Domain Philosophy

Check Your Site Ranking

Here is a tool to check at-a-glance the link popularity of any site based on its ranking (Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Technorati etc.), social bookmarks (del.icio.us, etc), and subscribers (Bloglines, etc).

http://popuri.us/

After you search your website... click the Details links after the specific result... very interesting and useful information!

Have fun! Ron

Keyboard Shortcut: CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER = .net

Here is another shortcut for Windows/Internet Explorer users:

If you are using Internet Explorer you can simply type in any word for a domain (like ROATCorp) and if you then press the CTRL + SHIFT keys and the ENTER key at the same time it will automatically add the "http://www." to the front and the ".net" (or any other suffix you specify... see below) to the end of the word.

To specify the suffix you want to use, open Internet Explorer and:

1. Click on Tools | Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, click the Language option.
3. On the Language Preference screen add the desired suffix (see screenshot below).
4. Click OK
5. Click OK
6. Then, enter a domain word (like the word ROATCorp) and click CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER.
    
   
7. Try it!

Keep searching for that perfect domain name! Ron

Part II: Using .ws Domain as "Part" of a Website

This is a follow up article on the previous post (http://www.domainphilosophy.com/domain_philosophy/2006/09/using_info_doma.html) about using another domain extension (such as .info or .ws) as another part of a website.

Take a look at one of our recent websites http://www.whitesell.com/ and click on the "Latest News and Updates" button in the lower-left corner. You will see that when clicked it takes you to the http://www.whitesell.ws/ section of their website. The .ws site is a blog type site and allows the owners to add, edit, and delete their own posts (content) using the simple WYSIWYG editor.

This is another example of how different domains can be used to create a complimentary section to a website.

Keep searching for other ideas on how to use your domain names! Ron

.mobi Domain and Website Test

At first I was skeptical about the .mobi domain. But I have done a lot of reading about this domain concept and have found that the websites created (and hosted) for this domain can actually be quite engaging whether you access them via a phone/PDA or via a web-browser. So, I went ahead and purchased the roat.mobi domain. I paid $29.99 per year (two year minimum required) via GoDaddy.

My purchase and domain was approved immediately (I guess some can take a while) and I set up a very simple 2 page site just to get started with the design and layout requirements that the .mobi domain regulations require. Apparently, if a .mobi site isn't setup within these regulations your site can be set to not publish until it is within the specs.

I will post more about the .mobi site designs as I grow my site. Obviously, the bandwidth and screen sizes are the biggest issues... so I will post new articles as I figure this out.

In the meantime, get your phone or PDA out and go to http://roat.mobi/ and see my very simple site. My goal is to understand how we can use this .mobi for its intended purpose and see if all the press is accurate! So, although I am still unsure about the .mobi potential... I am willing to try it out and learn as much as I can. More later... Ron

Using .info Domain as "Part" of a Website

Take a look at this new website we just completed for a client (www.SellingDynamics.com) for a great way to use a .info domain. If you go to this site and click on the Latest News and Updates link you will see that I have set this site up so the .info domain is being used with a blog site that looks like the .com version of the site.

This allows my client to easily post, edit, and delete information as needed using the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. In this example, we are using TypePad for the blog service so it is really easy for him to login and create or update his own posts.

Even if you are comfortable with updating the HTML in your own website... using the .info as a related blog site can make regular updates a breeze!

For another example, look at www.AdamsBikerOutlet.com and you will a similar setup. Also, www.DanceCreations.org has this setup.

A final bonus to using the .info domains... they are usually $6.95 or less per year to own so it is a cheap way to get setup this way! Ron

How To Article: Track traffic that is coming from multiple domains pointing to the same website

If you have several domain names and they all point to one website you can set them up so you can easily track which domains are being used to get to your website. This is helpful if you use different domains for different advertisements and/or marketing... or are just interested in knowing which domain names are being used.

First, when pointing domains to a single website I don't use the "A" records (DNS settings) to forward my pointer domains. I simply use the free URL forwarding service that comes with most domain purchases. I know with GoDaddy and DirectNIC URL forwarding is free... and is probably free (or very low cost) with most other registrars too.

The advantage is that by using the URL forwarding service... you can use your site statistics on the main website and see the "Top Referrers" and it will show all the domains that are sending you the traffic.

For example, my main site is www.ROATCorp.com and I have a bunch of other domains like www.RonOfAllTrades.com, www.ROAT.com and .biz, .info, and so forth all pointing to that one main site. I can run my site stats at any time and see which domain is being used to hit my site.

So, if you have multiple domain names, consider using them to point to your main website using the free URL forward service that probably came free with your domain registration. It is a great way to tell if your domain names are generating traffic for you.

Let me know if I can help! Ron