If you register a lot of domain names, you probably already have seen advertisements for the "us.com" top-level domain (otherwise called domain name extensions).

Technically, "us.com" is not a TLD. It's an actual domain name (like www.us.com). The company that owns this domain name is CentralNic. They also own others like "eu.com" and "uk.com".

Their business idea is that people who want a popular keyword in a domain name cannot get such domains because they are already taken. So, by offering this new quasi-TLD, people can get the domain they want: computers.us.com, or motorcycles.us.com, etc...


The question is if it's really worth our while to register such a domain name?

Technically, what you're registering is a subdomain. A subdomain is another website residing under a larger website. For example, under the Google.com website, there are several sub-websites below that such as news.google.com, labs.google.com, desktop.google.com, etc. These are all self-standing websites that fall under the larger google.com hierarchy.

So when you register something like "motorcycle.us.com", you're actually setting up a sub-website under the larger us.com website. The "us" is an actual domain name, much like "google" is a domain name on the .com TLD.

While each sub-website under us.com is a self-standing website, the search engine optimization (SEO) ramifications are still not well known. As it is, no one truly knows how Google handles subdomains differently than domains. What we do know is that Google treats subdomains as if they were separate from their parent site, as far as listings on the search results pages go. But we don't know if Google ranks these websites using their parent site's ranking, or if they force each subdomain to build up its own rank. Only the priviledged few at Google knows that answer.

Moreover, if the us.com domain name gets a penalty from Google, will that penalty trickle down to each subdomain?

That's a serious question to consider if you're planning to invest a lot of time and money into building a reputable website.

I'd avoid registering a name on us.com, and instead focus on registering a domain on an actual TLD (.com, .net, .org. .us, etc..). It might be harder to find the domain you want, or one that suits your requirements. But in the long run, you won't suffer (or benefit) from whatever happens to us.com.

Labels: Domain-Names

Most of you reading this probably already have a motorcycle website or blog, and hence, may already own a domain name.

If you want to learn how to make some good money from publishing websites, you'll need to set up more websites, and build your success collectively, instead of just from one website.

There's two primary thoughts on how to choose a good domain name...

• A domain name that has the most important keywords in it


• A domain name that is highly memorable

If you can achieve both in a domain name, great. While many people say that all the good domain names are taken, it isn't really true. For example, I found "motorcycleblogging.com" still available.

If you're going to find a domain based on the first criteria, then you don't need to worry about getting a ".com". A ".net" or a ".org" is just as good. Even a ".us", or a ".info" is ok too.

Domain names based on important keywords are valuable because they optimize on Google and Yahoo a lot better. This very blog you're reading is about blogging, but specifically for motorcyclists. So, if you wanted to search Google about motorcycles and blogging, then a domain like "motorcycleblogging.com" is perfect.

I did the same thing for my other blog, "motorcyclephilosophy.org". I knew that the phrase, "motorcycle philosophy" had a fair amount of search volume on Google's keyword tool, and hence, I wanted to build a blog that would capture that search traffic.

Meanwhile, domain names that are based on the second criteria, that of being memorable, are those that often unrelated to the content of the website. The most famous of all, of course, is "yahoo.com". What exactly is a "yahoo" anyways, and how does that relate to a search engine, or personalized start page? But, it's very memorable.

Domain names based on being memorable need to end in a ".com". If you're going to rely on people being able to remember your domain name, then you have to have the ".com" at the end, for the simple fact that people have a habit of expecting a ".com" at the end of everything.

And if you're going get a domain name that people can remember, then get one that people don't tend to misspell.

Long Domain Names versus Short

There was a time many years ago that people recommended short domain names like "yahoo.com" or those with three or fewer syllables. But I haven't seen any evidence proving there is an advantage to this.

If you're want a memorable domain name, it could just as well be long. I think, "letthegoodtimesroll.com" is pretty memorable.

Abbreviations

Stay away from choosing an abbreviation for a domain name. These are very hard to remember, and they don't optimize well on search engines. If you want to start a blog called, "Two Chicks with Harleys", don't get a domain name like, "tcwh.com". No one will remember that, and they'll have to bookmark you to find you again.

Labels: Domain-Names