This is an excellent question. Let’s say I am starting a brand new online venture. I have decided on my company name and it is already confirmed as registered. For example I have named my company Joe’s Trading Inc and I sell cheap widgets. I now need to get my domain name. So what do I choose?

Firstly let’s begin with the actual company name. My company is called Joe’s Trading Ltd so it makes sense that I should register joestradingltd.com or joestrading.com or joestrading.co.uk right?

Nope…this is not the best choice…

When I register a domain name there are some major factors which I need to take onboard. Firstly, what is the purpose of the domain? Is it’s purpose corporate branding or is it to drive traffic to my website?

Well if I am running ‘IBM’ or ‘MacDonalds’, then for sure branding is a clear consideration but ‘Joes Trading Ltd’ simply wants to make sales of blue widgets online and hopefully many, many sales. My real priority is to generate as much targeted website traffic to my site to convert to sales

My business is selling widgets. This is my target market and my unique selling position is that they are really cheap. But what has this got to do with my domain name?

Well…Everything!

The domain name itself is a huge factor which search engines consider when they automatically decide the importance of sites they decide to index in their search results. on search engines. And today, search engines provide 90% of web site traffic. In fact in recent studies, it has been discovered that the domain name counts for 30% of all factors which the search engine decides is important for ranking a website.

The domain really is THAT important!

So what makes a higher ranking domain name? Well, firstly shorter the better. There is a clear correlation between the length of the domain and its ranking is the search results. Secondly, the domain must include the keyword for which you wish to rank high. In this case Joes Trading Ltd sells Widgets so the domain should contain widgets. The widgets are cheap so the domain could be cheapwidgets.com. This domain is going get higher ranking in the search engines for the search term ‘widgets or ‘cheap widgets’ than ‘joestrading.com’ could ever hope to achieve

Higher ranking means more traffic which in turn means more sales & profits. So when it comes to purchasing your domain make search engine ranking your number one priority.

Colin Hartness is the Marketing Director of Web-At-Work Ltd T/A Cheap Domain Names UK offering cheap UK domain registration with full DNS management and low price hosting packages inclusive of cutting-edge online site building software. For more details visit: http://www.cheapdomainnames.uk.com

Creating a blog is EASY. If you use Blogger, for example, you can set up a blog in less than a minute, and write your first blog item in five minutes. What could be easier than that? It takes me at least as long to write an email message.

Blogging Is Easy, But…

Blogging is easy because the blogging platform does all the hard work for you. There’s no design required, and useful tools like RSS are built-in to your new blog.

However, despite the fact that creating a new blog couldn’t be easier, new bloggers tend to make some fundamental mistakes which are difficult to correct later. These mistakes also consign the blog to low traffic. Eventually, the new blogger will give up blogging, because “blogging doesn’t work.”

The Top Five Blogging Mistakes

Let’s look at the top five mistakes new bloggers (and some experienced ones) make when setting up a new blog. I know all about these mistakes, because I’ve made them too.

Mistake One: No Clearly Defined Purpose For The Blog

This is the primary mistake that many new bloggers make. They start blogging without thinking about why they’re creating a blog. Is the blog personal, professional, or is it a money maker?

Mistake Two: No Keywords Selected For The Blog

The second mistake flows on from the first. When you haven’t decided a blog’s purpose, you haven’t chosen any keywords. Your primary keywords (no more than four to six for the first month or so) are vital.

You’d never make this mistake, would you? I could and did. A couple of years ago I set up a blog and although I had a purpose for the blog, I managed to blog for around 700 posts before I realized that I’d never focused on my primary keyword.

Mistake Three: No Clear Path To Monetization

There are many ways to monetize a blog. However, if no advertiser is advertising products using your primary keywords, and no one is buying anything related to your topic, then your blog has no way to generate income.

Mistake Four: No Marketing Plan To Get Traffic

While a blog has natural traffic generators like RSS built-in, you’ll still need to market the blog. Decide on two or three ways you’ll market this particular blog, and then do it. You’ll get the traffic you want.

Mistake Five: Focus On Traffic, Not On Content

It’s a natural mistake to want all the traffic you can get. But what if there’s nothing on the blog to snag interest once the traffic gets there? Focus on content, then on traffic, and when you have content, focus on both - you can never have enough traffic, but your it’s your content that draws your visitors and makes money for you.

So there you have the top five blogging mistakes - avoid them, and all your blogs will be successful.

Want to make money as a pro blogger? You can. Blogging is easy and fun, and many bloggers have quit day jobs to blog full-time. Veteran blogger Angela Booth’s ebook Blogging For Dollars is your guidebook to blogging success. Read the ebook’s blog - it’s updated every week.

Affiliate programs are a great opportunity of making money online. Affiliate marketing is so lucrative that you will find thousands of programs to choose from. With so many options available, choosing the best affiliate program for your business can sometimes take a bit of time and effort. In fact you may make a few mistakes before settling into the ultimate profit-generating affiliate partnership.

To find your suitable affiliate partner there are a few things you need to look for: -

* The first thing to check out is the affiliate program’s terms of service. For instance, if you intend to use Google Adwords but your potential affiliate partner does not allow Google Adwords for marketing, signing up will not prove fruitful. Thus, reading through the terms and conditions of prospective affiliates is a must. Steer clear of any affiliate programs which do not publicly post their terms of service.

* Also ensure that the potential affiliate partner has clear payment specifications. These specifics will help you find out how much money you can earn and how often the payments will come in. You may receive a fixed amount for every sale generated or a certain percentage. For instance, if you are to receive 10% of the sale, and you generate a sale of $100, your earning will be of $10. If the product is good there will be several such sales and the earnings will accrue.

* Before agreeing to promote your affiliate programs product, it is very important to check out how their website looks. The way a website looks plays a very important role in how well you can earn money promoting their products or services. For instance, you visit the website of a possible affiliate partner and find out that the website is crowded with several advertisements. Affiliate Programs will generate income for you only if a sale is made. If a potential customer follows the lead from your website to the affiliate programs only to click on one of the advertisements there, you make no money in the process.

The above are starter tips to help you set up a profitable affiliate partnership. Ensure that your affiliate program website caters to products and services that are similar to your line of business. Furthermore, do not have more than 2 affiliate programs at the same time. Place the banners at strategic locations and make sure they gel in with your website and do not stand out as advertisements. Also, concentrate on good content, good color schemes and keep the background uncluttered. All this well help your visitors locate the affiliate add easily, and if they find it interesting, they’ll click on it. If this visit gets converted into a sale, you earn cash. It’s simple, yet complicated. Caution is the key word. If you observe the above mentioned guidelines, you’re sure to find success and make fast money.

Become an affiliate and gain great commissions by joining Paynet Affiliate Programs
For more information on Affiliate Marketing, visit our website www.paynetsystems.com
Paynet Systems is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Walnut Creek, CA.