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Domain Names, There Are Some REALLY Good Ones Out There Now

I have my own way of SEO. Nobody taught me and no"experts" were used. Yet, I have been very successful with our web sites. A good domain name, in my opinion, can help with internet success. Many will argue the name does not matter for SEO purposes, if that is so, why does Google highlight it when searching? That being said.

I started www.AtlantaRelocate.com about 5 years ago. The domain name had expired from another real estate agent. Presto, no Google sandbox effect (Google takes a while before it trusts your site) and instant recognition on the search engines. Now is great time to search these great names. I'm sorry that some folks had to give in, but, business is business.

So check out some names that you thought 3 years ago would never be available. I'm scooping up some great domain names that I thought were unattainable. Whats in a domain name? A LOT! Good Luck!

Posted by Frank & Jodi Orlando on 07/12/2009 09:07 AM

Comments (65)

domain names, there are some really good ones out there now

65 Comments on Domain Names, There Are Some REALLY Good Ones Out There Now

JUL

I hadn't thought much about it. Domains do expire and not everyone will remember to renew, so it makes sense!

Great idea, Frank and Jodi!

Melissa, folks changing their occupation will let the names go. Perfect opportunity!

Sue, there were a few companies that grabbed a bunch of good names, I don't think there is much of a market for that anymore...

It pays to store your domain names with a registrar that offers an "automatic re-registration" feature.

I have 424 domains and it would drive me more insane to try to keep up with them. My service does it for me and I get notice on my credit card bill.

I purchased a lot of "realestateYourTown" a few years ago and they're there when I want to use them.

No sandbox for me.

You're right. Good SEO begins with the selection of a good domain name.

You are right on the money. I own almost 180 domains. There are some unbeliveable ones out there right now. This is the best source of SEO.

Hi Frank & Jodi-Excellent ideas. Business doesn't just come to us we have to go after it. Have a great week. :-)

Lenn, I like Godaddy, they do serve you notice before expiration. 424? You got me beat! Sometimes I use Godaddy's free sites with their banner to give a site a head start, No sandbox!

Jim, some of the domain names I see amaze me, they have nothing to do with the subject. I think some of us Know that it IS important!

Pat, thanks for stopping by.

I did the same thing, but it is a good reminder to keep an eye out. I also taught myself SEO which is a constant battle since I am doing it on my own but so far, so good! Have to keep on plugging away!

Cleo, plugging away is very appropriate. I recently blogged "under contract should be changed to possible closing". That's just how it is now. SEO never takes a day off.

If you like a domain and it is not available, you have always add Official, or first, or my to the title. In fact we all should think about propecting what is around a good name. What if someone took your relocate and added official, or your, oro something like that to poach off you. If you get popular it can happen. Don't forget The also.

Thanks for the informative post. I had not thought about the angle that there are agents abandoning their domains because they are out of the business. Great tip! Thanks!

Frank & Jodi,

Thank you for the reminder and you are so on the money with this one. I have my domains with GoDaddy as well it is automatic and I love to be organized :)

Have a great day

Sharon

The competition on the internet is more than it used to be so you figured out a way to be competitive.

I'll have to check some of the domain names I couldn't get a few years ago.

thanks.

Wow, I can't believe some of the responders on here have HUNDREDS of domain names.

I own about 32 different domain names personally. Great post and thanks for writing your post this morning

Joe, anybody that thinks they can ride my shirt tails can have at it. But your right.

Jeani, it's an angle that Lenn, Jim, and I use. Maybe there's something to it.

Sharon, they really have good customer service, every time I have had an issue they have taken care of it.

Monica, the internet is VERY competitive, but, there is room for all of us.

Ralph, the fact that some of these giants have done that should tell you something. They KNOW it's not just a name.

Harry, good for you! You should be pretty well on your way to internet success.

Frank - I own about 10 domain names and have been with Go Daddy for about 10 years now. Very good service but as with most domain name registrar's you have to keep an eye on them with price changes. I had to inform them of a promotion they were running before I could get the discounted renewal rates. Good post to remind us all about our names!

Robert, when you have a bunch of names with Godaddy (I don't know the magic number) it seems they will call you and offer a special to renew. They did this for me last week.

Thanks Frank & Jodi! Good tips Lenn!

Domain names areso vital. I own several but no where near Lenn's 424. I use .info on all my listings. Of course I let these expire after this listing is sold.

What a great reminder to always be adding to and modifying your marketing plan. Many people are getting out of the business right and left and their stuff is probably availble.

Nyssa, thanks for stopping by, the guru's have spoken.

Roland, not long ago the name was to be short for folks to remember. Now it is about relevance to the subject matter.

Donna, domain names will be popping up for the next couple years as folks that renewed for a longer period of time have the name expire.

I think you can actually set alerts for some domains and then domain registrars will actually tell you when the ones you may want expire...

I'm always on the lookout for great domain names. Plenty of them are expiring now-a-days. And they are so cheap to buy. Why not grab a bunch of them?

What do ya'll do with all those domain names? It would make me crazy to think people are going to 'do-nothing' domains. How do you update them all?

Frank and Jodi - True! I just looked up a good one for my area, and found it is AVAILABLE! Thanks for the creativity-spur!

I'm with Lenn... I have several domain names and they're all set to autorenew by default. I like the atlantarelocate.com name... good one!

I have 3 domain names all say real estate in and the town name. This because it does help with SEO and every little helps!

Christianne, I've used that before, works pretty well.

Rob, it is such an inexpensive investment. Don't forget misspellings also.

Joetta, for those of us that primarily work off the internet, this is an every day effort. Most names are automatically renewed.

Wendy, I've seen you around on the internet, you must be doing pretty well and thanks.

Rene, we buy them by the communities, counties, cities and so forth. Takes a bunch sometimes to make an impact.

Congrats to you for not getting caught up in paying for SEO and keeping an open eye for expired url's

Some hosting sights do not send a notice or automatically reinstate your domain. An expired domain goes on hold for about thirty five days and you pay a company to get your domain back if you want it, after the grace period they are up for grabs.

Lenn 424 ~ WOW

I thought my 30+ was a lot . . . but agree totally, domain name (esp one that could match a search term) makes a huge difference in being found . . .

I've always got my eye out for good domain names. I even go to the whois database to see when they are due to expire and put a note in my calendar to see if the become available.

I agree- 424 names, Lenn? Holy Cow!! Now that is an internet savvy person!!! I feel waayyyy behind!

Hi Frank and Jodi.

I have 101 domains with GoDaddy which does not compare to Lenn Harley's 424 domains LOL

So far I have four domains on backorder. However I am not holding my breath on the four :P

Aloha, Lana

O.K. 424 sounds like a lot of domain names. But, when I want to put up a web page or blog about an area in my market, I already have a fabulous domain.

Also, about 5 years ago, I purchased a number of "realestateyourtown" names because they were going fast.

Not only do I own those prize names, I've taken them out of the market for my competition. An aged domain name with "real estate" and a local area is valuable.

LENN--do your names POINT to your main site?

Don't laugh, I'm either challenged or having a brain lapse. Tell me what SEO stands for, please. LOL I should know this.

I have one, I use it, I love it, it works for me and I'm happy to have friendly competition in my market. I would never buy and store a name to keep someone else from getting it. That's mean spirited.

Richard, I check a couple times a month, thanks for stoping by.

Candice, Lenn is cornering the market.

Team Knowles, I do the same thing, I like to see if they renewed year by year or long term.

Kristi, some folks are missing the point. There is value in some names & they can help for SEO if you are targeting specific things. Example,we own www.windwardhomessale.com and others that are unique to individual communities.

Lana, a few might fall through the cracks for you.

Lenn, I agree, if you got them no one else can. We thought about branching out to Nashville, we own www.nasvillehomessale.comjust haven't gotten around to it yet. Now if we do, we're all set for the internet. Good names are money in the bank down the road...

Frank and Jodi - you've inspired me to hop on over to godaddy.com and see if there might be a few good ones available! Great reminder...thanks!

Jean, search engine optimization, sorry I used buzz words.

Tammy, that's great, but, business is business. At least we are holding names that are part of our industry, there are many companies buying names just to make a profit.

Kim, anytime, see you at Godaddy!

We use godaddy as well and have a bunch. I need to go check again to see if any have dropped out since last time I checked. We have been with godaddy for a long time and constantly get coupons etc. discounts so often we can get 5 yr deal for$30 some bucks. Not too bad. We too are working on our own SEO and realized the value of domain names quickly. ~Rita

awesome idea....let me get to work!

There are some great domains out there and I have made a tidy profit by buying some expiring ones and reselling them. There are a lot of agents who are getting out of the business who just simply let them expire. Anyone know someone who might like "Chattanoogaforeclosures.com." I picked that up a few years ago.

If I had thought I would have chosen a better one when I started, but I have been buying and starting to use others.

Seems anyone serious about this at all owns a lot of domains -- forgot how many we own but it is a large number.

Rita, it is the simplest least time consuming SEO effort.

Sheila, look for relevance to the web site.

Carol, Godaddy has a website auction.

Gene, Now is the time to look! This is the best situation for names in quite a while...

Bob & Carolin, then this is a great time for you to check your inventory of names.

A few years ago I became ePRO certified. During the course, I learned a lot about domain names and started buying several. I only have about 40, but keep adding to my list whenever I have a new idea or concept. Domains are a wonderful way to track and monitor advertising, as well. One thing to keep in mind...the National Association of Realtors has strict guidelines about "terms" like REALTOR being used in a domain name. If I remember correctly, that particular word cannot be used in association with a geaographic area, for instance. Additionally, we cannot even own domains that have the term "mls" in them. So, before purchasing domains, it's best to review NAR's guidelines to remain compliant. GoDaddy.com has been a wonderful resource and very helpful in putting together my domain library. Their customer service has always been excellent, and I can set up my account to automatically renew any or all of the domains. I've had a blast just sitting and searching available names. Too bad my budget doesn't allow me to purchase more right now!

Michelle, there are very few things the NAR can get nasty about, you can do almost anything on the internet EXCEPT use the word Realtor in a domain, you are absolutely correct. Ohhh thats a hot spot for them. So, between you and me, I create web pages with the trailer mls_realtor_realty.htm Lol.

I just canceled about 50 of my domain names last week. Some were pretty good it's just I had had them for yerars and never used them. It was time to drop them. I would think many folks are doing the same thing. So you're right....good time to find good names.

BB, I've done the same, in fact more than once. As we learn the relevance we keep some and drop others. As we learn SEO we come to grips with we think will or not will work. Trial by fire I guess. 5 years ago everyone harped on short and easy to remember, now, it is relevance and who gets there first. I've had to do the same thing, re-think my ideas from a couple years ago.

Thanks for the post.

I too have grabbed some good domain names, there is a lot out there.

I am on my way to godaddy.com.

Eric, Get them while you can and watch for the next couple years. there WILL be availability.

Rebecca, check www.lewisburghomessale.com if available , BUY IT. If not try www.lewisburghhomesrealestatessale

I need to check out go Daddy. I haven't been there in a while. Never hurts to have a good domain name.

Frank and Jodi I suppose you can't have too many domain names. Great idea that some good ones do expire at times, so one should be on the look out.

I can see how this could be a great suggestion with people dropping out of the real estate industry. Thanks for the suggestion.

JUL

Hi Frank and Jodi -- Great tips. Creating relevant content on multiple sites can be a huge drain in time, but if properly done, the benefits can outweigh the costs.

I totally agree and have mentioned this before on Active Rain. The domain name is the first and most important thing you should purchase. If you can find one that states your city and business, that' even better.

You can also get additional domain names and either point the DNS (Domain Name Server) to your domain or create a small website with some company information and links to your main website, listings, or what have you. Be careful not to copy the information on your main website word for word though. Be creative.

Take the time to do some research on your possible domain names and look at your competitors.
What are they doing?
Can you do something that "bests" them? i.e. more specific domain name, page titles etc.
Go to their home page, right click (Windows) and select "view source". You can get a lot of valuable information from this technique.

Cheers,

John

A great domain name is priceless. I need to check for others. Also do not forget to register .net also for all you domain names.

Russ, I have about 70 now.

Jennifer, An established name (by someone else) is instant credibility for Google.

Christine, You are welcome.

Chris we get a lot of relo's in our area, you HAVE to have a good Internet presence.

John, you obviously are pretty advanced at this. Yes, I do the same things. I also funnel clients from satellite web site to the main Sites. The longer I can hold them the better the odds,

Scott, Yes take www.atlantahomesrealestatesale.com I can branch off that with communities www.atlantahomesrealestatesale.com/east_lake_golf_club.htm

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