Archive for November, 2005
Monday, November 21st, 2005
When you qualify your AdWords leads, you can reduce the click-through rate (CTR) of browsers and help direct only those most interested in your offer to your site. How is it done? By inserting text that will purposely eliminate arbitrary visitors.
Qualifying Your PPC Leads
Purposely eliminating visitors sounds like an awful thing to do, doesn’t it? Perhaps, until you consider the fact that - once these visitors got to your site and found out the details of your offer - they’d most likely leave anyway.
Why not save yourself a click (and the money associated with that
click!) and prevent the visitor from running up your monthly AdWords bill? This is exactly what Steve Jackson of Conversion Chronicles and I discussed awhile back. Since that discussion, I’ve come up with a process that will allow you to easily write pre-qualifying ads when you use these simple steps.
Step One
Outline the specifications of your offer. Be precise. List all the details of the offer, the price, length of time, physical location, size, etc. For example, say you have luxury cruise packages available. You’d want to list the details such as:
packages depart from New York City and go to several destinations in Mexico including Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán from December 5-15 for a cost of $2500 per person.
Step Two
Go back and highlight anything that would be a deal breaker.
This is a luxury cruise, so the cost of $2500 per person might be too much for most people. Quite often, cruisers are looking for the best deal possible.
Also, the cruise only leaves from New York City. The additional airfare cost might not be something your site visitors want to add to the cost of their trip. Or, it may be inconvenient to depart from New York City.
What about the dates? These cruises are only available on the dates of December 5-15. Your site visitors may not be able to take a holiday during that time.
Does the visitor want to sail to the locations on the itinerary?
Maybe they’ve already been to Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán and are looking for a cruise to Cabo San Lucas.
Are there other factors that might force shoppers to decline the offer and move to another site? If so, list them here.
Step Three
Now, decide which bits of information you want to include in your AdWords ads. You’ll want to test and track to see which combination of details bring the lowest click-through rates along with the highest conversions. For example, your ad might read:
Luxury Mexico Cruise 12/5
Tour tropical Cozumel, Puerto
Vallarta & more. Leave NYC. $2500pp
www.whatever.com
That would give a lot of information that would keep unqualified visitors from clicking through to your site (and running up your AdWords bill). At the same time, the use of words like “luxury”
and “tropical” help the searcher visualize their wonderful vacation.
Another example could be a special shipment of microwave ovens.
Let’s go through the steps once again.
Step One
The specifications include: convection/microwave combination, built-in with light and vent features, 1200 watts, white, $900, available on the Internet only.
Step Two
Any of these could be used to weed out visitors. Someone may not want the convection feature. They want a countertop microwave rather than a built-in model. Twelve-hundred watts may be more powerful (and larger) than the visitor needs. Their kitchen may have stainless steel or black appliances, not white. Lastly, $900 could be more than they have budgeted for a microwave.
Step Three
Again, you’ll want to test and track to see which tidbits of information work best to bring qualified leads, reduce CTR and costs, and improve conversions.
Your ad might look like this:
Powerful Convec/Microwave
Special purchase. Attractive range
built-in with 1200w. Only $900.
www.whatever.com
Rather than using generic terms to describe high cost or frequently compared PPC items, get as specific as you can with “disqualifying” copy. By weeding out those who would likely take one look and leave, you can save yourself a lot of money in AdWords expenses while increasing conversions.
Posted in Pay Per Click / Paid Placement | No Comments »
Monday, November 21st, 2005
Typically this agreement could run to 40 or 50 pages andcan be a daunting read to those unfamiliar withcommercial contracts. The very nature of a franchisebusiness structure means that the agreement will befairly complex. Remember that this document providesthe framework for your business life over the next sevenyears or so.
Franchisors, particularly established ones, will rarelychange or negotiate the terms of their standardFranchise Agreement as they will want to maintainuniformity across all the franchises. However, it isessential that you understand what you are being askedto sign. Once you have signed an agreement as abusiness person (without the cotton wool treatmentgiven to consumers) you will struggle to persuade a courtlater that the terms were unfair or sufficientlyunreasonable to be void. You will be stuck with it! Istrongly recommend that you seek legal advice from acommercial solicitor familiar with franchising.
Key areas include establishing the true cost of thefranchise including ongoing royalties, advertising costs,minimum stock purchases. What location and territorialrights have been granted? Are these exclusive to you?What property and equipment is required? Whatobligations are there on you and the Franchisor relatingto the ongoing operation of the franchise?
Often the most complex area relates to renewal andtermination of the franchise. Are you granted anautomatic renewal right beyond the franchise term of 5 or7 years? What renewal fee is payable? Can you sell thefranchise on? Usually you will need to give the franchisorfirst option and/or a right of veto over the acceptability ofany proposed transferee, often coupled with a % fee.What are the consequences of an early termination byyou if you want or need to get out prematurely? Therewill usually be a minimum period with forfeiture of thefranchise fee, stock and possibly other financial penaltiesand compensation. What if you are in breach? Whatcircumstances would lead to an automatic termination?Are you given a period in which to remedy your breach?
Ask yourself some “What if?” scenarios. What if you diedor were seriously ill? What if you failed to meet your salestargets? What if you wanted to sell product out of yourterritory? What if a customer sued you for faultyproducts? If you cannot answer all your What ifs, do seekmore advice. Don’t be afraid to ask the Franchisor thesequestions. But don’t expect an impartial response. TheFranchise Agreement will usually have an express termpreventing any reliance upon representations or claimsmade by the Franchisor in the initial presentations ordocumentation. Much to the disappointment of manyclients who come to us for advice having run anunsuccessful franchise, this applies particularly to anyclaims as to how much money can be earnt?? Buyerbeware!
Posted in Advertising | No Comments »
Monday, November 14th, 2005
Why am I laughing? Because every linking campaign I’ve done for the past few years has turned a profit all by itself. That’s right - if search engines didn’t exist, I’d still be counting up the profits from my link-building efforts, while the poor guy with the $3,000/month link-rental bill stares at his search engine ranking reports and wonders if it’s really helping.
I have no doubt that some of those paid links *are* helping folks get their websites better exposure, whether through search engines or otherwise, and I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t submit to directories. However, if you had an opportunity to promote your website and build links without spending as much, wouldn’t you take a look?
The reason I make money on my link-building campaigns is that they aren’t really linking campaigns at all - they’re content-distribution campaigns.
So, what’s a content-distribution campaign and how does it work?
Well, you’re looking at one right now.
Jill is happy to run my article because her readers will enjoy it. Her readers are happy too, because they get useful information. When readers like my article, some will click on the link that appears in my bio, and some of you (I hope) will buy something from me. That’s where my immediate profit comes from - the cost of writing and distributing my articles is far less than the added profit I gain.
In fact, all of the back issues of the High Rankings Advisor are archived online. When this issue goes onto Jill’s website, I get a link, but it doesn’t stop there.
A lot of people will read my article and they will want to send the same information out in their own newsletter or put it on their own website. When they contact me, I will be happy to have them distribute my article and post it on their website. In fact, I might even update it a little and give them a personalized version to use.
It’s a lot easier for me than it used to be because I have a recognized name, but even when nobody knew my name, I made a profit on every article. That includes the very first one I sent out, which generated over $1,500 in sales in one week for my then-new e-book, SEO Fast Start.
So how can you get started? The first step, and it’s very important, is research. You need to find out what kind of information your target audience is interested in. If you’re a mortgage broker, for example, folks might enjoy an article explaining what the heck “escrow” is. I still don’t know, so don’t ask me, but I’m curious and I’d open any email offering to explain it.
You can find good topics and good information on websites like About.com, which conveniently enough shows a list of the most popular articles on each topic. Just pick a topic and search About.com for information - you can use the built-in search, or another search engine like Google (try searching for “mortgage site:about.com” and you’ll see what I mean).
Once you’ve selected some topics, you need to write the articles or pay a professional to do it. Good ezine articles run 500-1,000 words, are written with simple language, and provide clear, useful information. Many professional writers (like our friend Karon Thackston of <http://www.marketingwords.com>) will write articles for you.
My recommendation for those just starting out is to produce no more than 2-3 articles at first. Once you’ve written your articles, it’s time to distribute them. I’d recommend sending out no more than one article per week. You have a few good choices for this:
1) You can distribute them yourself via the “article announcement” mailing lists that many ezine publishers use to find content. Start at Kevin Bidwell’s site, where he provides some great information on a group of announcement lists he manages: < http://www.all-in-one-business.com/groups/>.
2) If you’d rather not do it yourself, you can hire someone to distribute articles to ezines. Phantom Writers <http://www.thephantomwriters.com> can help with this, as can iSnare.com, and others.
3) You can submit to article database websites, such as goarticles.com, ideamarketers.com, isnare.com, valuablecontent.com, and others. You will find a regularly updated list of article databases at <http://www.arcanaweb.com/resources/article-directories.html>.
4) You can use also software like Article Submitter Pro <http://www.articlesubmitterpro.com/> to submit your article to multiple databases at the same time.
In addition to the above methods, a little research will usually uncover dozens if not hundreds of topical websites that carry guest articles. A little trick of mine is to use the “Site Targeted Campaign” tool in my Google AdWords account to find websites that are running Adsense ads related to a topic. These sites are often very hungry for content.
One downside to writing ezine articles is that you can’t always tell your whole story in 1,000 words or less, and this is one of those times. There’s plenty more I’d like to tell you, like how we follow up on our articles to double or triple the number of links, build partnerships, create joint ventures, and more. But I guess that’s an article for another day.
I wish you success.
Posted in Linking and Publicity | No Comments »
Friday, November 11th, 2005
An opt-in list will allow you to keep track of your potential customers by obtaining their email address in order to keep them informed about the latest updates for your product or service. You can create your own opt-in list or you can use an opt-in list creator that is available online from several sources. The benefits of creating your own opt-in list is that you will be able to send personal messages to the potential customers and they will not need to do anything, whereas with commercial opt-in lists, the customer will receive a generated message and will be required to verify their acceptance of the message.
An important part of creating a successful opt-in list is to keep in mind that potential customers will visit your site from many places and may not see your homepage.
Therefore it is imperative to have the ability to subscribe to the mailing list from all pages of your site. You should not, however, make the subscription information a focus point of every page. It is a good idea to put it at the bottom or top of the page where it is visible but not distracting. It is also a good idea to promote your mailing list by using a give-away. You could offer a service, a discount, or an ebook. You can also drive potential subscribers to join your mailing list by writing articles that will benefit the reader and at the same time, build your credibly as an expert. You can include the subscription information in the byline of the articles. You could also write an ebook with your subscription information on each page, which will allow the customer to easily access the information and join the list with ease.
Once you have created the mailing list and now have your potential customers within your grasp it is your responsibility to keep them updated and interested. Provide them with quality information that is up-to-date and of interest to them. Offer discounts or a newsletter, something that the reader can use. This will keep them interested and will drive them to your site over and over, eventually they may make a purchase and if not, they will be informed enough to use word of mouth advertising for your site.
Remember, the Opt-In List is one of a small handful of Internet Marketing tools that really are a must if you are going to have a successful online business.
Posted in List Building | No Comments »
Friday, November 11th, 2005
Before seeking out prospects, having a marketing plan is essential to any business. I’m going to present a lot of research and my objective is to include the need to quantify all the results from all your marketing efforts. And to look at all the strategies for conducting direct marketing campaigns and testing variables to determine the effectiveness of each of the marketing strategies within your business.
Most people want to be successful, but few plan to be. Very few people take the time to plan anything. Most people take more time to plan their vacations than they do to plan their lives. The most important thing you can do right now for your business is sit down and develop a marketing plan. Most business owners fail or they just move along because they don’t have a plan or goal for their business.
I want you to decide right now to make a detailed plan of what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. It’s the old saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”
You can say, I want to make more money or I want to be rich. That’s nice, but too vague. You want 20,000 sales per month, That’s not a plan nor will it even come close to become a plan.
A plan is a detailed specific road of how you’re going to reach the targets you set out and the date that you want to reach them by. An example is that you can set sales goals. You can sell so many of your products for a week or so many of your services for a week. You should offset these in net profit instead of gross profit because that is the money you’re making.
I know one lady who grosses $9,000,000 a year. Very impressive, She takes home roughly $100,000 of that. That’s not very impressive, It maybe nice to have $100,000 a year, but it’s not impressive when you’re grossing $9,000,000. That won’t really tell you how well you’re doing,
You want to put down the numbers in net profit If you know your net per sale, and most business owners do not even know this, but if you do you’re way ahead of the game. You can work backwards on how many sales you need, Then all you have to do is increase your number of sales per week or net profit per sale.
Develop a strategy for making those numbers, decide how you’re going to advertise. How am I going to get referrals? How am I going to get people to buy more often? How am I going to get people to spend more? This is the beginning of your marketing plan.
Go out and pick five of the best ideas or most comfortable ideas and implement them. Start using them to help you make your goal.
Choose another five, another five, and another five. You want to set your goals on a weekly basis. As you achieve them raise the level the next week. This way you will continue to improve and so will your income.
Don’t panic if you have a bad week. Just get right back on track and try to achieve the next week’s goals. You want to get to know the numbers for your business. It is a business of numbers. You need to know the net profit per sale, net profit per service call, and how much it costs to get your new clients. These are critical in knowing where you are and if you’re achieving your goals.
Take some time each week to plan. It’s critical. Here is a simple guide for you to use.
?¨¨ Write down your goal for your total net income you want next week.
?¨¨ Write down the number of new clients that it will take to get that.
?¨¨ Write down your goal for number of repeat clients that you want to achieve.
?¨¨ Write down how many service calls you’re going to make if you’re a service business.
?¨¨ Write down how many products you have to sell.
?¨¨ Write down the net income for each item and your average income per client.
You’ll come up with the total income you’re trying to achieve. Each week put down the actual numbers you want to achieve and you’ll find out if you’re reaching them or not. Then you’ll know if you need to increase marketing and in what areas. Creating a simple marketing plan like this enables you to keep track with all the numbers and helps you to achieve your marketing goals.
Posted in Advertising | No Comments »
Friday, November 11th, 2005
Since there are so many different uses for autoresponders, they can be of value to virtually any type of business. Some choose to use the autoresponders to answer frequently asked questions about a product or service. Others use them to provide information about pricing and/or your product information. Autoresponders are also a nice way to welcome new members to a website or group as well as thank them after a visit.
One might ask what would be the advantage of using autoresponders as opposed to simply listing the information on the site. An important feature of autoresponders is that they send you an email notification each time a response is sent out. This allows you to track the success of your promotions as well as have the email addresses of potential customers at your fingertips so that you can easily send out updated and new information to them.
It is of the utmost importance to choose an effective autoresponder. An autoresponder should be as personal as possible and send out follow-ups to potential customers since it has been proven that persistence pays off. The average is seven contacts before a final sale is conducted. Generally speaking an advertisement should be short and to the point. However, in this case, the customer has asked to see this specific information and therefore an effective autoresponder should allow you to place as much text on the page as you desire. The autoresponder that you choose should also provide automatic updates to their customers free of charge.
The autoresponder is one Internet marketing tool that will not cost you an arm and a leg. You can get free autoresponders online from several sources. The automatic responses will be a welcome addition to your marketing strategy and will help to automatically increase traffic to your site all while you do nothing after it is set-up. Be sure that the one you choose includes all the extras that will send your site to the top and your profits through the roof.
Posted in Autoresponders | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005
My blood pressure is up and my heart is a-fluttering!! Is it love? No, it’s just another Google update!! Many people are well aware of the business ramifications that occur when an update is underway and their site suddenly disappears from the Google rankings. However, others may be completely unaware of the update and it is business as usual for them. So what is an update and what should you do when it is taking place?
Feel free to discuss this on our blog ‘Insights into search for Business’.
What is a Google Update?
Google updates its index data, including backlinks and PageRank (PR) continually and continuously. However they only export new backlinks, PR, or directory data approximately every three months. When new backlinks, PR appear, they have already been factored into their rankings for some time. Some changes are hardly noticed at all. Some changes are more visible.
Google also crawls and updates its index every day, so different or more index data usually isn’t an update either. Google uses the term, “everflux” which describes the constant state of low-level changes as they crawl the web. Consequently, rankings change to a minor degree. That’s normal, and is not determined to be an update
Usually, what registers as an update with the search marketing community is when Google updates an algorithm (or its data), changes their scoring algorithms, or switches over to a new piece of infrastructure. .
Google Update Names
These days rather than having a large monolithic update, Google tends to have smaller (and more frequent) individual launches. The first memorable major Google update was named Florida. Though there were quite a few before Florida, including Boston, Cassandra, Dominic etc. Florida, which occurred in November 2003, had catastrophic effects for countless web sites and instilled horror into the hearts of webmasters and SEO consultants when optimized sites started to completely disappear from the Google rankings. After Florida came other updates including Austin, Allegra, and Bourbon. The current update has been dubbed Jagger.
The ‘Jagger’ Update
There is currently a Google update underway named ‘Jagger.’ If your business depends on online sales you may have noticed some changes in the results pages for your keyword phrases. Perhaps your site has fallen well down in the rankings. For many this is a bad time to have an update with the holiday season fast approaching and many businesses relying on sales from this time to keep them afloat.
Google is the most popular search engine on the internet and many businesses rely on their high ranking to drive traffic to their sites. Google gives high rankings to sites they determine relevant for individual search terms. The value of a site is established by an algorithm that includes various criteria to judge relevance. Every so often Google updates this algorithm to improve the relevancy of their results. During an update the relevance of the results are thrown into disarray. This is what is currently happening with the Jagger update.
According to Matt Cutts of Google the Jagger update is in place to reduce the amount of ‘spam’ sites that are included in the search engine results. These ‘spam’ sites have been built using techniques that are deemed inappropriate by Google such as using invisible text, inappropriate link architecture, and duplicate content. Sites incorporating these techniques use them to trick their way to the top of the search engine results.
What has many business owners frustrated is the fact many sites built following Google’s guidelines have dropped completely from the rankings. And within Google there is no guarantee these dropped sites will get back up in the rankings once things have settled down.
Currently the Jagger update has just entered its second phase with the third phase to follow in the first week of November. This means the upheaval should be over by mid November. The good news for searchers is more relevant sites will be listed for the search terms they use. The bad news for online business owners is they will have to sit and wait this out. Many are keeping their fingers crossed for some level of normalcy as the holiday shopping season really kicks into gear. Unfortunately there are no guarantees and other marketing channels may be the only solution.
What Now?
Phase 3 of the Google ‘Jagger’ update is still underway. We are waiting patiently for the dust to settle before we analyze what has happened. However, before you make any adjustments to your site, we strongly recommend that you bear in mind that it’s still too early to completely gauge the update’s full effect.
Posted in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) | No Comments »
Friday, November 4th, 2005
by Karon Thackston © 2005 http://www.marketingwords.com
I’ve been frustrated lately. It seems people just don’t get it. There’s lots of talk about SEO copywriting these days, but hardly any of it is on target. The majority of the conversations, posts and articles I’ve seen deal with topics like keyword density, allowable limits, over optimization and such. These people are making search engine copywriting all about the search engines. They are forgetting the fact that SEO copywriting is still copywriting.
What that means - generally speaking - is you are still writing promotional copy designed to cause a *person* to take a specific action. Your target audience (your site visitors) should come first. The elements designed to help the copy rank well absolutely come last.
What good is all the traffic in the world if your site copy doesn’t convert visitors into buyers? Not much. That’s why - when writing SEO copy - the human visitor comes first.
Unfortunately, SEO copywriting is getting a bad name because so much of what is being cranked out is repetitious babble. Most of these pages would never have made it on to a site, except for the fact that the site owner wanted to rank highly for certain key terms.
So, in the interest of salvaging the good name of search engine copywriting, before it’s too late, let me offer some guidelines.
SEO Copy Is:
first and foremost - written for the visitor.
unique and purposeful.
natural-sounding - it flows.
SEO Copy Is Not:
written exclusively with the engines in mind.
mirrored, adjusted or altered to create new pages by simply changing keyphrases.
stiff, forced or overly repetitive.
The Dos of SEO Copywriting
When writing SEO copy, you’ll want to:
understand who you are writing to.
choose what the focus of the page will be.
create a plan outlining the message you want to convey.
decide how best to communicate that message to your particular target customers.
choose which keyphrases will be incorporated into the copy.
make sure those keyphrases work well with the page and the planned copy.
incorporate keyphrases as you write (not after you write), so they flow naturally with the planned message.
The Don’ts of SEO Copywriting
When writing SEO copy, you should never:
create a plan based solely on how to rank high.
replace *every* instance of a generic term (car) with a keyphrase (red, convertible car).
add pages of copy simply to appease the search engines.
rely on useless keyword density ratios and formulas.
shove keyphrases in everywhere possible. (No, it won’t get you banned, but it will sound completely ridiculous!)
SEO copywriting is not the process of writing exclusively for the search engines. It is the process of writing copy to appeal to your visitors, while including elements to help the search engines and your visitors understand what the page is all about.
If you remember who truly makes or breaks your site’s success (your customers!) and focus on them, you’re sure to create SEO copy that rings true.
Karon Thackston is author of “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy).” Discover the secrets to creating SEO copy with a perfect balance between keywords and natural language. http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword
Posted in Copywriting | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005
Copyright © 2005 Shelley Lowery
When you’re ready to launch your web site and you’re trying to select a good domain name, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration. Feel free to discuss this on our blog ‘Insights into search for Business’.
Select a Domain Name that Reflects Your Web Site
Above all else, your domain name should reflect what your web site is all about. For example, if your web site is about grooming a dog, you certainly wouldn’t want to select a domain name like ‘mybusinessname.com,’ as this would have nothing to do with your web site’s focus. You would want to select a domain name that tells the world what your web site is all about — something like ‘doggrooming.com.’
Select a Domain Name that Contains Your Web Site’s Keywords
Another consideration of great importance are your keywords. Try to select a domain name that contains your most relevant keyword phrase, as some Search Engines place relevancy on them. A keyword phrase is two or more words that best describe your web page. If your web page is focusing on grooming a dog, your best keyword phrase will be “dog grooming.”
Select a Domain Name that will be Easily Remembered
With millions of web sites accessible on the Internet, it is also very important to select a domain name that will be easily remembered. As in the ‘doggrooming.com’ example above, ‘doggrooming.com’ is very easily remembered, contains the most relevant keyword phrase and describes the web site in explicit detail. It is the ‘perfect’ domain name for this particular web site.
Select the Best Domain Extension
Another consideration of importance is the domain name extension. Although there are many new domain extensions available, dotcom is still the best choice. When typing in a web address, Internet users automatically want to type in a .com extension, as this is the extension that has been embedded into our brains from the start.
Avoid Using Numbers in Your Domain Name
Although you may be tempted to do so, avoid using numbers within your domain name. Including a number within your domain name can cause problems, as when you tell someone your web address, you will continually have to tell them it’s a number and not the word. For example, if you selected a domain name like number1host.com, if you were to tell someone your web address, they may try to type it as ‘numberonehost.com’ instead of ‘number1host.com.’ This type of domain name would cause confusion.
Avoid using Dashes and Underscores in Your Domain Name
Although many people do it, don’t make the same mistake I made when I first started out. Avoid using dashes, underscores or any other characters within your domain name that may cause confusion. When I registered my domain name, Web-Source.net, I actually wanted websource.com; however, it had already been registered. So, I settled for Web-Source.net. Now, when I tell someone my domain name, I have to say it like this: web dash source dot net.
Don’t get me wrong, www.Web-Source.net is now a high traffic web site, but I can only imagine how much traffic I’ve lost over the years due to my domain name. I have received many emails over the years from visitors who had a hard time finding my site. They said they couldn’t remember the domain name and kept wanting to type in websource.com.
Avoid using Abbreviations within Your Domain Name
Although well-known companies, such as IBM, can get away with using abbreviations within their domain name, most companies can’t. As a rule, try to avoid using abbreviations or anything that will be difficult for your visitors to remember. Not only will this cause confusion, but it can also cause your potential visitors to make spelling mistakes when trying to type in your web address.
Avoid using Long Domain Names
Although you may now register long domain names, it’s really not a good idea. I learned this lesson the hard way. I registered ‘www.workfromhomebusinessguide.com’ and the sad thing is … I can’t remember the domain name half the time. How can I expect my potential visitors to remember it? Try to keep your domain name as short as possible. The longer the domain name the harder it is to remember and the more apt your potential visitors are to make a typo when typing it into their browser.
Ensure Your Domain Name is Not a Trademark Infringement
Prior to registering a domain name, you may want to consider searching the Trademark Electronic Search System, http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm to ensure your potential domain name isn’t infringing on any trademarks.
Please don’t take this point lightly, as trademark infringement could cost you your entire business. It is your responsibility to ensure that your potential domain name doesn’t infringe on any registered trademarks, as the trademark laws that apply in the hard copy world also apply on the Internet. Any company that registers a trademark has the right to protect their trademark and has the right to notify you that your domain name is infringing upon their trademark.
When you’re ready to begin, create a list of a dozen or more potential domain names, as chances are, your first choice will already be taken. With any luck, one of the domain names on your list will be available.
Take your time and select a quality domain name that will grow with your business. It will be well-worth your time and effort in the long run.
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design Mastery. http://www.webdesignmastery.com Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for your complimentary subscription to Etips and receive a copy of Shelley’s acclaimed ebooks, “Killer Internet Marketing Strategies” and “Work from Home: A Complete Guide…” http://www.web-source.net
Posted in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) | No Comments »
