Confused about domain names. Advice needed please.

by CarrieB

Posted: 14 years ago 12 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hello,

These are my first questions on these forums, so I do hope someone is able to help.

Domain History:
My first domain is 2 years old. Wiped it and did a 301 direct to a second domain.

Hired a web developer. Paid them $5000 for logo and development. Currently Alexa ranked at 680,100 and is 12 months old. Second site did not achieve what I wanted so I hired a new developer.

Paid $5000 as well for 3rd site. This new site is still being developed and is estimated to go live in a couple more weeks. I'm basically melding both the second site and this site.

Example Domain names: (Not even close to my own)

Domain 1 (301)- CSCustomTeaCups

Domain 2 (Current)- CSTeaCupsGalore

Domain 3 (New)- TeaPots or CSTeaPots

So my dilemma is - Do I keep CS in the name? CS shows up now on second page of google search, this is also my logo. But I have a chance to buy the domain without the CS.

I feel I have already done a good part in marketing the CS but I do like the name without it.

Also my other problem is since I have put $10,000 into the site, I have no money left for more marketing. My web developer won't help with suggestions, because as he puts it, "That's not what you paid me for." (He's getting paid for programming.) I'm left doing all the content, design, SEO and marketing. All of which I need to learn myself.

This project has never been done for this niche. I'm very worried that if I talk too much about it the wealthy companies with the mega bucks will use the idea and saturate the market leaving me in the dust. So I'm trying hard to do everything the best I can.

Here are a couple of stats just to get an idea of the size I'm aiming for:
17+ million people have done this in the past year.
80+ million people said that they saw this in the past year.

I hope I have explained myself well enough, so any advice will be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

CarrieB

#advice #confused #domain #names #needed

christopherNV Banned 14 years ago

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- Dan C. Rinnert 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by christopherNV
  
  Also, you're programmer / developer sucks. I guess he never heard of something called "teamwork".
  
  Maybe he doesn't want to give any marketing advice because he's a programmer/developer and not a marketer?
  
  Thanks
  
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  Dan also writes content for hire, but you can't afford him anyway.
  
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tpw

14 years ago

Originally Posted by CarrieB

So my dilemma is - Do I keep CS in the name? CS shows up now on second page of google search, this is also my logo. But I have a chance to buy the domain without the CS.

...

Also my other problem is since I have put $10,000 into the site, I have no money left for more marketing. My web developer won't help with suggestions, because as he puts it, "That's not what you paid me for." (He's getting paid for programming.) I'm left doing all the content, design, SEO and marketing. All of which I need to learn myself.

...

This project has never been done for this niche. I'm very worried that if I talk too much about it the wealthy companies with the mega bucks will use the idea and saturate the market leaving me in the dust. So I'm trying hard to do everything the best I can.

1. How many people search for CS in front of your key terms? Probably zero... So non-issue...

2. Two things... First your web developer is a specialist... His job is to build your website, not promote it... And likely, he would have no clue where to begin promoting, because few specialists are talented outside their own field of expertise...

Secondly, blowing your entire budget on building multiple websites in the same niche was rather short-sighted... Few businesses can survive without marketing and promotion... Since you have already blown your budget, your only recourse is to figure out how you can do marketing and promotion without any money... It is not impossible, but it is more difficult and time-consuming to do...

3. I would not worry about the deep-pocket Internet players... If they thought your niche was that good, they would already be in that space... Maybe they are overlooking something by not seeing the niche as you see it, but the big players usually only involve themselves in big niches...

If your niche is a $110k a years niche, honestly, it is not big enough for groups like Ebay, AT&T, or Sears to dabble in... They are million dollar companies, so they are searching for multi-million dollar per year product lines...

[ 1 ] Thanks

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pennynickels 14 years ago

CarrieB,

Sometimes decisions are made based on what you feel is the domain name you can best market. If you feel it is without CS, then you can get the domain name without the CS and 301 redirect it to the CS version containing the website. That domain would only cost you approx. $10/year - a small investment. If you're trying to brand a name, you'll need big bucks.

Also for future projects, try finding a web developer that is knowledgeable about Internet / Web and real world marketing; SEO; etc. Those elements must be incorporated into web design and development in order for you to get the most bang-for-the-buck. The more you know about web development, the better you'll be able to spec the project then select the best developer for the job.

Good Luck!
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- CarrieB 14 years ago
  
  Thank you for the replies.
  
  My web developer advertises his company builds sites from the ground up including SEO, marketing etc. I have had trouble with him since the beginning and I actually tried to back out 7 days after I gave him my check. At that point I had a total of 3.5 hrs consultation with him. He told me if I backed out, he would take $1000+ for fees.
  
  I do realize blowing my budget on web development was a mistake. But I did try to back out. I was ripped off from the first developer. So I really didn't want to give up the first $5k
  
  CS is searched for, just not in my niche. Please keep in mind CS is not in my name, I'm only using that as an example.
  
  CS is my brand, I'm just not sure if its wise to start all over again. I've been branding it for the past 2 years local as well as on-line. It's like removing the Mc from McDonalds (just in a very small scale lol)
  
  This project is similar to myspace in a twisted sort of way. So from all my market research, I believe this to become very large, way more than $110k per year. The stats I shared above are US stats not world stats.
  
  This has been my first post and have been quite nervous about posting here. I do like to find the answers myself but one I can't find - how do I thank someone?
  
  Again thank you,
  
  CarrieB
  
  Thanks
  
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Mike129 14 years ago

I think its not the issue of what you have in your domain name since its already started. All you may have to do is market your domain properly, doing SEO or any marketing device is a time consuming and a hard sit work. Patiently work for best results. However a programmer is just to beautify your site and a marketer is the another way to be known and to be rank.
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CarrieB

14 years ago

I did forget to mention that the TeaPots domain is a .com and for sale for over $700 and is 10years old. The CSTeaPots domain I have already purchased for 5years and is a .com as well.

But this does lead me to another question - Does it matter where I buy it from example Network Solutions? Sorry to ask, but I just don't understand...

CarrieB

Thanks
1 reply

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sbucciarel

Banned 14 years ago

Originally Posted by CarrieB

I would buy the domain without the CS. Nobody is searching for CS.

As for your web developer, if he advertised marketing and SEO, he should deliver. Do you have a contract, and if you do, does it having any wording about marketing and SEO. If you don't have a contract, next time you spend that kind of money, make sure you have a contract.

Thanks
1 reply

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coffeejunkie 14 years ago

wow. that's waay too much money mate.

why not just install a wp blog and buy a premium wp theme?

even free wp themes are good enough.

why even need a developer? unless you're doing a site with a shopping cart or some hi-tech php/js programming then any cms web app will do fine imo.

plus a simple html/css site with some gimp/ps/inkscape/illustrator is quite easy to learn.

edit: after reading that you wanted something like myspace, all my rants above are meaningless. yes you need a developer to make something like that and focus on it.
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mike_hustler 14 years ago

i personally suggest that you should buy domain with CS word.because while URL is very major part of entered query in search engine if keyword match your url then ultimately your website would be in high ranking of SERPs.
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hapishyguy 14 years ago

My advise is that take the whatever domain. If someone does a search in google they will search by teapot and not csteapot. So if your site in SEOptimized then you site will come up in the results anyway independent of adding cs in the domain or not. BUT like you said that CS is your brand, so keep it on your site and promote your brand and logo. You can promote your brand and logo (especially logo) in your marketing. Remember, people remember the logo and thus the brand. If you see a check sign you will remember Nike etc etc. I hope you get the point and this is useful.
Also, your programmer is not a nice one. Even though he is programmer and not a marketer still he can give some advice. I have a team in Canada that make and SEO the website but then if someone needs an advice on how to market the site I give them free advice. If they want me to do marketing work for then I charge them. But for slight marketing ideas I dont charge them. Its about helping people to make reputation in the market and get more business.
I feel paying 5000 for one site might a little too much. But again, it depends on the site also how big, how heavy, flash, ecommerce, templates etc.
I hope my advice helps
Thanks
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CarrieB 14 years ago

Thank you all for your replies.

CarrieB
- Thanks
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excoder01 14 years ago

$5K hiring a web developer?

Geez, I had been coding/designing for free back then as hobby to help others...oh well.

But my advice, suffix works better than prefix. For instance, dogtrainingnow.com ranks higher for "dog training" than mydogtraining.com
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Confused about domain names. Advice needed please.

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