Now that my e-book has been completed (I still have to make it into a PDF and add the cover, though), the following task to complete is creating a squeeze page.
But hey!, there is a little big step before choosing whether to start from scratch or use a template… and that is choosing a domain name.
As usual, I thought of looking up for advise on the subject in the web and, also as usual, I found plenty. It appears to me that there are two schools of thought about how to choose the right name: one is in favor of brandable domain names, which recommends using short, witty-or-sticky words for the name in the hope your intended public will remember them, and the other is for keyword-based titles, generally resulting in longer names aimed at being liked by the search engines or guessed by people when surfing the net is search of information.
Again as usual I found the arguments of both sides convincing enough to leave myself undecided as to what name use for my own site-to-be…
I did some more reading on a less compromising source that dealt with the some of the “purely” technical aspects of domain names: use of hyphens, the best dot-what and even the use of domain name selection tools.
In the end I decided to go for a name that, depending on how you look at it, is both brandable and keyword-based, does not have hyphens (my blog URL does have some and I know they are cumbersome to deal with) and sticked to good ol’ dot-com. In English it would be a short one, maybe already taken, something like “ThinkLotto”. Fortunately in Spanish there are plenty of names still available.
I think I have “sort of sorted” this other one. Ahead with the squeeze page!
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Hi Jose,
Glad to read that your ebook is coming along nicely.
Choosing a domain name for your site is always a bit tricky and you described your decision making about that quite well.
My guess is that in Spanish it may be a longer name unless you use an acronym or unless you find a good short words which do exist but probably less so than in English.
My ebook has been done for a while now but I still need to finish the squeeze page and download page. It should be done within a week I hope.
I look forward to reading yours.
Vance
.-= Vance@Blog Traffic From Twitter´s last blog ..Can You Really Get Blog Traffic From Twitter? =-.
Hi there, Vance!
Yes, choosing the name was tricky. And there’s always the feeling that there could have been a better one. But it’s either move on or don’t get anything done.
I’m also working on the squeeze page, I’ll email you about some questions I have.
Jose
Hey Jose,
Yes, it’s almost always better to take action instead of waiting till everything is perfect.
I’m guilty of trying to be perfect more often than I should. I just bought John Chow’s book Make Money Online a few days ago and he warns about waiting till everything is perfect because it never really will be.
In the first guest post on my blog posted today this subject of taking action with what you know instead of perpetual learning is also partly covered.
Go ahead and send me the email. I’ll be happy to help if I can.
Vance
.-= Vance@Make Money Online Now´s last blog ..Make Money Online NOW! 5 Steps To Your First Online Dollar =-.
Thank you, Vance, I’ll send you that email shortly.
Hospitalera’s guest post in your blog makes a good point. Nothing will ever get done if it is not being done.
Jose
Congratulations on completing your ebook! I hope you’ll be amazed at how many people will find it interesting and valuable. My first ebook was about germinating Japanese maple tree seeds – a pretty obscure niche topic! It’s built my list to over 5,237 people and my You Tube videos on this have over 30,000 views.
.-= Ken Alston´s last blog ..Internet Marketing Training With Ken Alston =-.
Ken, thank you for visiting!
And the story and numbers about your own ebook are really inspirational. I could certainly use your advise, follow your trail.
I still have to do the promoting of the book and get that list growing.
Do come back, if you may.
Jose
Hey Jose,
Great post, choosing a domain name is such a simple task but sometimes people take days trying to find the right one.
My very first website had a hyphen in it and it never did me any harm, but like you said, it’s best not to have one if you can.
Using keywords in a domain is often something people don’t do but it really does help for ranking well in the search engine results.
Your blog is great, signed up for your rss feed so I don’t miss your next post.
Take care, Sally
.-= Sally Neill´s last blog ..In It To Win It And Need YOUR Help =-.
Hi Sally,
Thank you for the comment!
Posting more often and a better use of keywords is something I really need to do.
Your blog is really worthy of being visited, best of lucks in the traffic competition.
Jose
Hello Jose,
I have also heard it said that a third option for choosing a domain name is a variation of the short, witty variety.
You start by making up names for your product that say something about it but are not easy to find on Google. For example, “Egg Beater Surprise”, if you were writing a recipe book on using eggs. When you Google that phrase you find that there are no page 1 results with that exact same phrase in it.
Then, after some time, when people are talking about your book, your affiliates are promoting it and articles have been written about it, you will *own* page 1 of Google.
A free tip from Michael Pedzotti.
.-= Michael Pedzotti@instant affiliate payouts´s last blog ..Every 100 visitors is worth $240 =-.
Hey Michael, welcome!
And thank you for the tip. I certainly hope my “ThinkLotto” thing would get to page 1 that way!
Straight to your blog,
Jose
Hi Jose,
Good post, good to see the ebook is coming along nicely. Not got that far yet though the thought of choosing a name for the ebook probably fills me with more dread than actually writing the ebook itself. I think there are different schools of thought with regards to hyphens, with one being that they are actually read as spaces by search engines making it easier for them to read it. Apparently that came from someone who was supposed to have worked at google. Not sure whether that is true or not.
Will certainly look out for your book when it is finished
Simon
.-= Simon Croft´s last blog ..The Journey Begins Now =-.
Thank you for visiting, Simon!
I’d say one hyphens is no big deal. But my site has two and I think that would make typing the title in the address bar becomes cumbersome. But such typing is seldom done so that might be irrelevant.
When you do the reading you think you need to make a good decision you have to be careful not to get entangled into the opinions in a way that you actually stop moving. You’ve got to force yourself to move on. I was at that point and finally decided based on the liking. Ships burned, no way back…
Regards,
Jose
Hey Jose
really great post i was a while thinking of a domain name got one at the end that im happy with
Keep up the good work
Thanks
Davy
Thank you Davy!
Yes, one has to give the domain name a good thinking time and be happy with the decision. Just make sure the thinking time is not too long.
Regards,
Jose
Hi Jose,
I’m looking forward to finding out what domain name you’ve chosen and I also want to check out your squeeze page and download page when it’s up.
I think you’ll complete all this real soon because I have recently completed my ebook and the squeeze page and a download page for it.
I think you may like it.
Either way, let me know.
Talk soon,
Vance
.-= Vance@Email List Building´s last blog ..Email List Building Ebook, How To Build Email List In Any Market =-.
Hi Vance,
The domain name iss something like ThinkLotto, but in Spanish (the ebook is aimed at Castillian-speaking lotto players). The name is not very creative but it sounds fine, I think.
I’m almost done with the squeeze page, I’ll let you know for sure when it’s up.
Thank you for the visit!
Jose
Hi Jose,
Just dropped by to thankyou for your comment on my site and to wish you luck in choosing your domain name. I’d go for the keyword in the title for SEO purposes (says she whose domain name has nothing to do with what I write about!)
Best wishes
Jean
.-= Jean´s last blog ..If Sid Had Been An E-Mail Marketer I Wonder What He Would Have Made Of Phone Follow Up? =-.
Hello, Jean-of-that-moment!
I finally settled for a short “PiensaLotto.com” (something like “ThinkLotto”). It seems sticky to me and has one (?) keyword. It might be a wimp SEO-wise but I made my decision!
Very kind of you to pay the visit,
Jose
I think choosing the domain name difficult at any time and agree with those remarks about keywords and hyphens etc. I still tend to go with keywords, keeping the name short and a dot com.
I am glad you have decided on one so you can concentrate on the next step.
.-= Pauline´s last blog ..How using articles can help with listbuilding =-.
Thank you for the comment, Pauline!
Yes, I am moving on to the next step,
Jose
Hi Jose,
A congratulation with your ebook.
When I’m looking for domain names I use:
http://www.instantdomainsearch.com because it is really fast to check if a domain is available or not.
Regards,
Henning
.-= Henning from Denmark´s last blog ..Be a successful Go-Giver and money will flow your way =-.
Good to have you here, Henning!
That’s a useful tool, thank you for sharing it; I also liked the name-check widget they give out.
Regards,
Jose