Black Friday and Domain Names

As the rush of Black Friday approaches, it occurs to me that many retailers, the major ones that is, could benefit from additional domain names to build out sites, or to use in their advertising material just for redirects.

Take gaming laptops, for example. The .com of this domain name would be a great snag for, let's say: Tiger Direct®, Dell, Best Buy®, or J&R Music and Computer World®.Wish I had the .com.

Still, a large retailer might just, one day, contact the person who does own it, as domain name awareness increases. 

Hyphenated Domain Names

Interesting discussion about hyphenated domain names on ElliotsBlog.com.

The conversation focuses on value (doesn't it always?). Anyway, worth checking out.

It seems that the focus is continuing to shift from parking to development. Owen Frager seems to have a bit of an inside take on the subject.

But as people venture out into hyphen-land (if they do), LindaM raises the issue of trademark issues popping up... possibly, that is.

TeenDomainer rightly raises the bar on the development side, with a focus on search volume and cpc values...

So, is it time to consider/reconsider these investments?

CheapGamingLaptops.com

Cheap Gaming Laptops make nice gifts, especially at Christmas. So, Penguin Search Engine Services, Inc. has launched its second WhyPark-enabled Web site: cheapgaminglaptops.com.

Now, depending on who you talk to, it can be a lot of work shopping for your next gaming laptop. But, this new site has a comparison shopping engine so you can find more than 700 models and compare prices. Of course, not all of these gaming laptops are cheap, but once you do a little digging, you can decide if it's worth making that laptop purchase now, or saving up a bit to get what you really want.

CheapGamingLaptops.com also has video reviews, so you can get a look at some of the best gaming laptops out there. And, to keep up with your peers, make sure to check out the latest tweets: there you will have an opportunity to gaming enthusiasts to see which laptops they like to game on.

Finally, if you're looking for the best laptop, you can get the information you need. Along the way, you might want to check out some laptop computer reviews, because it's important to know what's out there. You don't want to be getting just any old gaming system. You want to get the best you can get. By conducting some research and checking the reviews out, you could snag some great laptop deals.

Once you have done your research and shopped online and, hopefully in the stores, and have checked with your buddies, you can plunk down some cold, hard cash and get your next cheap laptop. Good luck!

BreastCancerVaccine.net

We are now gearing up for the launch of more than 100 Web sites that are on the WhyPark platform.

This blog is to announce the launch of breastcancervaccine.net. The site includes articles about mammograms, and both videos and twitter posts about breast cancer vaccine news.

The goal is to get the site indexed in Google, Bing and Yahoo! Hopefully, by making the announcement via this blog, the spiders will pick up the site and include it in their indexes.

The site also utilizes an incoming RSS feed, which should help with relevance.

Social Media marketing

Quick update on the Local Marketing Expo held in Virginia Beach, Va. last month. There were several very informative presentations, especially related to SEO and social media. While they presented good data and advice, I was particularly impressed by a presentation by Ms. Erica Campbell, Senior Manager, New Media Marketing at For Rent Media Solutions.

A week or so after the conference, I was able to attend a conference call presentation Erica hosted, which further explored this emerging field.

For those who don't know much about social media, I highly recommend you get on board.

Local Marketing Expo

Penguin is off to the Local Marketing Expo in Virginia Beach to catch the latest in SEO, social media and online marketing best practices.

The event is geared for both online professionals as well as for companies looking to improve their presence on the Web, increase conversions and sales, and take advantage of new technologies and techniques.

Keynote speaker Sam Feldman will open the event at 10:00 a.m. Feldman is an Account Manager on Google's National Agency Team. Attendees will have the benefit of his experience in Google's relationship building with its major online agency partners.

Following Feldman's presentation, participants will attend various breakout sessions throughout the day. Additional keynote presentations will be given by Kurt Noer, CEO & Founder, Customer Magnetism; Sharon Frazier, VP of Sales, Cox Media; and Maurice Jones, President/Publisher, The Virginian-Pilot.

Penguin Search Engine Services, Inc. Registers EggRecall.com

Well, only time will tell, but a few days back, Penguin Search Engine Services, Inc. obtained the domain name eggrecall.com through a back order/auction at SnapNames. It's in development with WhyPark. At the time of this writing, however, I am experiencing a very frustrating situation with a technical issue (I won't go into detail here, yet, but if you don't see a WhyPark site, know that this is being worked on).

As a company, we largely hand register what we hope to be some "forward looking" names; these are names that are keyword rich and are most all intended for resale or development.


When the news about this massive egg recall first broke, we began the standard drill of investigating possible domain names. I was quite surprised to learn that the domain name was in pending delete status. At that time, I came across a post by dotweekly.com in which Jamie Zoch, who was, by the way, interviewed by Chef Patrick. In his post, Jamie posed the question: "What are the chances that one of the largest egg recall is taking place and the matching keyword domain name EggRecall.com is in PendingDelete status? 100% right now!"

We were wondering the same thing.

Now, mind you, as I said, Penguin Search Engine Services is not usually involved in buying aftermarket names, let alone trying to get them on back order. So, with the odds against us, I did some research into the back order process. To many of you, I 'm sure this is old hat.

What I learned was that our best shot was to go with SnapNames, since they apparently have a strong relationship with Moniker. Not sure where I first found this out (assuming it's true), but in attempting to verify just now, I again found help from Jamie, who stated: "All expired Moniker domains go to SnapNames.com to be auctioned first and if the domain doesn’t get any bids, it would then later hit the PendingDelete list." [They say 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.']

So, into the forest I go. First time with an attempt to back order. I could go through the process, but I'll spare the details. Suffice it to say that I kept a pad beside my laptop and tried to capture adjectives that described the experience. And, [not that I'm promoting Jamie, but he was the only person I found who was covering eggrecall.com/btw, I do not know him], come to find out, after we got the name, Jamie had been following the progress.

What surprised me were a few comments on dotweekly's blog about how this name might just be a wash when the headlines fade. We take a rather different approach, with an eye to more of how the business community might see things. For easy reference, I'm posting part of my response here:

[comment begins]
One thing to remember, in cases like this, is that while news will taper off, there have been *thousands* of people who have gotten sick, so far. And, guess who's lining up to make hay? Lawyers… personal injury lawyers to be precise. And these sick people don't forget…

Basic business economics would dictate that it takes only a very small percentage of sick people who sue to make a substantial amount of money in the suit, and to make a good chunk for their lawyers.

In Texas, one law firm sent a press release that they were the first to file first. According to the article, the firm plans 50 more suits.

When the story began to break, in the news, ABC news devoted more than 4 minutes to the topic; usually a story will get 1.5 – 3.0 minutes…

Pretty soon, the big guns came out. Marler is big in the biz. For now, search traffic for the egg recall has skyrocketed.Compare that with the issues of peanut butter recall — and you see the scope.
[comment ends]

By the way, for those who missed another "recall name" registration that flew right under the radar, for the most part, you might want to check out Andrew Allemann's posts — this one is the second, but it "backs into" the first. After all, there were two major peanut butter recall's within two years. So, here's where we're looking strategically. I did register the other major extensions, with the idea that there may be either another recall down the line. It seems like they're recalling everything, except beer, at least for the moment.

O.k., I'm rambling a bit. But it's refreshing to be able to write without the constraints of either a client (AP Style), or  Ph.D. coursework (MLA, or other styles). I did attempt the degree, and got halfway through, but reality set in. Don't miss worrying about any of that.

It's getting late; I'm still trying to troubleshoot the tech issue I mentioned earlier. So, will sign off...

Tim

The Importance of Web Analytics

These days, the importance of maximizing ROI and targeting customers is greater than ever. One component of a successful strategy to accomplish this is the use of web analytics.

This morning Penguin Search Engine Services checked out a seminar hosted by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce on the topic.

The presenter was Bruce Snyder of The Westover Group. We encourage you to visit them to learn more about the specifics.

Domain Name End Users

Domain Name "End Users".

What are they? Who are they? And how much do they know about the domain name aftermarket? We're about to find out. Currently, we're working on an article that is slated for the Domain Name Wire. The article will feature comments from top executives at a few major registrars, an industry leading domain name journalist and a major domain name development company.

For years, domain name investors have struggled with the issue of finding end users and educating them about the domain name aftermarket. In the upcoming piece, we'll take a look at how the industry can help educate these prospective customers, how to raise awareness for aftermarket names, and we'll explore topics involving pricing and valuation, and the viability of major domain name extensions.

Following the article's publication, we plan to launch a survey to both domain industry professionals, as well as to brand managers, marketing experts, etc. The results will then be made public.

So, stay tuned!

Domain Name Parking vs. Domain Name Development

We've been doing some testing lately with the WhyPark.com development platform, and have found it to be a very helpful tool for developing domain names. In just a few short months, working steadily, we have been able to develop and test more than 50 domain names by putting up mini content web sites.

To take a look at the developed names, visit the link for available domain names for sale.

Super Bowl Commercials, Domain Names and Google Marketing

Just two days after the big game and fans, ad executives and others are still talking about, and analyzing the Super Bowl ads.

And, they're asking questions: Why did Google decide to advertise? Which ads were most effective? They're also measuring results, from amount of traffic sent to their company or organization's Web sites (Focus on the Family, HomeAway), to determining how much product has been, or will be sold.

In particular, when it comes to the ads, GoDaddy.com has reported initial success of its commercials.

The 3D Craze is Here

With CES wrapping up, there's a lot of buzz about 3D technology, especially in the area of TV sets and programming.

Of course, we've registered some related domain names with ideas to develop in the near future.

Stay Tuned!