Monthly Archives: January 2006

Are Dashed Domains Doomed?

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Rumour has it that there’s another Google algorithm update coming up in February.

This time Google allegedly wants to filter out web sites which they perceive as having overused keywords in domain names. Keywords of course refers to what searchers are thought to be typing into the search engines.

Here are a couple of examples I found on MSN today:
1-debt-consolidation-debt-reduction-service.com
credit-card-debt-consolidation-loan

A few years ago the search engines had difficulty understanding words unless they had spaces or hyphens (dashes). So webmasters registered domains with dashes between the words, knowing that the search engines would then rank their sites higher if the searched term was included in the domain as well as on the web pages.

Well progress marches quickly on and Google, MSN, Yahoo and the rest are now well able to understand words even when there are no spaces between them.

So what does all this mean to you, when registering your domain names?

Well, first of all, remember this is just a rumour. Colin McDougall of VEOReport.com says he has close contacts with important people at Google, including Matt Cutts, who have apparantly been feeding him these ‘tips’.

But even if they are untrue, it will do no harm if we concentrate in future on registering domains without dashes.

And we might also do ourselves some good by ignoring keywords altogether for our domain names. Instead go for ‘brand’ domains.

3 Simple Steps For Successful .ORG, .US, .BIZ and .INFO Transfers

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Here’s how to easily transfer a .ORG, .US, .BIZ or .INFO domain to another registrar.

This works differently compared to .COM and .NET transfers because you first need to obtain a “transfer authorization code” from your current registrar.

Although the system is standard, some details in procedure and form-filling may vary from registrar to registrar.

1. Email Address. When you initiate a transfer request, your current registrar will send the “transfer authorization code” in an email. So before you start, you need to make sure your domain’s current admin contact email address is working and is free from spam filters.

2. Login to your domain account at your current registrar and navigate to the “Authorization Codes” section. Often this will be combined with un-locking your domain, known as “Registrar Lock” and “Transfer Shield”. Remember that domains cannot be transferred unless they are unlocked. After unlocking your domain, follow the procedure to have your domain’s “transfer authorization code” emailed to you.

3. You’re nearly done! Now as soon as you receive your “authorization code”, point your browser to your new registrar’s web site and fill in the domain transfer form including your “authorization code”.

That’s it!