not really sure why they rank so well, but I’ve got to think that the engineers behind the algorithm add logic that probably takes into account the fact that all dot us domains must contain valid publicly viewable whois information.

Recently, however, I have been seeing an unparalleled amount of spam in the Yahoo and Bing organic results, especially around product-focused dot us domain names. Below I’ll go through just one specific example. My takeaway: I’m still developing dot us domain names but am also treading with caution. The spam is getting bad enough that it could catch up with the TLD. I’m betting once Yahoo and Bing take notice, they’re going to take action. Now, I’m hoping they just address the violating sites, but it’s also possible they slap the entire TLD. We shall see…

Dot US Domains Are Dominating The Results

So, who am I competing against in the narrow dishwasher vertical on Yahoo and Bing? Is it the dishwasher companies themselves such as Avanti and Whirpool? No. Is it the big shopping engines such as NexTag and Shopping.com? No. Is it authority retail websites like Amazon.com? No. Surprisingly, I’m competing against a ton of strange dot us domain names that appear to be spamming the Yahoo and Bing search results. Check out the screenshot below and visit a few of those dot us websites. Most of them look the same. They are old school looking websites that include a bunch of AdSense ads and Amazon product feeds. As I navigate around, it’s impossible to find a privacy policy, terms and conditions, or even a contact us.

The really interesting part: A lot of these dot us domains aren’t even that good (they’re not expensive exact match domain names and don’t really have any resell value). It’s not really the root domain that’s doing the ranking. It’s the combination of using smart subdomains with the root domain that’s building keyword-rich domains which end up ranking for important keywords. I’ve been seeing these types of dot us domains across most of the product verticals in which I’m competing.

I’m Still Investing In Dot US Domain Names

I’m fascinated with this stuff! At the end of the day, I’m a huge fan of dot us domain names. I continue to buy and build dot us domains, especially in the financial services vertical. At the same time, I do wonder what will happen when Yahoo and Bing recognize the depths of the dot us domains taking over their search results. While I’m hoping they will just penalize these domain names, it could affect the entire TLD.

Image of US Flag © iStockPhoto – MistikaS

It’s The Ideal Time To Buy Dot ME Domains

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jul 31 15

In my last post, I really enjoyed discussing dot co domain names. It seems like dot co is on fire right now and everyone has at least a few in their portfolio. I’m thrilled that I picked up a handful myself. Today, however, I’d like to shift gears and talk about another great TLD, dot me. I’m going to make the argument today that it’s the absolute perfect time to register dot me domain names, more so than any other TLD on the market!

Dot ME Was The Hot Topic of July, 2008

Dot ME Domains

It was on July 19, 2008 that I registered my first dot me domain. In the weeks that followed, I accumulated many great dot me names such as DRIP.me (I’m a big fan of DRIP investing, or dividend reinvestment plans). It made perfect sense: Dot me was all over the press and it was a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Really, July 2008 was just like July 2010! However, it was all about dot me at the time and now it’s all about dot co.

Very quickly, however, most of the best dot me domains got registered. The folks at the dot me registry did such a great job promoting their TLD that all the top domains were gone pretty much as soon as August, 2008 rolled around. July 2010 sure reminds me of July 2008. If you see a great dot co, register it now! Otherwise, it will be gone.

Dot ME Domains Are Dropping Like Crazy

Here’s the craziest part of July 2010! With all the hype around dot co, people are forgetting that it’s been two full years since dot me had its big debut. What does two years mean, you ask? It means the first dot me domains that were registered are starting to drop! We’re in a rough economy right now and people may not have the funds to renew their dot me domains. Moreover, many of the early investors in dot me may have been hoping for a quick sale that they never got. One thing is for sure: Dot me domains are dropping and I’m absolutely amazed at some of the names I have been able to pick up over the last week.

I mentioned above that I picked up DRIP.me back in 2008 because I’m a fan of DRIP investing (dividend reinvestment plans). Well, just last week I picked up Dividend.me as a hand registration on GoDaddy. I was absolutely shocked that I got this domain (49,500 exact searches/month and 1,500,000 phrase searches/month) in addition to a few others that are even better. Each and every day, I continue to find great dot me domains that I’m able to hand register because they dropped. I’m honestly having better luck with dot me than dot co because there’s little hype around dot me right now, creating the investment opportunity of a lifetime. If you thought you missed the boat back in 2008, it’s now your time to get the dot me domains you really want!

Why I’m a Huge Fan of Dot ME

In my last post, I discussed many reasons why dot co is an amazing TLD. Today, I’d like the make the case that dot me is just as powerful as dot co, in its own unique way. First and foremost, dot me is personal. So many domains have that amazing personal tone when you add "me" as the TLD. Let’s look at the two examples discussed above, DRIP.me and Dividend.me. Both of these have such a nice ring to them. They’re personal. They’re user-centric. They’re domains that create a connection!

I’m also a huge fan of dot me because it’s cheap right now. On GoDaddy, dot me domains have historically cost around $19.99/year (about $10/year cheaper than dot co). However, GoDaddy has a promotion right now for just $8.99! Your first year is only $8.99 and every year thereafter is at the regular price. In my opinion, this deal is too good to pass up.

Another reason I’m more excited about dot me than ever: Dot me domains are selling in the aftermarket. Dot me is still new enough that only time will tell if it has longevity on the secondary market. Preliminary indications, however, are really promising. Want proof? Just check out ccTLDInvestors.com – dot me domains are showing up in the weekly ccTLD sales stats consistently (at high prices)!

Last, I’m a fan of dot me because it’s a domain that works organically! Over the last year, I have developed four of my dot me domains into several-page minisites. Even though it’s the ccTLD (country code top level domain) of Montenegro, dot me has been marketed as a big gTLD (global top level domain). Google has validated this marketing model and is ranking great .me sites in its US organic results. My dot me sites have been real winners! So, what are you waiting for? Time to go scour GoDaddy for some awesome dot me opportunities!

Image of URL Bar © iStockPhoto – tiridifilm

Dot CO Domain Names Rock

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jul 27 27

If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you know I’m a huge fan of domain names and domain name development. So far this year, I’ve set a new record in terms of number of domains registered! I’ve been mostly focusing on dot com, dot net, dot org, dot me, and now dot co. Moreover, I’ve developed at least 18 domains so far this year. In short, I’ve caught the domaining bug and can’t get enough of this stuff. Today, I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss dot co and why it’s the perfect time to register your do co domains!

Dot CO, The Next Big Domain Extension

Dot CO

So you may be thinking, what the heck is dot co? Dot co is actually the country code top level domain (ccTLD) for Colombia. However, it’s being marketed as the next big global top level domain (gTLD). Just think about it: When you hear dot co, do you think of Colombia? Or, do you think about such concepts as: company, corporation, commerce, commercial? I personally think of the latter and so do the folks behind dot co and domainers worldwide. In fact, over 100,000 dot co domains were registered within the first half hour of this new TLD going live! Another great data point: Overstock.com bought o.co for $350,000. Can you believe it?

It’s Your Chance To Buy The Domain You Really Want

If you’ve ever tried to register a domain name, I’m sure you’ve run into the same problem as myself: Most of the great ones are taken! These days, if you want a great generic dot com, dot net, or dot org, you’re going to have to go to the aftermarket. I actually went to the aftermarket earlier this year to register IJL.net. You may wish to read about my experience buying domains on Sedo, one of the top places to buy premium aftermarket domains.

Now, let’s say you want to build a big portfolio or simply don’t have the big bucks to shell out for that perfect domain name. This is exactly where dot co steps in. In my opinion, most end users (especially those coming from PPC and SEO) aren’t really going to care whether you have a dot com or dot co domain. Dot co in the end user’s eyes is about as close to dot com as you can get! So, go ahead and register that domain name. You’ll finally be able to get the name you want.

Dot CO Is Great For PPC and SEO (Maybe Not So Much For Branding)

So I know what you’re thinking. How can I build a big brand around dot co? Most users are only familiar with dot com and will try to go to my site, but enter dot com and end up elsewhere. I’m totally with you and am not going to argue. If you’re trying to build a big brand, it’s all about dot com.

However, let’s say you don’t care about building a huge brand. Rather, you’re trying to build a direct business that gets most of its traffic from PPC and SEO. In this case, I’m all about dot co! In other words, whether you have a dot co or dot com, I don’t think your PPC click through rate will differ much. In terms of SEO, I also expect dot co to thrive. Why? I’ve built out four dot me (another great ccTLD being marketed as a gTLD) sites this year and all are doing very well organically. In terms of SEO, I expect dot co to follow in dot me’s footsteps.

Dot CO Is Not Cheap

So, where can you register dot co and how much does it cost? Registration is very simple. I recommend going with GoDaddy, one of my favorite registrars. In terms of pricing, you’re looking at 29.99/year which is very expensive in the world of domains. For the same price, I could buy three dot coms instead! As such, I have been relatively conservative in my dot co strategy. I only register dot co domains that have at least 20,000 exact match searches based on Google’s Keyword Tool External. Otherwise, the domain must have some serious special meaning for me to shell out that much money. While this may not seem like too much money when you’re registering one domain, it can really add up when you’re trying to build a large portfolio.

Interested in learning more about domain names? I also highly recommend my article about ccTLD domain names in PPC. One of my sub-goals this year: Buying as many great ccTLD domain names as possible. In addition to dot co and dot me, I’m also focusing on dot in, dot mx, dot es, and others!

Building My Internet Real Estate Empire

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Apr 20 3

PPC Ian has been very busy over the past few weeks! Not only have I been working harder than ever at my PPC career, but I have also been developing domain names in my spare time. The more domains I develop, the more my Google AdSense, Commission Junction, eBay Partner Network, and Amazon Associates earnings rise. In short, I’m on a roll and have concluded that my 2010 goal of developing six domain names sets the bar way too low! I’m proud to say that I’ve already exceeded my 2010 goal and am therefore raising my goal to 20 sites this year. Longer term, I’m looking to develop 100 sites and then 1,000. Today, I wanted to share my thoughts around domain names and especially the parallels between domains and real estate.

Domain Names Are Virtual Real Estate

Sold Sign

In my opinion, domain names are the virtual parallel to physical real estate, a simple yet extremely revolutionary concept. Just think about it: There are only so many great domain names out there. What’s a great domain name, you ask? Simple! Great domain names are keyword-rich. They are exact matches to highly searched phrases as judged by Google’s Keyword Tool Great domain names are typically on one of the major TLDs such as dot com, dot net, or dot org. Great domain names, like great real estate, get a huge amount of free traffic. Free traffic comes via type-ins or from the natural results on search engines. My personal conclusion: Keyword-rich domain names on the important TLDs are the virtual equivalent of real estate. We all know that wealthy individuals own a lot of real estate. Over the coming decades it’s my hypothesis that the next round of wealthy elite will be virtual real estate investors (and I’m personally investing in this hypothesis).

How do you select the best names? Find high search volume phrases (exact match) via Google’s Keyword Tool, preferably in verticals where the CPCs are competitive. Then, hand register the domains if possible or acquire them on the aftermarket from a site such as Sedo. I actually bought the domain IJL.net from Sedo a few months back. You may wish to check out my post about buying domain names on Sedo.

Domain Names Carry Property Taxes

Another very interesting parallel to real estate: Domain names carry property taxes. With physical real estate, you pay property tax to the county. With domain names, you pay property tax to the registrar (such as GoDaddy or Moniker). A portion of your registrar fee goes to ICANN, the Internet’s governing body. Forget to pay your property tax and you could lose your virtual real estate!

Real Estate Investments Yield Positive Cash Flow

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I’m a huge fan of Robert Kiyosaki. I have read most of his books with my favorite being Retire Young, Retire Rich. Robert Kiyosaki eloquently points out that real estate can either be a liability or an asset depending on cash flow. Basically, real estate that takes money out of your pocket (revenue is less than expenses) is a liability and real estate the puts money in your pocket (revenue is greater than expenses) is an asset. I apply this very concept to domaining. I don’t want to own domain names that are earning less than their registration fees. I only want to own domain names that are assets. My friend Jason from DNPimping.com recently highlighted this very concept in his article about registering too many domain names. The point: Your domain investments should yield positive cash flow.

Why Not Lock Up As Much Real Estate As Possible?

Synthesizing all of this, I have personally concluded that it makes sense to lock up as many domain names as possible. As long as I can develop them (or work with others to outsource the work) and at least break even, it’s worth buying more and more domains. At the end of the day, I want to own an absolute empire of Internet real estate.

So far, I’ve been mainly focused on cash flow from type-ins and SEO. That’s for good reason: I’m all about cash flow as a measurement of investment value. However, we haven’t even talked about equity value and other added benefits. The beauty of all of this: Domain names are an investment vehicle that has proven to also exhibit rapidly increasing equity value. This was never more apparent than seeing domains sell for huge prices at the TRAFFIC conference. Another benefit: I can always build out my domains into full websites, drive pay per click traffic, and make a fortune in the future!

Outsourcing Is Everything

So you may be wondering, how does this corporate PPC guru have time for all of this? That’s an excellent question! I actually don’t. Between excelling in my pay per click career, working out, spending time with my wife, updating PPC Ian, and living life, there’s very little time left. However, that’s why outsourcing exists! Thankfully, I have built some amazing relationships with writers, web developers, and domain development experts. My strategy: I’ll work closely with others to build out my domain names while adding my own finishing touches on top, of course. Here’s to accumulating my Internet real estate empire!

Image of Sold Sign © iStockPhoto – GJS

Leveraging ccTLD Domain Names In PPC

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Mar 15 11

I started domaining back in 2007, but really caught the domaining bug in 2009. Over the last year, I have been absorbing pretty much any information I can get my hands on regarding the domain industry. A big turning point in my domaining education: Attending T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas.

Global Flags

Lately, ccTLDs have been getting a ton of buzz. What the heck is a ccTLD, you ask? ccTLDs are country code top level domains. Some of the really popular ones are dot us (United States), dot me (Montenegro), dot in (India), dot de (Germany), and dot mx (Mexico). In fact, according to Ron Jackson, ccTLDs sales are now outpacing gTLD sales (global top level domains such as dot com, dot net, and dot org). So why am I talking all about ccTLDs on this pay per click search engine marketing blog? Simple: I’m here to pose a test (slash challenge) to all of you. My challenge: I propose that ccTLDs will become an important part of pay per click online marketing within the US over the coming years. The remainder of this post will explain why!

ccTLDs are Cheap Right Now

I’m going to start off with a freebie for all of you loyal PPC Ian readers. Here it is: Right now (as of 11:44 PM pacific on 3/15/2010) the domain Degrees.mx is available to hand register for only $49.99 on GoDaddy! I’m serious. If I wanted to go out and buy Degrees.com on the aftermarket, I’m probably going to be out anywhere between $1,000,000 and $10,000,000 depending on how good I am at negotiating.

Why is Degrees.mx a great domain name? This is obvious to anyone in the education vertical. Education is one of the most lucrative and competitive verticals on the Internet. With a domain like Degrees.mx, you can have great display URLs in your pay per click campaigns like Accounting.Degrees.mx and Business.Degrees.mx.

The challenge here: Users aren’t as used to seeing the dot mx ccTLD. My hypothesis: I think it will work as a PPC display URL in the US. Will it perform as well as the dot com, dot net, dot org, or even dot us? Most likely not. Is it going to beat a long, convoluted domains like so many of us use? Quite possibly, in my opinion, definitely worth a test! Now, I don’t have the time or resources to test this, but would love to hear if one of you does. Could be some money on the table here. Because of their cheapness, I view ccTLDs as a great option, one that we’ll see more of in the US and global pay per click landscape over the coming years.

The Meaning of ccTLDs Transcends Their Country

One of my personal favorite ccTLDs: dot me. I have been accumulating a portfolio of dot me domains since the first day they launched several years back. While dot me is the official ccTLD of Montenegro, it has been marketed as a global TLD. In my opinion, it makes total sense: dot me is all about "me."

Let’s take another really popular category: mortgage refinance. Imagine if you bought the domain Refinance.me. In my opinion, this is an awesome pay per click domain. It flows really well and is personal. The Internet keeps getting more and more personal. If you don’t reach out to your users on a personal basis, you’re not going to get the conversion. Dot me ccTLD makes the personal connection easy.

Another great ccTLD: dot co. Dot co is the official ccTLD of Colombia but it’s being marketed as the next huge global TLD. It makes sense: What do you think of when you hear dot co? I think of company and commerce, very similar to dot com. For that reason, there’s a lot of opportunity here. Currently, GoDaddy is taking pre-orders for the dot co ccTLD (to be released to the public later this year) so it’s a great time to start thinking about investing in a few for your PPC future!

PPC Organizations Are Becoming More Global

Let’s go back to my first hypothesis, that one can successfully leverage generic sounding gTLDs in the US AdWords market. Let’s say I’m wrong. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time! I love testing and embrace my failures because they only mean I’m one step closer to success. If I fail every week, I know I’m doing my job and pushing the boundaries. In this case, I’d like to argue that these generic gTLDs are still very useful in paid search. Why? The industry is becoming a lot more global. A lot of the easy money in the US is gone. However, when I look at other countries, we’re just getting started. Buy your domains now so that you can leverage them in the future.

One nuance: Degrees.mx is unlikely to work in Mexico because it’s an English word. However, if you choose countries where English is very prevalent, especially in the business world, you’re golden. One example: Degrees.in. I imagine this would do well in India.

As a closing point, make sure to research before buying domain names. Some countries have restrictions. A good example is Canada. Unless you’re a Canadian business or citizen, there are some restrictions that you’d want to become very familiar with before registering dot ca domains. There are ways to make this happen, but I’ve been sticking to the basics myself: Registering domains that don’t have restrictions such as my beloved dot me!

Image of Global Flags © iStockPhoto – yesfoto

PPC Ian Featured On Teen Domainer

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Mar 11 1

Hey Everyone,
Today’s another exciting day! Shortly after getting interviewed by Jonathan Volk and getting featured on John Chow, today I’m featured on Teen Domainer. For those of you that don’t know, Teen Domainer is one of the best domaining blogs on the Internet!

Guest Post

As you may know from my 2010 goals, domaining is a focus for me this year. Specifically, I wanted to develop at least six domain names and attend at least one major domaining conference. I’m excited to announce that I recently crossed both of these off my list. I have six new 5-page minisites live and also attended T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas back in January. I’m really excited that I’ve learned so much and now feel like an advanced domainer (a great compliment to my pay per click background).

One thing that has really surprised me is the fact that the pay per click world knows very little about domaining. Similarly, I have found that the domaining world has a lot to learn about pay per click. It makes perfect sense to me: Both subjects are extremely complex. If you master just one of them, you definitely have my respect. However, I truly see huge value in mastering both. There are great synergies in leveraging domain strategies in pay per click and vice versa. To that end, I decided to focus on pay per click search engine marketing strategies for domainers in my guest article on Teen Domainer.

Please check out my guest article on Teen Domainer and let me know what you think! I wanted to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Brian from Teen Domainer for featuring my guest post. It’s a true honor to be featured on such a prestigious and awesome blog, one of my personal favorites!

Sincerely,
PPC Ian (Ian Lopuch)

Image of Guest Tag © iStockPhoto – wragg

Buying Domains on Sedo

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Feb 15 6

If you’ve checked out the footer on PPC Ian, you may have noticed that I own a small LLC, IJL Productions LLC. I actually plan to write a future article all about LLCs and why I think they’re a great business entity to separate your business from yourself, creating financial protection (in my humble non-legal opinion). However, today I wanted to discuss the launch of IJL.net, the official website of IJL Productions LLC and in particular my experience buying this domain name on Sedo.

I have been interested in launching a small web presence for IJL Productions for quite some time. In fact, I registered the domain IJLProductions.com over two years ago for that purpose. However, as a domainer, Internet entrepreneur, and a guy with an ego, I wanted a shorter premium domain that I could brag about. Thus, I decided to buy a premium three-letter domain on Sedo, IJL.net, and I’m looking forward to discussing my experience.

Why I Picked IJL.net

Net

Three letter domains are extremely valuable, especially the dot com and dot net TLDs. (I recommend checking out 3Character.com, a very useful resource for those of you newer to three character domain names.) Moreover, my business name starts with three letters, making a three-character domain name very relevant and professional. Combine these two factors with my own vanity (I wanted a premium domain name for the bragging rights) and I quickly decided that I wanted to own a premium IJL domain.

Upon more investigation, I uncovered that "IJL" was taken on all the major TLDs such as dot com, dot net, and dot org. IJL.net and IJL.org were both going to parked pages and were available for sale on Sedo, making them great targets for my acquisition. For those of you new to Sedo, it’s the leading domain marketplace for buying and selling aftermarket domain names!

I Started Making Offers on Sedo

From the beginning, my preference was for the dot net TLD (as opposed to dot org). Don’t get me wrong, I love dot org domains because they inspire confidence due to their nonprofit roots. I probably bought 30 dot org domains in the last month for investment purposes. However, my personal business is for profit and I wanted to make that clear. Moreover, IJL.net just has a better ring to it than IJL.org. However, dot net TLDs are far more valuable than dot org so I wanted to leave my options open. Originally, I made some lowball offers on Sedo. I think I offered $275 for IJL.org and $700 for IJL.net. Not surprisingly, the sellers didn’t even entertain these offers! I waited quite some time and didn’t hear back.

At this point, I raised my bids on both domain names. The seller of IJL.org came back with a rather aggressive counter offer. Since it was not my first choice, I decided to stop negotiations and focus on IJL.net. Even after coming in rather aggressively, I did not hear back from the IJL.net seller on Sedo. I decided to take matters into my own hands and filled out the contact form on the website asking the seller to take a look at my offer. Don’t want to go into too much detail here, but must say the negotiations took several weeks and were rather involved. I was actually quite shocked it took that long, but in the end I feel that both the seller and I got fair deals. The seller got a very fair price for this premium domain name and I got the three-character domain name of my dreams!

Buying Your First Domain on Sedo

If you’re new to Sedo like I was, I’m hoping the following guide will help you a bit in your first transaction, from the buyer’s perspective. Following is my personal experience buying IJL.net through Sedo’s system, step-by-step:

The first part is the fun part! Simply search Sedo using their advanced query function to isolate the domain you’re interested in purchasing. You get to see statistics such as the seller’s offer price (not all sellers list a price), the number of people that have viewed the domain’s page on Sedo (giving you a sense of interest in the domain), and the seller’s activity index (if they’re active on Sedo, that’s a good thing).

Important: Offers On Sedo Are Binding

Once you’ve isolated a domain name, you simply need to create a Sedo account and place an offer! Please keep in mind that offers on Sedo are legally binding. If the seller accepts, you are locked into the deal. I can’t underscore enough that you want to be absolutely certain before making an offer. Tip: When you’re making your offer, please keep in mind that Sedo will charge you an extra 3% fee as a buyer to use their service.

Keep Your Cool During Domain Name Negotiations

After your offer is made, it’s time for the seller to ponder your offer. I believe sellers have up to 7 days to think over the offer and either respond with a counteroffer or decline the deal. I really want to underscore here that domainers, especially those who have been in the game a long time and who have strong portfolios, are expert negotiators. They will do whatever it takes to extract the full value for their domain name (and I can’t blame them!). As you negotiate, take your time, especially if the domain has little competition. Be fair and honest with the seller. At the end of the day, you need to feel like you got a great deal so please don’t go crazy, get caught up in the deal, and overpay. At the same time, you’re much more likely to get your domain name if you offer the seller a fair price. It’s all about balance and the art of negotiation!

After all the back and forth, hopefully the seller and you agree on a fair price. At that point, the Purchase and Sales Agreement is ratified and available for your download on Sedo. I recommend downloading it, taking screenshots, and printing it out. This is the document that outlines the transfer of title on your new domain name.

Also it’s now time for you to pay up. I truly enjoy leveraging Sedo because they act as the escrow company in your transaction. This ensures that your hard earned money is safe and that you only pay if you get the domain name. Domain names are expensive. There have been bad deals and thefts. Because you’re spending a lot of money on your domain name, I highly encourage you to leverage Sedo (or another alternative such as Escrow.com) to protect your investment. I have used Escrow.com in the past, but as a domain buyer I’m a bit partial to Sedo. Payment on my front was really simple. I had an existing balance in my PayPal account so I decided to pay via PayPal, a great option and much appreciated. With Escrow.com, I had to wire money in the past so I found the PayPal option much simpler.

Stay Patient During The Domain Transfer Process

At this point, it was time to transfer the domain. This process took a few weeks, longer than I had imagined. At the same time, I felt good about the transparency of the process. Moreover I appreciated the fact that Sedo assigned a dedicated transfer agent to my deal (who answered my questions very quickly). At the end of the day, the transfer probably took a bit longer because we were moving across registrars (from Enom to Moniker). Had I been transferring to another Enom account, perhaps it would have been quicker. In any event, here are some of the logistical details:

Seller transferred the domain to Sedo’s escrow account on Enom.
Sedo sent me the authorization code.
I initiated a transfer from within my Moniker account and entered the authorization code. I also decided to renew the domain name for several more years at this time. My Advice: Always register your premium domains for at least 5 years, the last thing you want is for them to expire by accident.
Moniker sent Sedo an email that contained a link they needed to click.
I sent a heads up to my transfer specialist and he clicked the link, no problem.
I waited a bit and Moniker sent me an update that the authorization code was incorrect.
No big deal, I emailed my transfer specialist at Sedo and got a new one.
I entered the new code and it was accepted.
I waited about five days and got daily updates from Moniker that the domain was still pending transfer.
The deal closed!
PPC Ian decided to celebrate!

Premium Domains are Ideal For Pay Per Click

As you know, the name of my blog is PPC Ian. I’m the greatest PPC enthusiast out there! To close out, I wanted to tie this all back to pay per click. In my opinion, every great pay per click website deserves a great, premium domain name. Just think about it: You’re spending millions of dollars per year across your portfolio of sites. I personally see a great case for taking just a fraction of your PPC budget and investing it in premium domain names. Premium names will improve your click through rate and user retention. I hope my experience buying IJL.net via Sedo has helped you out as a first time Sedo buyer!

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas 2010 Was Awesome

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jan 24 6

I’m PPC Ian, the corporate pay per click search engine marketing guru. More than anything, I believe in the power of focusing exclusively on corporate PPC. When you’re dealing with huge budgets and intricate campaigns, often across multiple verticals, focus is everything. However, I’m also a huge proponent learning new things, especially subjects that are related to the world of online marketing. At the end of the day, all of the channels are interconnected and things you learn in the arenas of display, email, SEO, and domaining will only help your PPC efforts. To that end, I decided to attend T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas domaining conference and just got back. Today, I’m excited to share my experience and key takeaways with you. As someone who wants to see you succeed in the corporate world of pay per click, I want to highlight once again that focus is everything. I strive to spend 10% or less of my time on non-PPC activities (but that 10% is very interesting and high leverage). Let’s talk about T.R.A.F.F.I.C.!

What is Domaining and What Is T.R.A.F.F.I.C.?

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas

I recently wrote an article about why PPC professionals make great domainers and I highly recommend checking it out. To quickly summarize, domaining is the business of buying, selling, and developing domain names. There are two main schools of domainers. The first school are those that buy domains with the goal of selling them for a profit (this is the more traditional side of domaining). The second school are those that buy domains, develop them, and then enjoy passive income.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is one of the largest conferences for those who participate in the domain game for a living. As you may recall, attending a major domaining conference was one of my 2010 goals so I’m excited to have crossed it off the list so early in the year. More than anything I’m excited to walk away with some new perspectives on online marketing.

How Could I Pass Up The Opportunity To Go To Las Vegas?

I have been interested in attending T.R.A.F.F.I.C. for quite some time. However, as someone who’s not a professional domainer for a living and as something that’s outside the core focus of my company, I could never justify the out of pocket expense. However, this time things were different. As a Bido member, I was able to enjoy a half price ticket of only $897.50! Moreover, I was able to get roundtrip Southwest tickets for only $129.20 total. Last, add in the fact that I was able to stay four nights at MGM’s Signature for an unbelievable rate, and the cost of this great learning opportunity finally made sense. Moreover, Las Vegas is one of my absolute favorite places in the world so that definitely made the decision even more enticing because I was able to combine education with recreation.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Day One Overview: It’s All About Networking

TRAFFIC Conference

There are two events during the first day that were truly invaluable. The first was a session where anyone in the conference could go up on stage and introduce themselves to everyone. Being a guy that gets a real rush from public speaking, I decided to speak and discuss my PPC roots. It’s been a good nine months since my last opportunity to speak in front of that many people so I truly appreciated the opportunity. My advice to you: Try to practice your public speaking skills regularly to maintain and grow them. Get a little nervous up on stage? Conquer your fear and go for it!

The second event that really stood out was speed networking. This was a truly great event where you went around the room and had the opportunity to network and exchange business cards with everyone. It was not only an exercise in networking, but a great opportunity to practice my speaking skills. It was truly exciting to meet some amazing professionals within domaining and online marketing. My advice to you: Place yourself in situations where you can meet other professionals in online marketing as great way to expand your knowledge. I’m really looking forward to following up with each and every person I met.

One of my most interesting takeaways from TRAFFIC Day One: I was truly blown away with how few people were familiar with pay per click search engine marketing. While I was totally out of my element (I’m just starting to learn about the world of domaining), the folks I spoke to were equally out of their element in terms of PPC. The result: It was a great opportunity to introduce everyone to the PPC game while learning just as much about the domaining game. While I personally don’t have the time, I think there truly is a business opportunity for a PPC expert to work with domainers in generating more income for generic keyword domain portfolios. At the end of the day, my overall philosophy is a well-rounded one: Combine all the marketing channels for absolute success.

Some Other Interesting Takeaways From Day One:

In 2009, ccTLDs grew at a faster rate than gTLDs. ccTLDs are country code top level domains such as .ca for Canada. gTLDs are generic top level domains such as .com and .net.

Ron Jackson, the official journalist of the domain industry, had a very interesting presentation. He reported $102 million in domain sales in 2009 versus $116.7 million in domain sales for 2008. Most of the difference came from the very top of the market. Add to this fact that some lagging domain sales for 2009 are still being reported, the gap between 2008 and 2009 could be even less. Given the overall rough economy, the fact that domain sales are only down 12.6% is very encouraging for the domain industry.

The largest and most exciting ccTLDs in order of descending interest: .de, .co.uk, .ca, .fr, .es, .mx, .nl, .pl.

A new ccTLD .co is going live this year. Between April and June, owners of .com.co will have first priority to register .co. Between June and July trademark owners will have the ability to capture their .co domain. Then, in July, 2010 the general public will be able to register .co domains. Personally, I was able to pick up some interesting .me domain names when that TLD was first released. I’m personally excited about .co because it’s very similar to .com and could be a very strong TLD in the future.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas Day Two: Great Motivation and Latona’s Live Auction

Latonas Auction

Just like day one, the second day of TRAFFIC was quite interesting. I’d like to share with you the two key events in day two that influenced me the most. The first was the keynote speaker, Joseph McClendon III. I’m a big believer in the power of motivation and motivation is exactly what Joseph McClendon delivered. I’m excited to have left the keynote with new knowledge that will help me be even more productive and powerful in my corporate PPC career, awesome! In my opinion, success in corporate PPC (or any field for that matter) is all about passion, execution, and drive. The tools I learned in the keynote will allow me to be even more effective in my career. My advice to you: Find a source of motivation in your life and leverage that source. If you can consistently arrive at work totally motivated and empowered, at your peak performance, you’re going to win the game!

The second event that I truly enjoyed during day two was Rick Latona’s live domain auction. While the auction had some technical difficulties with online bidding and had to stop early (it resumed on day three), I truly enjoyed the auction while it lasted. This was my first experience ever attending a live auction. It was a true rush! As someone who loves to buy domain names (and stuff in general), I decided not to register as a bidder. I felt that it would not be prudent to bid at my first live auction. So, I decided just to watch and observe. While I didn’t participate in the action, the education around the live domain auction process was invaluable. I especially enjoyed the human element of the auction. As a PPC professional, I’m involved in keyword bidding each and every day. Watching people bid on domain names was a very interesting parallel to my career in trading keywords. I absolutely love the psychology of it all. Whether it’s online or in person, I’m hoping to participate in a future T.R.A.F.F.I.C. live domain auction.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas Day Three: This Is When It All Hit Me

Day three of TRAFFIC Las Vegas was actually the most powerful day for me. This is the day where I finally took a step back and realized that I have a lot to learn about domaining. As a Director of Search Marketing at a large public company, it’s easy to have an elevated ego. Because I’m the best at PPC, I naturally have the tendency to think I’m the best at everything related to online marketing. However, day three really hit home that I have a lot to learn about domaining. At first, this scared me a bit. However, after a while I began getting extremely thrilled that I have yet another media channel and discipline to study over the coming year! My advice to you: Try to stay humble and never stop learning.

There were many specifics that I learned over the course of day three. I started out learning all about parked pages and the 0 click, 1 click, and 2 click models. I was also thrilled to learn that type in traffic converts extremely well (nearly double PPC). I also got a super introduction to the drop name market, a super way to acquire great domain names that I’m currently not leveraging at all.

Perhaps most exciting, I learned that the major parking companies (such as Sedo, Skenzo, and Parked.com) actually have deals with the major search engines (Google and Yahoo). They have feeds with the search engines and will trigger your parked page if the search engine does not have more relevant results to deliver. This absolutely shocked me! As someone who’s always focused on quality score and always been told that those pages of links are bad, this was a real eye opener. Repeat: The search engines approve of parked pages (and have special processes in place to index them) as long as the system is not abused. Go with a quality parking company and you can make money with your parked domains via search engines! This all sounds super simple, but for someone who has been extremely focused on PPC quality score for years and years it really was eye opening.

To close out, I had an amazing time at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Las Vegas 2010. It was an energy-packed three days of learning all about domaining. I’m thrilled to now have some new tools in my online marketing toolkit. Moreover, it was really amazing to make some great new friends! I’d like to close out and advise you to closely focus on the core area of your career while always leaving 10% of your time to learn new things. Domaining, in my opinion, is a great compliment to PPC, SEO, display, and email, the most popular corporate online marketing career paths!

Condo Domain Names

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jan 1 2

Anyone who has known me for a while knows that I’m a huge fan of investing. I’m a proponent of stocks, bonds, 401ks, real estate, and of course domain names. Over the long term, investing is the primary way you can get ahead and achieve financial freedom. Today, I’m excited to present a unique domaining strategy that is not only an investment in itself, but is also a way to add equity to the investment you made in your condo. Let’s talk all about buying and developing domain names relevant to your condo complex.

My Wife and I Purchased a Condo Just Over A Year Ago

To provide some context, I’d like to first highlight my personal story. Just over a year ago, my beautiful wife and I purchased our first home, a condo on the San Francisco peninsula. We absolutely love being homeowners from two perspectives. First, we enjoy the high quality of life, amenities, pride of ownership, and of course the ability to make improvements to our home. Second, we are huge believers in the investment value of real estate. One day, we hope to fully pay off our mortgage, putting us one step closer to financial freedom. Moreover, we’re contemplating the idea of renting our condo out one day when we move into our next home.

Real Estate Prices Are Down In This Bad Economy

While we got a great deal on our place, especially since we purchased after the market fell, there’s no doubt that today’s real estate market is a bit crazy. Not only are prices down, but homes are sitting on the market longer before selling. In this type of market, it’s important to do whatever it takes to make your condo and your condo complex more desirable than the next.

Historically, sellers have achieved that extra appeal by upgrading their kitchens and bathrooms, adding wood floors, and investing in a fresh coat of paint. For all you domainers out there, I’d also like to propose that you create equity value for your condo and condo complex by developing a condo domain name.

Domain Names Add Equity Value To Your Condo Complex

Condo Domains

The following idea is really simple, yet extremely powerful in my opinion. Many condo complexes that were built more than five years ago have absolutely zero web presence. Our condo complex was built about 10 years ago. Even though it’s relatively large and has over 100 units, the only information online exists on those big real estate aggregator websites. As a domainer, I went ahead and registered our condo complex’s domain name today with the intent of building out a site with the following features:

General information about condo complex
Pictures highlighting our complex’s beauty
Perhaps a few videos
A contact form where I can respond to inquiries about our complex, or at least direct them to the appropriate party
Perhaps some information highlighting recent sales and also real estate agents in our area (Later I could charge agents a small advertisement fee)

In my opinion, this site will add immediate equity value to all homeowners in our complex. It will create a name for our condo complex and make it memorable for buyers searching on the web. Buyers will now have an added reference point that showcases our condo complex as the premier luxury development in the area (as opposed to all the other complexes that have no web presence).

Two Exit Strategies For Your Condo Domain

I wanted to highlight two great exit strategies for your new condo domain. If you’re like my wife and I, you hope to rent out your condo one day when you move on to your next condo or single family house. If you already have a great domain ranking for your condo complex, you’ll have a great head start in getting leads for possible renters.

As another exit strategy, you could always sell your domain to a local real estate agent. Agents these days need clients more than ever and I’m sure they’d be super happy to leverage your condo domain as a way to generate more leads.

Consider Domain Names For Other Condo Complexes As Well

Here’s the crazy part: I had to register the dot net TLD (top level domain) because the dot com was already taken. Moreover, as I started to look for other condo complexes in our area, many of the dot coms were taken but not all. A For the entrepreneurial domainer, one great strategy might be buying up the names of condo complexes and then approaching the respective HOAs with a two tiered business plan: (1) Sell them the domain name, and (2) develop a website for them that adds equity value to their complex (of course, show examples of your work).

To close out, I wanted to wish you a happy new year and all the success in the world in 2010! I brainstorm new domaining business ideas regularly and am looking forward to sharing more of my strategies with you in 2010.

Important Disclaimer: Please make sure to check the USPTO to see if your condo name is a trademark before registering any domains. I highly discourage registering trademarked names.