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Regardless of which industry or niche you choose to pursue, registering an optimal domain name is the first step in building a popular website and a successful online business. Every day there are thousands of domain names being registered by professional domain speculators and webmasters who are determined to obtain the most valuable names for their websites. Unfortunately, such heavy competition makes it very difficult to find domain names that are inherently valuable, without requiring extensive search engine optimization and promotional effort. A lot of decision-making goes into registering a single domain, however many people consider the wrong factors when determining which domain name would be the best to register. The following are three of the most important determining factors of domain name value.

Exact Match Keywords

Any domain name that contains an exact match of a popular keyword is inherently valuable. This is because such domain names instantly gain high rankings in the search engines for the keywords that they’ match, with nearly no effort on behalf of of the webmaster. For example, an individual could buy “bicycleshorts.com”, and be ranked for the keyword “bicycle shorts” within one week after placing only a small amount of content on the site. Thus, the first determining factor you should consider when registering a domain name is whether or not the domain name contains a popular keyword within your niche. Even if you choose not to build a website, by obtaining a domain name that contains exact match keywords you can almost guarantee that you will be able to resell the domain name in the future to regain your investment, or possibly even earn a profit.

Character Syntax

The character syntax of the domain name is also a very important aspect consider, especially the length of the primary name itself. Domain names that contain less than six letters are considered to be highly valuable, particularly when a domain name has a popular TLD (domain extension) such as .com,.org, or .net. Domain names that contain a lot of hyphens or numbers in substitution of letters (i.e. – 4 instead of for) are considered to be less valuable, as such character syntax is usually not used by web surfers when inputting keywords and key phrases into search engine search bars. It is also not recommended to lengthen the primary domain name by adding additional words to the exact keywords (i.e. – “mybicycleshorts.com” instead of just “bicycleshorts.com”)

Keyword Commerciality

Another important determining factor to consider is the commerciality (profitability) of the keyword which you are targeting, as this will ultimately determine whether or not the search engine traffic generated by this keyword will be targeted enough to produce high conversion rates (also known as “buying keywords”). For example, an individual Googling “where to buy bicycle shorts” would be more likely to purchase a pair of shorts than someone googling “the history of bicycle shorts”. Thus, when registering a domain name that has an exact match keyword, it is important to exhaust all options to choose the most commercialized keyword possible.

Although it may seem like a rare occurrence, copyright infringement is a common problem that webmasters have to face in the highly competitive online industry. Online business owners spend a lot of time and effort trying to find the most suitable domain name for each of their websites, as it can have a significant impact on search engine optimization attributes and the overall traffic levels received initially. The domain name of the website essentially represents its online branding, and is ultimately what site visitors will remember when mentioning the site to their friends and family. Therefore, protecting the domain name is equivalent to protecting the popularity and success of the website that it represents. The following paragraphs describe how to protect domain names and web content from copyright infringement.

How Domain Names Are Protected Via Copyright Laws

By registering a domain name you are effectively copyrighting the brand of your online business. However, it should be noted that some domain names cannot be copyrighted if they do not fall under a certain set of criteria outlined by the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). For example, if you register the domain name “qualitypoloshirts.com”you cannot copyright the phrase because it contains the company name of a brand that already has copyright laws. In fact, with the right legal assistance and a bit of diligence Polo may even be able to have this domain taken from you based on previously established ownership rights of the term “Polo.” However, this is unlikely because the word Polo is in the English dictionary, can be used to describe a sport as well, and is therefore classified as a broad term or phrase.

How to Protect Domain Name Ownership Rights

Fortunately, by simply registering a domain and populating the website with content you are effectively copyrighting the domain name and all of the content contained within the site. When content is published on a web property that you own you are automatically entitled to ownership rights, and can therefore file DMCA complaints against any party that steals this content and posts it on their website without your permission. Perhaps the best way to stop competitors from stealing your content or violating domain name ownership rights is to report them to Google for posting duplicate content and abusing copyright laws. Most of the time this will cause their website to be de-indexed, essentially eliminating most of their web traffic and success. Alternatively, you could contract legal assistance and have a ‘cease and desist’ notice sent to the website owner, which threatens legal action if the content is not removed.

Understanding the Importance of Enforcing Copyright Laws

Although many website owners don’t worry about copyright infringement, it is something that should be considered on a regular basis, as heavy competition within the Internet industry is creates an environment in which copyright infringement is relatively common. By allowing people to steal the content from your website and/or register copywritten variations of your domain name, you’re essentially giving away web traffic and profits that you rightfully deserve.

The obvious advantages of dedicated hosting are often cited by experienced webmasters when reverting to it as the ultimate hosting environment. A dedicated hosting plan lets you lease private web servers that are solely devoted to the tasks of your websites and online endeavors. Perhaps one of the most crucial aspects of building professional websites and a successful online business is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Unfortunately, search engine optimization is an artform that can take months, if not years to perfect. Even experienced webmasters that have been optimizing their websites for search engines for years still have to remain vigilant and continuously monitor search engine trends and recently developed algorithms. If you are interested in the search engine optimization benefits of dedicated hosting, you may want to consider the following information.

Dedicated Automation Versus Human Outsourcing

The bulk of the work associated with search engine optimization involves performing simple yet repetitive tasks on a daily basis, in an effort to build a residual traffic flow and a portfolio of backlinks. Search engine optimization must be conducted gradually in order to appear natural, so link building automation must be performed on an ongoing basis in order to create a stable traffic flow. Unfortunately, webmasters that to try to manage multiple sites and perform these tasks continuously often find that the job is simply too time-consuming. Thus, there is a decision to make – use software to automate these processes, or pay human workers to complete them. Ultimately, when used properly, software is simply more effective and less expensive than outsourcing. In addition, the amount of tasks that can be performed by such software dwarf any human efforts that can occur within the same amount of time.

Dedicated Server Resources

Most search engine optimization automation software are capable of utilizing immense amount of server resources, depending on the amount of tasks that are being performed each day. For an online business owner and entrepreneur whose goal is to continually expand their network of websites and enhanced search engine optimization efforts, managing and maintaining multiple SEO campaigns simultaneously can be a difficult task. Fortunately,  many search engine optimization programs are capable of running hundreds of threads simultaneously (each thread performs a different task), gradually posting links on a scheduled basis via various methods. Unlike shared and VPS hosting plans, which utilize load-balancing technologies to evenly distribute server requests across a network of servers, dedicated hosting transmits and receives information directly, thereby expediting automated tasks performed by the server. A comprehensive dedicated hosting plan can also handle more tasks than any other type of web hosting, due to the extensive server resources provided.

Flexibility and Freedom of Dedicated Hosting

Within the shared hosting environment it is not possible to change the configuration of the server. Therefore, you cannot install certain software, or change the operating system. Many dedicated hosting plans give you complete access to the root of the web server, where you can install any type of software or operating system you would like. This also gives you the ability to install multiple operating systems, thereby providing complete compatibility with all forms of software. Thus, by utilizing the dedicated hosting plan you can create a custom hosting environment that is highly efficient and completely compatible with all search engine optimization software.

It is no secret that the best way to get residual targeted traffic with minimal effort is to capitalize on the popularity and traffic generating capabilities of search engines. Search engine optimization is a crucial aspect of being a successful webmaster, and is therefore the main subject focused on by many novice site owners. The majority of webmasters spend their time in pursuit of esoteric SEO knowledge that will somehow bring their website to the top search engines. Unfortunately, to see results and rank highly in the search engine result pages (SERPs) you’ll need to utilize the right tools and resources while working with diligence and persistence.

Although most people associate cheap web hosting with low-quality service, it is possible to utilize affordable hosting plans to improve search engine optimization for the following reasons.

Diversified Linking

Perhaps the most important aspect of search engine optimization is building backlinks to your website. A backlink is any link posted online that directs traffic to a page on your website. There are many conventional approaches to building backlinks in the proper fashion, however these often take a lot of time and dedication to be successful. Instead, many webmasters choose to build backlinks themselves utilizing their own network of websites. Unfortunately, search engines can tell what web server a site is being hosted on, and if all of the backlinks for your site are hosted on the same web server they’ll have little affect on search engine ranking. Thus, you’ll need to purchase several cheap web hosting plans in order to gain access different IP addresses for your websites. Since you’ll primarily be using these sites to link to your larger websites and improve their SEO aspects, you won’t need access to extensive server resources.

Funneling Traffic

By linking to your main websites from sites hosted on your cheap web hosting plans, you can not only improve search engine ranking through backlinks, you can also funnel traffic from these sites to your moneymaking sites in relevant niches, which will boost the authority of your domain. Cumulatively, if you have 10 websites hosted on a cheap hosting plan, and all of them are linking to and funneling traffic to a single main website, you are essentially recycling a percentage of that traffic. Thus, you can maximize the average value of each visitor you can solicit, rather than getting them to a single site and then having them leave your site for another person’s website.

Learning and Initial Endeavors

Cheap web hosting is also ideal for novice webmasters that would like to begin their initial online endeavors and gain access to the server resources that will facilitate their learning experience. Without access to a web server, you cannot even begin to build or market a website. By starting with a cheap web hosting plan you can ensure minimal financial risk, while also gaining access to the resources needed to begin your online endeavors and learn the basics of search engine optimization. Rather than making a substantial investment for your first hosting plan, you should consider the cost-saving benefits of cheap web hosting.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can fall in one of two categories: white hat or black hat. White hat SEO is techniques approved by search engines or those conducted in an honest manner. Black hat SEO is methods that search engines disapprove of and attempt to eliminate from their indexing process. These techniques are typically conducted in a dishonest manner. This is a common term in the internet world for driving traffic, making sales and generating leads.

Length of Use

Another dissimilarity between the two is the length of time in which each practice is employed. White hat typically produces long-term results that continue to be used for many years. On the other hand, black hat users often anticipate the banning of their sites once search engines realize the method they are using.

White Hat

An SEO technique is considered white hat if it conforms to the guidelines set forth by the search engine company and has no deception. Although the guidelines are not written and formal, it is more than just following the unwritten rules. White hat also must ensure the content a search engine indexes is the same content a guest user will be viewing.

White hat is accomplished by creating content for the user, not for the search engine algorithm. The more human the content, the better the search engine ranking. The content should be easy to detect by the search engine spiders. White hat SEO is similar to web development in terms of accessibility. White hat SEO has proven to be effective for marketing by drive quality content to the audience.

Black Hat

Black hat SEO is pretty much the opposite of white hat in that it attempts to fool search engine rankings through disapproved techniques. One example of a black hat technique is using hidden text or text that cannot be read due to a color change to drive traffic. Another method is cloaking which involves presenting a different page depending on the visitor (human vs. search engine).

Search engines penalize those sites that utilize black hat methods to drive visitors by dropping their rankings or eliminating their listings altogether. These penalties can be enforced automatically or by the manual review.

It is always advantageous to utilize white hat methods on your website. With the advanced search engines today, it is not worth it to implement black hat practices as the consequences can ruin your reputation forever.