Ideally, your domain should reflect your Valuable PREselling Proposition (VPP). Your VPP answers, in very few words and hopefully with just a touch of character, the two critical questions about your Site Concept...
1) What specific and high-value information does your site deliver?2) What is your unique positioning for this delivery (i.e., what is your angle of approach)?
A good VPP transmits these answers loud and clear to your visitor so that she immediately understands what your site is about. And the single best way to do that?...
Include your VPP in your domain name! There’s no room for “cleverness” or subtlety here. Leave that to the moneylosing dotcoms. Include your Concept Keyword in your VPP and add a “marketing angle/theme” to it. That way, your concept is clear to your visitor, and your Concept Keyword is clear to the Search Engines. (The engines will rank your site a touch higher for your Concept Keyword if it is included in your domain name).
Focus your efforts on developing a VPP that is “not too narrow, not too broad”-- it needs to be just right.
Would an example help to clarify? How about three?
“Pricing” is a nice, tight concept to sell our pricing consultant service. You can use your SUPPLY and DEMAND windows to brainstorm many HIGHPROFITABILITY keywords that are directly related to pricing. And, as we saw, you can also BREAKOUT into other areas too... areas that would be of interest to serious business people (ex., “fulfillment” or “copywriting” or “product development”).
Here’s the problem, though... if you developed many Keyword-Focused Content Pages about fulfillment within your pricing-concept site, you’d dilute that site’s Search Engine effectiveness for pricing issues. Plus, it will be more difficult to PREsell your service as a pricing consultant. So “concept-level” keywords like “fulfillment” really deserve their own sites.
The more you keep your theme “pure,” the better you will do. And... a site dedicated to pricing is also much more credible to your readers.We saw before that business people who are interested in fulfillment will also be interested in pricing, and in turn, your consulting service. Well, the reverse is true, also. Your pricing pages can also refer people to a good fulfillment company... not to mention a company with a good solution for “Customer Support!”
Since “pricing” is wide enough to be profitable and narrow enough to be winnable, make “pricing” your Concept Keyword for your new Theme-Based Content Service Site.
Now let’s develop your service, and your Concept Keyword into a VPP.
It is your service’s most powerful benefit, in combination with a strong, unique feature of your business. It answers that most difficult question...
Why should potential customers hire your service company?
Here’s how to develop your VPP…1) What service are you selling? Write down what your service provides.
2) What is the key benefit(s) to your customer? What pain does it cure, what solution does it provide?
3) What is unique about your service?... About you? What makes you stand out from the competition? Keep working on this until you can clearly separate yourself from the field. There must be a convincing reason for doing business with you, instead of your competitor.
4) Summarize the above into one tight, powerful, motivating phrase that will persuade your customer to do business with you... to trade her money for the benefits delivered by your service.
As you start to work through the above four steps, you may find this to be a lot harder than it looks. Don’t blow it off and give up! You must have a VPP. If it was easy, everyone would have a great VPP! Come up with a tight, sharp VPP that PREsells your service to your customer.
There’s a second benefit to this exercise... and it’s another one for you! It will crystallize your own vision of what you do! Write your VPP down. Keep it firmly fixed in your mind.
Here’s a nice little technique that may help you. Ask yourself this question...“If I had unlimited, god-like powers... and could grant my prospective customer the biggest benefit I can possibly imagine she would ideally want from my product... what would that be?”
Write down your answer. Sharpen this into your VPP. A good VPP transmits your uniqueness loud and clear to your visitor in very few words. Why does this need to be stated in “very few words”? One big reason...
The K-I-S-S (Keep-It-Simple-Stupid) principle.When a reader hits your site, she must easily/immediately be able to understand what your site is all about. And the single best way to do that?...
Include your VPP in your domain name!
There’s no room for “cleverness” or subtlety here. Leave that to the moneylosing dotcoms. If at all possible, include your service's Concept Keyword in your VPP and add a “marketing angle/theme” to it. That way, your concept is clear to your visitor, and your Concept Keyword is clear to the Search Engines (the engines will rank your site a touch higher for your Concept Keyword if it is included in your domain name).
Now let’s look at a few possibilities for our service Concept Keyword example, “pricing”...i) pricingadvisor.com, or THEpricingadvisor.com
VPP = “pricing advisor.” It indicates that you are delivering pricing information (as well as the offer of your pricing consulting service). And the “advisor” part establishes you as the expert -- it tells your visitor that you’ll be delivering some great pricing advice!
Your Concept Keyword should be included in your domain. But, if your offline consulting business is known as “Smith Smith And Johns Consultants,” I can understand why you'd want that as your domain name.
However, unless you have a nationally known brand, or no shortage of cash to promote your service online, a VPP-focused domain name will serve you better. Observe...
THEpricingadvisor.com
ii) pricing-on-the-net.com
VPP = “pricing on the Net.” Again, it’s clear that you are delivering pricing info. The “on the Net” part says that you are specializing in pricing info specifically on the Internet. Since there is not much info about pricing on the Net and since your potential visitor is certainly there looking for Net-specific info, this is a good approach.
Same idea for “netpricing.com” and “cyberpricing.com.”
When do you use dashes in your domain name? If both versions of a 3-or-moreword domain are available, I like using the dashes because they make the word breaks more obvious to the eye. Also, the engines usually treat dashes as a space. So it may be more likely to “see” the entire string as separate words.
Others think, however, that the engines don’t seem to care one way or the other. So use dashes if it helps readability. For example, which is easier to read...Generally, do not use dashes if your domain name has only two words in it. See how “netpricing.com” and “cyberpricing.com” don’t really need the help of a dash?
Do use dashes (even if the domain has only two words) if the non-dash version is already being used by someone else. But be sure that you are not violating anyone’s trademark (details re: trademark searching are below).
NOTE: As a service seller with an offline presence, there are other issues to consider -- telling people how to spell your domain, people forgetting to put the dash after reading your print ad, etc. So keep it as simple as possible.
Here’s the bottom line... domain names are so cheap that it’s a good idea to take both versions (with and without the dash), just to make sure that a competitor does not take names that could be confused with yours. You can always make one domain point to the main one.
SBI! owners and 5 Pillar Affiliates can park domain names through Name Park It!. Its $9.95 per-domain fee includes domain-redirects and unlimited subdomain-redirects. No additional purchase or hosting required. And it’s the perfect way to hide any long and ugly affiliate link from any program!
Refer to this important help page for details about this exciting service...http://build.sitesell.com/help/central/parking-help.html
Name Park It! is not available to the general public. If you are interested, all you have to do is join the 5 Pillar Program…
You are under no obligation to promote SiteSell products.
iii) perfectpricing.com
VPP = “perfect pricing.” Again, it’s clear that you are delivering pricing info. This time, though, the VPP implies that you show people how to price optimally – also something that people would definitely want!
Bottom line? Same service (pricing consulting). Same Concept Keyword. But three different VPPs that outline three different Site Concepts.Which of the above approaches is best? Ahhh... my work is done. You know your prospective visitor best. Which approach do you think works best with your pricing consultant service?
Have you already identified your Site Concept? Do you know what your VPP is? Are you pressed for time?I’ll show you how to brainstorm and register your domain name before we go through a couple more examples.
A good domain name is...
• meaningful -- conveys a clear message
• easy to spell
• easy to remember
• unique, descriptive, and "you"
• solid, classic, not hokey
In general, if you follow the above guideline for creating your VPP, you won’t need much help coming up with a great domain name. But if you really want to make sure that you've left no cyber-stone unturned, Search It! can help you...
First, open Search It!. Then follow these steps…We’ll be using our first example where the keyword is “pricing.” The second word reflects our VPP, in this case, “advisor.”
Search It! > Domain Names (STEP 1) > NameBoy Domain Namer (STEP 2) > pricing (STEP 3) > advisor (STEP 4)
A good domain name ends in “.com,” “.net” or “.org.” These are well established, unlike some new entities -- “.tv” for example. When you are developing your domain name, think about your visitor’s mindset… Which name has the most credibility?
What about using a country ending like “.ca” or “.com.au”? Even if yours is a local business, you will sound more impressive with a .com/.net./.org ending. And your local business could easily add global income once your site is up and running.
I highly recommend “.com” as your first choice.
If you are the personal trainer and you already have an idea for a great name and just want to check to see if it’s been taken, use Search It! again…Search It! > Domain Names (STEP 1) > Check Domain Availability (STEP 2) > personal-ab-trainer.com (STEP 3)
Got a great and available name? Super! Now check for trademarks...
Search It! makes the trademark searches easy to do from Site Legalities. So be sure to check the other countries, too. Your service business could be world wide once you are on the Web. You don’t want to run into legal problems anywhere.
NOTE: It’s not necessary to trademark your domain. But do make sure that you don’t violate someone else's mark before you register your domain.It would be a shame to build up a great business and then have someone who owned a trademark (before you registered your domain) force you to take it down.
Registering domains is cheap. Why not lock them all in right now? That way, your expansion path won’t have potholes when the time comes for you to grow.Next... registration…
To register your domain name, you need the services of a registrar. There are zillions of them. If you are using one that makes you happy, stick with it. Otherwise, check out...
A low cost/high quality domain registrar... http://www.OOOdomains.com/A site that evaluates registrars...
http://www.domainnamebuyersguide.com/
A comprehensive list of registrars...
http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html
Site Build It! automatically takes care of registration for you. The cost is included in the annual fee.
You may have discovered during the course of your research that there doesn’t appear to be enough HIGH-PROFIT KEYWORDS and related POTENTIAL PARTNERS to make partnerships worthwhile or sufficiently profitable.
That’s OK, of course -- you are, after all, directing your main focus of your site to selling your service. Affiliate programs are only supposed to represent an auxiliary income stream. Rest assured, the success of your service business is not solely reliant on a large number of available partners.
What to do? You have three options...OPTION 1) Expand the concept -- make it more general. But remember... you don’t have to start huge. Build it over time. And try not to compromise the selling of your service over this.
Be wary of broadening the theme of your site too much. Try not to dilute your service’s targeted niche simply to expand your base of merchant partners. Remember, focus on selling your service. That’s where the “meat and potatoes” of your business will come from. Everything else? Well, it’s just
gravy!
OPTION 2) Loop back to DAY 2 and try the next concept on your DAY 2 “short list” of Site Concepts. OPTION 3) Recognize the benefits of an online presence for your service business (credibility, trust, accessibility), in and of itself. The return generated by a single new customer is substantial, and even more so if she becomes a lifetime supporter. Lots of great keyword opportunities and lots of excellent merchant partners are fantastic bonuses but not essential.
OPTIONS 2 and 3 are fairly straightforward so let’s begin examining OPTION 1. First, though, put on your “personal trainer’s” hat and think “healthy” ... Use the BREAKOUT window to expand your Site Concept, or even to find a new, better direction. The expansion route may seem perfectly obvious to you, even without doing the BREAKOUT brainstorming.
Think about it and ask yourself more expansive questions each time...
Or do I grow my idea to include abdominal exercises and lower back exercises?...
Or do I grow it into a comprehensive exercise portal?...
Which level should my starting Service Site Concept reflect?
Keep doing DAYS 2 and 3 on progressively broader concepts until you find enough profit potential to proceed. How broad should you go?
Remember the single best recommendation...
*************************************************** As narrow as possible, yet...
... still with lots of profit potential!
***************************************************
In other words, work your way up from exercise, to “abdominal exercise,” to “abdominal exercise and lower back exercise,” to “everything exercise.” Stop as soon as you find a level that has solid profit potential. Keep your niche as narrow as possible, so that you can build a site “to fill that glass,” yet still make good profits.
Nowadays, I would not start “exercise.com” as a global exercise portal. First of all, I’d go nuts trying to fill this wonderful site with so much info. And it would look rather amateurish with just a little content.
More importantly, though, is that each section would dilute the other. For example, since Search Engines will increasingly evaluate the overall theme of an entire site, my abdominal exercise section will dilute my aerobic activities section, etc., etc. And anyone who puts up a site that focuses purely on the theme of “abdominal exercise” will have an edge over that section of my mega-site.
Profit potential... it all boils down to monetizing your traffic.
Speaking of additional income streams... Once your Theme-Based Content Service Site has built enough traffic, add even more income through banner advertising. While I'm not a great believer in the value of banners for the advertiser, there are certainly thousands of companies willing and able to pay for banner advertising. So don’t be shy about taking their money.
It’s really appropriate, though, only after you start to build substantial income. So continue to keep notes about potential advertisers in the POSSIBLE PARTNERS section of your MASTER KEYWORD LIST -- store this income-generating stream for later...
As you did DAYS 3 and 4, you found many merchants who did not have affiliate programs. They are potential buyers of your advertising!It all starts by establishing yourself through your Theme-Based Content Service Site.
SPECIAL NOTE ... Use Site Build It! to build your site. It will be a snap to set up your own pay-per-click advertising business. Pay-per-click will be easier for you to sell, and in my opinion is a much fairer model for advertising.
Site Build It! gives you full click through data on all links. So you’ll be able to bill your clients appropriately -- professional-level tools at no extra cost! No HTML knowledge is necessary, nor are FTP, META tags, or any other tech knowledge. Site Build It! lets you focus on what’s important... building your business!
Check out how the system works by reviewing the SBI! Action Guide. It’s all online for easy access…http://action-guide.sitesell.com/
OK, back to your exercise-themed site.You could go with one of the following VPP-within-a-domain names...
“The-abdominal-trainer.com”
Or...
“Personal-ab-trainer.com”
Or...
“Abdominal-personal-trainer.com”
These are all smart, but not too clever (i.e., so subtle that many visitors would miss the point). They tell the visitor immediately and clearly what you do and what your site is about -- your Site Concept.
The second and third highlight your service -- “personal trainer,” as well as your specific exercise-related niche “abdominals” and “abs”.Bottom line?...
Visitors know right off what to expect. And that’s the name of the game. The only strategy on this over-congested Net is to target a specific niche with a specific Site Concept and a strong VPP that tells people quickly what specific and highvalue information you are delivering.
When you start with a wide-open concept like “exercise,” you have two basic choices...1) Narrow down to a “exercise-containing” Site Concept that fits hand-in-hand with your service.
2) Change course somewhat, if necessary, based on your BREAKOUT research in WINDOW 3.
Here’s another quick example. Remember some of our HIGH-PROFITABILITY “exercise”-containing keywords?...
• inner thigh exercise
• lower abdominal exercise
• lower back exercise
You narrow your choice to “lower back exercise” and do some BREAKOUT research for that word. You decide that this is your Site Concept. With your mind made up, you register your domain name as...
the-lower-back-exercise-trainer.comAs you can see the domain name contains your VPP. Yes, I agree. The name is not particularly clever. But this domain name gives you a better edge with the Search Engines, for two reasons...
1) There’s a slight advantage to having your keyword within the domain name. But more importantly...2) You’ll be using your name over and over in your copy. This also increases the chances you’ll be found for your main keyword phrase, as well as emphasizing the legitimacy of your theme with the SEs.
Add a byline like...“The Lower Back Exercise Trainer... Personal Training for Your Lower Back!”
... and include it on every page, and under your logo.
You’re off and running with a great concept like this. Just one more thought...
Let’s say that the-lower-back-exercise-trainer.com succeeds really well... Hey, it should! You’re doing everything right. But...
It will be too late to register related domains later. Do it now, with an eye to expanding your concept in a few months or so...
• the-inner-thigh-trainer.com
• And, of course, tie it up all together with a master domain, personal-exercisetrainer.com or THE-personal-exercise-trainer.com. This master site will be launched once