I know from experience that finding the right name for a credit card site isn't easy. The competition for names is so intense that I chose to use country code top level domains (TLD's) for my sites. For those who are still in love with dot-COM domain names, all I can say is: good luck. All the good names are taken and have either been developed or are being horded by domain investors. Today I came across a credit card-related, dot-COM name that made me LOL. The name is CREDITVAN_DOT_COM. I'm chu … [more]

It doesn't pay to dither if you want a domain name. If you search for a name using any domain name registrar, and you end up leaving the name because you can't make up your mind about buying it, don't be surprised if the name gets registered by someone else shortly after your search. It's called domain sniffing, and it's a very controversial subject because many Internet regulars don't believe that it exists. If you search for a domain name at Network Solutions, the company will lock … [more]

The good folks at Yahoo! are currently rolling out a new update for their search index. There's no way to know exactly when the latest update will be completed, but it should be done by tomorrow or Thursday. From my perspective, this latest update isn't looking too good (so far.) The last one was better, IMHO. [more]

Google has just wiped out an entire Internet cottage industry: selling text links. Sites that are known to sell links are being penalized like crazy with the latest Google Pagerank update, with some sites dropping from PR7 to PR0. Is this a good thing? Maybe. But, from my perspective, it's a raw deal. I have a site that ranks well in Google for competitive keyphrases, despite having pages with low or no Pagerank. However, another site of mine used to have PR on many pages, but now has PR0 on all pages . … [more]

If you haven't used Yahoo Search lately, give it a try. The folks at Y! have just rolled out another index update, and the SERP's are looking very good; good as in relevant! Y! is now a serious competitor for search, which I'm very happy about, because I'm tired of smoking that Google stuff. Of course, I'm still going to use Google, but when you're doing research, it's always best to have access to multiple sources of information, because research just isn't research if you r … [more]

The folks at Yahoo! have just rolled out a new update for their search index. I'm seeing some nice improvements in many areas this time around. So far, this update looks much better than the last one. FYI: it may take a day or two for the update to completely settle so you may want to check your rankings over the next couple of days. You can let Yahoo! know how you feel about their latest update by posting a comment at the Yahoo! Search Blog . [more]

I'm a big fan of Dot-TV names. I've invested in many, and developed a few. The only prohibitive thing about the Dot-TV namespace — IMHO — is the cost of registration. Dot-TV names usually go for $30-$35 or more per year; the price can sometimes drop into the $20 neighborhood at GoDaddy or Enom once in a while, but not often. So imagine my surprise to find (thanks to a recent Namepros.com thread) that www.GoDaddy.com is selling Dot-TV domain names for just $9.99! That's a truly exciting price. … [more]

The last dot-INFO domain name sale @ www.GoDaddy.com was a good one: $0.99 each . Right now, GoDaddy's holding another dot-INFO sale where you can get new, dot-INFO domain name registrations @ $1.99 each, and no coupon code is required. Just add the dot-INFO domain name you want to your shopping cart and the discount will be applied automatically when you checkout. This dot-INFO sale is set to expire on August 10, 2007 . Enjoy! [more]

I noticed some significant changes to the Yahoo! search engine results pages (SERP's) this morning. It looked like Y! released a new update for their index, but that didn't seem likely since the last major shuffle was on June 12. I just visited the Yahoo! Search Blog and found that it is in fact a new update . So maybe Yahoo! will be shuffling their SERP's more frequently from now on, which would be a good thing, IMO. My sites did OK this time around, though I am disappointed about certain keywo … [more]

The latest discount code from the good folks at www.GoDaddy.com is gdm0613a , and it gets you 15% off any of the following domain name extensions: .COM .NET .US .TV .ORG .BIZ .NAME .MOBI .WS More good news: gdm0613a should work with domain name renewals as well as new domain name registrations. gdm0613a is set to expire on July 9, 2007. Enjoy! [more]

OK, it's time for some honesty: how many of you have copied the privacy policy from another source — with or without permission — because the prospect of writing your own privacy statement tends to leave a really bad taste in your mouth? Yup, writing your own privacy statement for your site(s) is the right thing to do, but it's time consuming and I'm willing to bet that it's one of the most dreaded writing tasks on your website development todo list. So, I'm happy to share with you a v … [more]

It's time to check your Yahoo! rankings again. The folks at Y! rolled out a new update to their search index on June 6. I'm still seeing some fluctuations but the update has settled for the most part. Check out the comments here . I'm not liking this update one bit. My highest-quality, finance-related content site has suffered as a result of this update. Not happy. [more]

I've had a Yahoo! email account for a long time. It was actually a Rocketmail account that was migrated to Yahoo! Mail when Y! bought Rocketmail. Y! Mail is good, but ever since Gmail debuted, I've been a Gmail user. Gmail has great features like a top notch spam filter and chat integration. But the one feature that lured me to Gmail was the massive space allotment. Right now, I have 2.834 gigabytes of space available to me — space which I'll probably never use — but it's certainly nice to … [more]

The last time I posted a coupon code here, it was a code that can get you .INFO domain names @ $1.99 each. Today's code is even hotter, believe it or not. www.GoDaddy.com coupon code gdm0309b gets you dot-INFO domain names @ an ultra-cheap $0.99 each for the first year! I don't think gdm0309b works with renewals, which is a shame (I just tried to renew a few dot-INFO's in my portfolio and it didn't work.) gdm0309b is set to expire on March 31, 2007. Enjoy! [more]

If you're in the market for one or more .INFO domain names, then right now is a good time to buy. I've just picked up a new www.GoDaddy.com coupon code, and it's hot! The code is gdm0124b , and it can get you .INFO domain names @ $1.99 each . I haven't seen .INFO's this cheap for a long time. On the down side, I don't think gdm0124b works with renewals: I tried to renew a dot-INFO domain name in my account and it didn't work. If you can use it: enjoy! gdm0124b is set to expire on … [more]

About midday on January 18, 2007, one of my best websites was torpedoed by Google. My site wasn't removed from the Google index, but almost all the traffic I was getting from Google came to a very sudden and shocking halt. Even highly unique keyphrases — phrases for which I was certain I would dominate (or at least do well) in the Google SERP's for a long time — disappeared from my server logs. When I first discovered the SERP's assassination, I panicked for a few minutes (a great way to shed … [more]

Microsoft is now an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar for the following top level domains (TLD's): .COM .NET .ORG .BIZ .INFO .NAME .PRO Microsoft can now get names within the above-listed TLD's at wholesale (e.g. the current wholesale price for a .COM domain name is $6.) Should discount domain name sellers like www.GoDaddy.com be nervous about the new competition? No, not really. The M$ people are not likely to start hawking domain names any time soon. But they do offer free domain name registr … [more]

Domain name broker AfterNIC recently announced that they will no longer list adult and gambling-related domain names. Here's a clip from a recent email: "…After extensive consideration, we have decided to no longer accept domain names that promote hate, sex, obscenity or self-destructive behavior, such as substance abuse, violence and gambling. The sole rationale behind our decision is to make AfterNIC a more comfortable site for mainstream domain name shoppers, especially small business owners.. … [more]

Website owners: you should visit Yahoo! today and check on the status of your targeted keywords and keyphrases in the Yahoo! search engine results pages (SERP's). I woke this morning to find some nice changes to the rankings of many of the keywords/keyphrases I'm stalking. I then visited the Yahoo! Search Blog to find that the good folks at Y! just rolled out a new index update . I'm seeing some significant improvements to relevancy in the Y! SERP's. Nice. Now the question is: When are the f … [more]

If you missed the last GoDaddy.com dot-NET domain name sale, then you're in luck: the good folks at www.GoDaddy.com have just brought it back! Right now, you can use coupon code gdh1006b to get dot-NET domain name registrations @ $5.99 each per year! And, yes: gdh1006b works with domain name renewals, domain name transfers and new domain name registrations. Good stuff! Coupon code gdh1006b expires on October 20, 2006. Enjoy! Free Privacy for Your Domain Names More money-saving news: if you are into priv … [more]