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Leaning effective search engine optimization is perhaps one of he most important aspects of becoming a professional webmaster, especially if you want a lot of web traffic from minimal results. There are a countless factors that affect a site’s page rank and its subsequent search engine traffic levels. Perhaps one of the most important factors of SEO is the structure and keyword optimization of the domain. Domain names are often chosen based on a variety of factors, most of which involve the likelihood of the domain to attract immediate search engine traffic with minimal effort. Ideally, every webmaster dreams of buying a domain that will start attracting web traffic from the moment it is made active, however most of the time the process involves a bit more work than this. The following information thoroughly outlines the connection between domain names and search engine optimization.

Domain TLDs and the SERPs

To a novice SEO practitioner the abbreviations TLD (top-level domain) and SERP (Search Engine Results Page/Position) may sound intimidating and completely foreign, but to an intermediate to advanced webmasters these terms are all in a day’s work. The TLD of a domain name is simply the letters that appear after the final dot of the name, I.E. .com or .org. There is a reason why .com names are almost always at the top of search engine results; because search engines favor certain TLDs – .com, .org, .net and .info in particular. Aside from the overall content of the site, the TLD you choose will have a direct affect on your position in the SERPs for particular keywords.

Domain Keywords and the SERPS

Most domain names are registered because they contain keywords that are often searched for by web surfers, as these sites will generally receive more search engine traffic with less effort. If you want to have the best results in the SERPs then you will need to make sure your domain name contains a valuable keyword. Even if you decide not to develop the site, if you can obtain a domain name that has a valuable keyword in it there is a good chance that you sell it in the future for a nominal profit. Independent studies have shown that domain names that contain keywords frequently rise to the top of the SERPs with the least effort.

Subdomains and the SERPS

Registering subdomains that are attached to your main domain with keywords is another great way to capitalize on keywords for SEO without developing an extensive amount of content. An example of a subdomain would be subdomain.domain.com. Subdomains are used to create entire sections within a main domain that pertain to a specific category of a niche. By micro-targeting your audience and keyword selection with subdomains you can effectively attract highly targeted traffic to your site. Subdomains are also a great way to keep all of your site content organized through various domain mapping methods.

Search engine optimization is a complex field of study that often takes years to master. In fact, most people never master it because it is a constantly evolving art form that changes every time the search engines adjust their algorithm. With so many changes taking place each year it can be very difficult to track the progress of your search engine optimization efforts, and to attribute any positive results to a particular action or strategy yo have been using. Thus, it is very important to actively track your progress using the following methods, in order to get the most out of your efforts and figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Analyzing Traffic

Every SEO expert is after one thing – search engine traffic. Unfortunately, search engine traffic can be inconsistent, and it is very difficult to accurately predict traffic levels that originate form search engines. Instead of predicting traffic levels, you need to be analyzing previous traffic levels and comparing your traffic results with the your actions during the previous weeks. The ultimate goal is to understand how your actions are affecting traffic levels, in order to harness the techniques that work and utilize them to their full potential. You should learn how to use a good web traffic analysis software to make reports of your daily, weekly and monthly traffic levels. As you study each report your job is to find a correlation between traffic levels and your actions.

Trying New Techniques

The main problem that most search engine optimization experts have is tracking the correlation between their actions and subsequent search engine results. In SEO there is always a time delay before results can be seen, which is why it can be difficult to figure out what is working and what could be causing you to lose Page Rank. The key to dining the right techniques is consistency and persistence. You have to maintain your plan of action for at least a month, and then study your traffic analysis for the following weeks to see what the effect was on your search engine rankings. If you change your strategy too much and you don’t let the changes take affect, then you won’t be able to figure out what you did right when traffic does begin to arrive.

Checking Search Engine Rankings

Checking your search engine rankings can take away from your productivity and give you false hope or false discouragement. Sometimes backlinks can take weeks to get indexed, during which time your site could move sporadically in the search engine results. When this happens it is often referred to as the “Google Dance.” Instead of focusing on search engine rankings you should continuously execute the techniques that have been proven to work, like building backlinks and filling the site with high quality content. By focusing on the actions more than the results you are guaranteed to see a better outcome and your hard work will almost always pay off.

Domain name speculation is the art of determining the value of web domains and/or buying and selling domain names for profit. The domain speculation industry is rapidly growing as thousands of web sites are established every day. Thus, establishing a reliable domain speculation business can be an extremely profitable and lucrative endeavor. Most people do not know how to judge the value of a web site, and in order to set a fair selling price for their site they will hire the help of a domain speculation professional. Web domains are the hottest and most profitable form of real estate in existence at the moment, because every day the value of internet domains increases consistently. If you’d like to earn your share of this amazing industry then you may want to consider the following tips for aspiring domain speculation professionals.

Quantity vs Quality

Most amateur domain speculators have aspirations of making thousands of dollars from the sale of a single web site. While this is possible, it is not likely, especially if your are simply selling the domain name without an established web site. There is a lot of work involved with building profitable web sites and selling them, and there is no guarantee that the site is going to generate a profit. Therefore, it is better to focus on many domains at once, rather than putting all of your efforts into a single project. In the domain speculation industry it is more common for someone to make about $20-$100 profit from each domain than $1000 + from a single site.

Avoid Competitive Lawsuits

The domain speculation industry is highly competitive, and legal disputes are actually quite common. In fact, copyright issues and DMCA claims are often filed against webmasters that are infringing intellectual property rights online. Unfortunately, there is a fine line between what is legal and what is considered copyright infringement. If you are unsure about the legality of your decision then your best bet is to consult with a lawyer, or avoid any conflict whatsoever. Most of the legal disputes involve domain names being purchased that include copy written terms. For example, a domain name with the term “Coca-Cola” in it could be sued by the Coca-Cola company for using their branded name in the domain name.

Acquiring Expiring Domains

One of the best ways to generate a profit in the domain name industry is through the acquisition of domain names shortly after they expire. Using this technique it is possible to purchase a domain name that still has a lot of page rank and/or valid backlinks. Some recently expired domains will also retain their age statistics in the search engines, making them very profitable for domain speculators. If you want to get a head start and make as much money as possible with domain name speculation then you should strongly consider the benefits of purchasing expired domain names that still retain many of their desirable qualities.

Google is known for being the king of the search engines, always one step ahead of its competitors. Their advanced constantly changing algorithm and special Page Rank system has made them the most successful search engine history. Google is not only a search engine, but also one of the biggest internet advertising agencies in the world. All of this success occurred because Google catered to the interests and needs of their site visitors. By providing quality search results that are extremely relevant to search phrases. Likewise, Google tries to stay relevant with the times by changing the appearance of their home page on historic events.  However, recently, Google officially changed its name to Topeka.

Topeka?

Topeka, Kansas is a small town in the heartland of America that is on the verge of becoming a ghost town. The mayor of Topeka announced that he was going to formally change the name of his town to Google, about a month after Google announced plans for a unique contest. The mayor believed that this gesture would persuade Google to select the town for a contest that would let the winner test a new kind of ultrafast broadband connection. After seeing the benefits of fast broadband with his own eyes, the mayor of Topeka decided to enter the contest and give it his best shot. By changing the name he sent a serious message to a serious company, and his town became famous overnight.

A Historic Day

The event proved to be a tremendous publicity stunt for the town of Topeka, and it has certainly left its mark on history by catching the attention of Google for a day. Google said that they had decided to change their name to Topeka after browsing the City of Topeka’s Municipal Web Site. In fact, Google said they felt a kinship to the city the more they learned about them. Google did not announce any plans to change their name back to the original one that has made them so successful. After about 24 hours Google reclaimed its world famous name, leaving the town of Topeka with a special day in history. In fact, there has never been another case of a massive corporation trading its name with a small town in Kansas.

The Result

The day after the town received the highest amount of searches on Google in their town’s history. People from all over the world wanted to know why Google would choose this small town to trade names with. It seems as if Google may have given the town of Topeka a bit of an economic boost by creating a social stigma about it overnight. Google even changed the sign in front of their headquarters to read “Topeka”. Google has educated the world about hundreds of authors, artists, politicians, scientists, doctors, and leaders of all kinds. Pay attention to the design above the Google search bar the next time you are executing a web search.

Building the Page Rank of your site requires time, dedication and a lot of backlinks. Contrary to popular belief, the Page Rank (PR) is not the position of your site in the search engine as it relates to a particular keyword. It is actually a score from 0 to 10 given to every website that is indexed by Google. The higher your page rank, the more powerful your site is in the eyes of the search engine. A PR of 0 indicates a brand new site with little to no links (or a penalized site), and a PR of 10 indicates the most powerful kind of site in existence. The higher the PR of the site, the easier it is to have the site listed at the top of the search engines, for any keyword that you may target. The problem is, it can take a very long time to build up a solid PR for your website. Fortunately, you can use many sites to find domains that have recently expired, and that still have valid backlinks and PR.

Backlinks in Yahoo and Google

Aside from the age of the domain, there are a number of factors that contribute to the success and authority of your website in the eye’s of the search engines. In fact, there are many domains that are under a a year old that have higher PR than domains that are 7-10 years old. The leading contributor to the authority of a domain is by far the number of backlinks that are indexed by the search engines. There are two columns in the FreshDrop interface that relate to backlinks, the Yahoo column, and the Google column. Since Yahoo backlinks are difficult to accumulate they signify a greater value than Google backlinks.

Bidding on Domains

There are many sites online that let you bid on domain names with ease. These sites are great for finding rare domain names that could greatly increase your chances of having success in your niche, however it is often difficult to get a decent price on the domain name of your chance. Sites like FreshDrop.com are different, in that they purchase domain name as they expire, and then resell them at a fixed price depending on their value, which is established based on a variety of factors such as backlinks, pagerank, domain age, and the domain extension among others. Most of the domains at FreshDrop.com cost only a few more dollars than the original registration fee, and thus are perfect for using with micro blogging and other concentrated niche endeavors.

Using the Search Function

There is also a search function included within the FreshDrop interface that lets you search for domain names based on a wide range of criteria, including but not limited to domain extension, age, keyword, backlinks, PR, and any combination of these choices. Thus, it is simple to narrow down your choices, and you can even save your domain name hunting projects in your account to continuously find good domains in your niche.