The top website and marketing links for this week.
Verisign researchers published some interesting info about keywords in domains in May… their study shows that domains that have keywords matching a given search query received more clicks than those with no keyword. By the numbers:
- No search keywords in domain: 12.44% click rate
- 1 search keyword in domain: 21.79% click rate
- 2+ search keywords in domain: 25.30% click rate
So when you’re considering domain names, it pays to make sure one or more of your product or service’s important keywords are included in the domain (of course, I haven’t done this myself – it’s not as easy as it sounds).
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One of the things that I frequently get asked by clients is, “can you help me move my site to a new host?” I agree that it can be a scary proposition… Sometimes it’s extremely easy, other times it can become a real nightmare. It all depends on the hosts involved. If you’re planning a move and want to learn how to DIY, here’s a post that may help you keep all the little details straight during your move.
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Finally – a quick guide to online mistakes made by small biz owners. All of these seem to be really common and I’ve had more than a few clients doing one or more of the following:
- Using a social media page instead of your own website for your business presence. You don’t own this page – what happens if the social network shuts down your account?
- Using a free email address for your business instead of your own domain.
- Abandoning your website – never updating it so it looks like you’ve gone out of business (or aren’t paying attention to it)
