Application of Domain

The term domain is used to describe the existence of something or the performance of an activity on a particular physical place or abstract. The concept of domain is widely used in all branches of human activity and in all fields of life. Domain can be a specific part of a space or an abstract where it can be considered as a territory.

Application Of Domain In Various Fields

Generally, two derived concepts out of domain are public domain and eminent domain. Public domain means the collection of activities without the proprietary interests and the eminent domain is the legal authority of the government to remove the privatization from a property and introduce the property as public property. When the concept of domain is used in places then it has different meanings like King Domain, The Domain-Sydney and many other such places. In science Domain is used as a word for metaphorical field like the domain of Biology. In Mathematics concept of Domain is widely used and it is considered as a function. Interestingly, concept of domain is not only limited to educational fields but it has presence in entertainment fields as well like in Music (in Music the concept of Domain is used for the Album). The term domain is widely used in Information Technology and Domain Name System, Window server domains, broadcast domains, application domains, data domain, software engineering domain and Operating system domain are the most important concepts of it. For making the concept of Domain clearer to you, an example is elaborated below:

Example Of Domain

The concept of Domain in “Domain name” is excessively used and domain name gives an access to internet resources and it also keeps the identification of the resources through distinguished name system. Domain name appears as Universal Resource Locators and becomes the legal abstract property of the owner who registers it. In this example a system of Domain names is an abstract space and the domain names appear as the legal property of users. Almost in the same way the concept of Domain is applied.

by SAM M

Tips on Domain Name Considerations for your New Website

Now, if you've decided to build a website for yourself, and you know what all things you're going to put on your website. And you're done with design and content of the website as well as its development. If this is your first website, then you must be wondering about how the website will go online? Or how to put it on internet that others can access?

Now, you'll require a domain name and a web hosting account suitable to meet your purpose. So let's find out what is domain and website hosting.

- Domain Name

It can be a complicated task when deciding to build a website, but choosing the right domain name is even more complicated. A good domain name can get more traffic compared to not so good domain name. Once you decide to build a website for yourself, you should and must register your own domain name. So what exactly is a domain name?

A domain name is a unique name which identifies your website on the internet. Its like a your telephone number. So when someone put your domain name in address bar, your website will be open in his browser.
Suffixes are included in a domain name, which are referred as Top Level Domain (TLD). These TLDs are based on the category of organization that they are related to. Below you'll find some of the popular Tld:

.com used for commercial business website, most common among all Tlds used, .biz is also used for same purpose

.edu used for educational institute.gov used for government agency.net used for commercial network.org for not profit organizations

There are also country specific domains like...

.in and .co.in for India.uk for United Kingdome.ca for Canada.us for United States and the like..

Because identity is given to a website through the domain name, selecting the correct one can be a rather complicated task. The key is to select a domain name that is simple to remember, and essentially a domain name that refers to the content or products and services that you are providing. Incorporating keywords when selecting a domain name shall assist you, because this will give higher search engine results for your website in search results.

by ALEN MARK

Before You Register, Choosing the right

Okay, so you think you’ve settled on a domain name. You may even have broken out your old Scrabble set so you have a bunch of tiles to manipulate while you figure out what looks and sounds right. You’ve considered what associations the domain name brings to mind, and you’re all ready to buy it. So it’s time to make the purchase, right?Not so fast. You might want to try searching for your prospective domain name in Google. It’s not to see whether someone else already has the domain name, or something similar, though you may have already checked that by this time. You need to see how Google treats your domain name. If you’re using more than one word, put both the phrase and the single word versions into Google. With an earlier example I gave, the site owner would have put therapist finder and therapist finder into Google, without quotes Does Google consider your domain name to be a typo? If it does, you could be in trouble before you get your business off the ground. If a visitor puts your domain name in Google (and many people will do this) they may get confused when they see Google’s Did you mean? typo message. So you just might lose that visitor. Here’s a point to keep in mind, though: once your site makes it into Google’s index and starts getting external links, Google may no longer consider it a typo. I’ve read information online from site owners who have had both experiences.Does Google turn up a lot of sites that are much better branded than yours is likely to be? Look at the top results when you put your domain name into Google. SEO Smarty uses the example of tourwiki.com. Put tour wiki without quotes into Google, and the top site is Wikipedia. That’s not a site that a business just starting out will be able to beat in the SERPs easily. I’ve already mentioned that you should parse your domain name several ways to see whether it has any bad associations. You should also check such things as the Urban Dictionary online, or ask Google to define the word, or even do a search on eBay. SEO Smarty notes that lex means Rolex in street slang an association I personally never would have made. (Words are my living and my passion; to me, it’s obvious that lex is short for lexicon!)Finally, you may want to consider registering both the singular and plural versions of your domain name, just to be on the safe side. You don’t want traffic that is trying to reach you to go somewhere else - especially if that somewhere else is a competitor’s site.None of these tasks will take very long, but they’ll go a long way toward giving you peace of mind. They should also help you create a memorable domain name that will stick in visitors’ minds and help them return to your site again and again.
by THOMAS KONGA

Seo! THE GOOGLE PATENT

Domain Name Registration - Google is now going to track when a domain is registered among other things. An older domain will get a higher ranking. No more throw away domain names. No more jump to the top of Google results in thirty days.

They will also be tracking the length of renewal on the theory that a person that renews for ten years will be more likely to build a worthwhile site than someone who only holds their domain for a year.

Google will also be keeping a blacklist of known spammers and will be using this list when checking dns records of websites. So spammers who make sure to get their new throwaway domains with different nameservers in order to throw Google off may have to try something new.

Google Spyware? - They are using "user behavior" to rank sites. In my book, if spyware removers try to remove Alexa every time I run it, then this function of the Google toolbar can only be called spyware. Yes, you may check the box on the terms of service for the toolbar, but it still tracks your internet browsing.

But, I think the theory will make search engine results much better.

Google will be tracking the number of times a document is selected from the search engine results. This is a great idea. It means you now have to write the titles of your pages to grab the searcher's attention. And since the search terms are highlighted in the results, maybe placing them at the beginning of sentences in your page may make then stand out due to capitalization. But I also see a way that this can be spammed by a network of "search and click" spammers.

They will also be tracking the amount of time a person spends on the page that they find. I don't know about you, but I have been around long enough to notice a spam page and I am gone in two seconds. This may help drop them out of legitimate results.

Content Changes - I think this comes down to just updating your information the way it should be updated. If you have a forum that hasn't been active in a week, the one that is very active with new posts every minute will definitely rank higher.

But the document also mentions that some stale sites may not be ranked lower if not updated that much. For example, a site on the Civil War will not be expected to change as much as a news headlines site and an older, more stable site may get the rank boost.

Query Analysis - A search for "American Idol Winner" will produce different results than it did last year, even if a page on last year's winner has more links pointing to it.

Google will be following trends by the increase or decrease in the usage of certain search terms or phrases. I am not sure how this will be implemented. Will there be a quicker ranking algorithm for new trends? Or will sites that have a tendency to break new topics get top billing for such terms?

The search engine will also be sensitive to terms that could be used for different subjects. When you search for "Deep Throat" are you looking for Mark Felt or a Linda Lovelace movie? Google will track what searchers are actually looking for and changes in searching trends.

A Google Browser? - Google also says that they will attempt to track bookmarks and favorites files along with cache files to help determine the ranking of sites. The only way I see this happening is through their own browser and again, this brings up the question of spyware.

Topics - Pages will now be tracked for the topics they cover. Maybe this is what Site Flavored Search is all about. Google says that changes in topic will traced for scoring. So a drastic change in a site may drop in down in the search results. I think this must already be in effect, just for some of the things I have seen with my own sites.

Anchor Text - Google says that links to pages from other sites tend to have differing anchor text if they are obtained naturally. Artificial linking campaigns tend to produce anchor text that is the same.

Anchor text that changes when the page the link is on changes will be counted as being more relevant.

Anchor text that changes with time may indicate a change in topic on the site.

Anchor text that is no longer relevant to the site linked to may be discounted.

Traffic - Google will track traffic to a page to determine if the content is stale or not. This is a cue that sites will no longer be create and forget. Google will also factor in Advertising traffic.

Linking - Google says that legitimate sites attract links back slowly. Whether this is true or not depends on the definition of "slowly". I know of sites like stumbleupon.com, where users comment and rate sites constantly and one site sent into the mix can get hundreds of links to it within a day just from comments posted about it.

Google also says that exchanging links, purchasing links, or gaining links from documents where their is no editorial discretion are all forms of link spam. Does this mean that if you link to someone and they link to you, that is spam? Than a lot of bloggers out there who aren't really trying to spam may get accused of doing so.

They will also be measuring the authority of the page that the links are on, mentioning government documents specifically. This smacks of information control. Who assigns this authority and what makes one person more of an authority of another? If a political issue is searched for, will a Democrat's or a Republican's page come up first?

The freshness of the page that the link is on will also help determine the freshness of the linked-to page. This is a good argument for using a blog and pinging after your entries.

A page that is updated while the link on that page remains the same is a good indicator of the relevant link.

Ranking History - Ranking change is another feature that Google will use to detect spam. Not that all sites will be flagged as spam sites if they see a huge jump in ranking. Some of these sites could be topical. The authors of the site may have caught onto a new trend just as it was rising.

But Google also will measure the change in a sites ranking to determine if the content is becoming stale, i.e. a drop in links to the site.

Now this must mean some sort of balance and I hope they have leeway for traditional SEO. For example, If you have written new software and have created a PAD file for it, you can literally get hundreds of new links in a weeks. It only takes a second to submit.

What about if you started your own affiliate program. You can get a lot of links quickly that way? Will Google see this as spam? We will have to wait and see.

Finally Hope - Competition always inspires a better product and more options for internet users. Despite the focus on Google in search engine forums and its name being used to define "search for something on the internet", i.e. I Googled him, Google hold on the market has actually dropped.

When once you could optimize for Google and leave it that, now the combined use of MSN and Yahoo is greater than Google, with Yahoo nipping at Google's heels.

This leaves options for us as search engine marketers and internet searchers. If one search engine doesn't suit us, at least we know that it isn't the only one we have to choose.

by JAGJIT AMRITSAR

Taste Testing Domain Names Can Yield Big Dollars For Savvy Investors

Taste testing domain names or “domain kiting” as insiders know it has been responsible for building huge online empires generating millions of dollars every month for their owners.

The key to domain taste testing is to take advantage of a five-day grace period offered by select domain name registry services. After doing careful research to identify and determine the commercial resale value of a domain name, the investor purchases the domain through the registrar and begins to immediately test its worth.

Different domain name investors may use a variety of different strategies to put a new domain through its paces including setting up Google AdSense ads to generate click-through commissions through text ads to setting up more extensive web sites with hundreds of pages of related content and products related to the domain name.

Using links to existing affiliate products and programs, reseller products, or links to online stores such as Amazon.com or Target.com, even a one-man shop can create a domain rich with products and custom offerings without ever having to stock a single physical product on a shelf.

Within a five-day grace period, the domain name investor can usually determine the ability of the domain to turn a hefty profit. If the name fails to attract traffic or generate satisfactory click-through commissions or product sales, the domain name can be returned to the domain registrar and the registration fee refunded towards the purchase of a new domain name.

In this way, a savvy domain name investor can continuously test a variety of domain names to determine the best ones to hold onto for future expansion or resale.

Just as fine wine increases as it ages, domain names can also improve with age and resell for substantially more dollars the longer they are held. And just as entire wine collections are frequently passed from one owner to the next, entire collections of related domain names are also frequently resold through multiple owners for ever-increasing profits.

In what other industry can a speculator have this level of flexibility in his investment? Imagine if you could purchase stocks and bonds through your stock broker this way how much money you could generate? It’s no small wonder why the domain name industry is quickly growing into one of the largest and most aggressive investment markets in existence. By 2010 it is estimated it will grow into a $4 billion market.

by : yen's

Domain Name Generator

Here comes another innovation in the field of domain names with the emergence of the domain name generator. If you are familiar with the domain name generator, it is a general view that the domain name generator is a program that can generate the chosen domain names typically from the provided keywords and by using particular theme or domain name category.

Since the domain name generator's primary function is to generate the desired domain names, the domain name experts have considered that it is indeed a very tough task to generate domain names with the absence of a special software tool that could make the functioning of the domain name generator easier and quick. Some of the experts even considered such absence of the software as a real nightmare.

But what really is the main reason that they designed such software tool for the domain name generator?

For so many reasons, the domain name experts designed such software tool for the domain name generator with a primary purpose of providing a much flexible and private service for the domain name holders in which many of the web-based services simply cannot offer. As such, they named their software for the domain name generator as "Available Domains Pro".

Speaking of this software tool for the domain name generator, it is considered that this software is a feature-packed, convenient and fast domain name checker that locates catchy domain names for personal or business web sites and then manages them. And in terms of the domain name generator with this software, the domain name generator then can function well and give the expected outputs to the domain name consumers.

For the domain name generator's function, it is considered that for the domain name generator to generate domain names, the effort of the domain name consumers is highly needed. So to mention, the domain name consumers should feed the domain name generator with the necessary keywords and optional domain category or theme. Then, it is important to click the generate button for the domain name generator's function. After such steps, it is given that the domain name consumers should then check the resulted domain name list for or soon to expire available domains. And in terms of those soon to expire domains, it is considered that the lookup link popularity should be clicked for soon to expire domain names and as domain name consumers they have the right to snap those domains if they are really great. And one-last strengths of the domain name generator with the software is that it can predict Domain Deletion Date, so the consumers can track domain names that delete soon.

by:viper58

Does the Name of Your Domain Matter?

In order to be seen on the Internet, a website needs two things. First, a domain naame and second, a physical address on a website server.

Your domain name should contain the most important keywords that are associated with your website. Think about what words people might use to search for your website or product.

Your domain name should be a .com name if at all possible. The .com extension is the first one that people think of when they can't quite remember the name of a website.

The most used domain extensions are .com and .net. Other domain extensions can be used for indicating the country that a domain is located in, such as .uk for United Kingdom or .dk for Denmark. Other domain extensions include .tv and .moab. You may want to register your domain under more than one extension to protect it from people who want to "copycat" your website and get traffic from your efforts.

You can have your domain name be the same as your company name if you aren't especially worried about getting traffic from search engines. If your company is a public service or non-profit company, it might be easier to find a .org domain name.

If the domain name that you want has already been registered, you can contact the person it is registered to and ask him if he'll sell it to you. He may surprise you with a "yes." You could also add a prefix to the domain name, such as the, my or your...if it makes sense.

Keep your domain name as short as possible. Long domain names make them more difficult to remember. It's also more difficult to use long domain names in advertising campaigns. On the other hand, don't abbreviate the name to the point that it's unrecognizable.

There are opposing views about hyphenated domain names. I always try to get a non-hyphenated domain first. Then, if it's not available, I get the one with hyphens. I've also heard that Google recognizes hyphenated domains better, but I don't know if that is really true. It would be a good topic to research!

When you have decided on a final choice for your domain and you are ready to register it, there is one more thing you might want to think about. Privacy. When registering, you will be given the option of keeping your domain private. This means that your domain information (your name, your email address and your personal address) from appearing in Whois searches - and thus being available to anyone who wants it. Using private registration does help to lesson the spam going into your email box. This option does cost a bit more than registering a domain without privacy, but it may be worth it to you.

So, you see there is more to registering a domain name than you might think. Registering a domain name like MyPoopsie.com might look cute, but will it bring people to your site? Probably not. Choose a sensible domain name that relates to your website content. You'll look a lot more professional.

By:judesbiz

Source: Free Articles

Just Before You Register, Choosing the right Domain Name

Okay, so you think you’ve settled on a domain name. You may even have broken out your old Scrabble set so you have a bunch of tiles to manipulate while you figure out what looks and sounds right. You’ve considered what associations the domain name brings to mind, and you’re all ready to buy it. So it’s time to make the purchase, right? Not so fast. You might want to try searching for your prospective domain name in Google. It’s not to see whether someone else already has the domain name, or something similar, though you may have already checked that by this time. You need to see how Google treats your domain name. If you’re using more than one word, put both the phrase and the single word versions into Google. With an earlier example I gave, the site owner would have put therapist finder and therapist finder into Google, without quotes. Does Google consider your domain name to be a typo? If it does, you could be in trouble before you get your business off the ground. If a visitor puts your domain name in Google (and many people will do this) they may get confused when they see Google’s Did you mean? typo message. So you just might lose that visitor. Here’s a point to keep in mind, though: once your site makes it into Google’s index and starts getting external links, Google may no longer consider it a typo. I’ve read information online from site owners who have had both experiences. Does Google turn up a lot of sites that are much better branded than yours is likely to be? Look at the top results when you put your domain name into Google. SEO Smarty uses the example of tourwiki.com. Put tour wiki without quotes into Google, and the top site is Wikipedia. That’s not a site that a business just starting out will be able to beat in the SERPs easily. I’ve already mentioned that you should parse your domain name several ways to see whether it has any bad associations. You should also check such things as the Urban Dictionary online, or ask Google to define the word, or even do a search on eBay. SEO Smarty notes that lex means Rolex in street slang an association I personally never would have made. (Words are my living and my passion; to me, it’s obvious that lex is short for lexicon!). Finally, you may want to consider registering both the singular and plural versions of your domain name, just to be on the safe side. You don’t want traffic that is trying to reach you to go somewhere else - especially if that somewhere else is a competitor’s site. None of these tasks will take very long, but they’ll go a long way toward giving you peace of mind. They should also help you create a memorable domain name that will stick in visitors’ minds and help them return to your site again and again. For more useful tips & hints, please browse for more information at our website:- www.building-blog-empire.com www.blogging.reprintarticlesite.com

by MANOJ MITTAL

Does Domain Registration Length Effect Search Engine Rankings

Does the length of your website's domain name registration affect the search results at Google? This question has come up recently and a lot of website owners have been wondering about it, especially since it was mentioned in a patent awarded to Google in April. According to the patent, "Certain signals may be used to distinguish between illegitimate and legitimate domains. For example, domains can be renewed up to a period of 10 years. Valuable (legitimate) domains are often paid for several years in advance, while doorway (illegitimate) domains rarely are used for more than a year. Therefore, the date when a domain expires in the future can be used as a factor in predicting the legitimacy of a domain and, thus, the documents associated therewith." According to this statement in the patent, domains that expire in 10 years are more valuable and legitimate than domains that will expire in less than a year.

Google, in general, is always looking for ways to weed out the bad (spammers) from the good (legitimate) websites. I suspect that they looked for a pattern among the good, legitimate websites and found that most good, legitimate websites have a commitment towards their business and their domain name-they register it for a long period of time. In other words, the theory behind all of this is that if you register a domain name for several years it shows Google that you're committed to that domain name. If you register a domain name for 1 year then you're not as committed to that domain name. A lot of spammers use "throw away" domain names and register them for only a year. So, Google uses the length of time that a domain is registered to determine whether the owner of that domain name is committed to it or not.

One domain name owner I talked to recently told me that renewing his domain names once each year was a part of his business plan. He made a certain amount of money each year from each domain name/website, and he didn't want to cut into the profits of each site by renewing each domain name all at once for several years. "Renewing a domain name for 10 years or even 2 years ahead of time means that I have to spend more money. If I have to come up with $50 or $100 more per year for the domain renewal fees it cuts into my profits", says John, who wished to remain anonymous. John's website is probably exactly the type of website that Google wishes to identify. Google is looking to identify quality, well-established websites whose owners are committed to their domain names. According to the statements made in Google's patent, Google thinks that websites that have been renewed for a long period of time meet that standard.

Should you renew your domain name for a long period of time? And if so, how long is long enough? If you want to stay ahead of your competition, then you might consider looking at the length of time your competitors have registered their domain names. If your competitors have generally renewed their domain names for one or two years, you might consider registering your domain name for 5 or 10 years. While putting off your domain name's expiration date might help your search engine rankings, keep in mind that this may be only a small boost (or a "tie-breaker" among two websites) when it comes to the actual search engine rankings. And, be aware that just because Google has a patent on the idea it doesn't mean that they're actually using those criteria now to rank websites. They, too, want to stay ahead of their competition (mainly Yahoo! and MSN).

I've registered the domains that I really care about for at least 10 years. Initially, I registered these domains for a long period of time because I didn't want to lose them-and I didn't want to go through the somewhat-lengthy annual process of renewing them every year. Since most domain names I own come up for renewal at different times during the year, it seemed as though I was renewing a domain name at least once a month-and renewing them for a few years put it off for a while.

Expired domain name buyers are prevalent nowadays. If your domain name expires, there's a good chance that someone watching will register your domain name within seconds after it expires. If, for whatever reason, you don't renew your domain name, someone watching a 'watch list' of expiring domain names will try to capitalize on the online business that you've built over the years. They know that there is potential website traffic they can have simply by renewing your old domain name. By renewing your domain name for several years, your domain name won't expire for a while, and it won't be opened up to expired domain name buyers.

If you really want to stay ahead of the competition, you might consider registering or renewing your domain name for 100 years. Currently, Network Solutions (www.netsol.com) is the only registrar offering the 100 year option, which costs $999.00. GoDaddy (www.godaddy.com), currently offers to renew or register a domain name for 10 years, at a discount of $6.95 per year. Dotster (www.dotster.com), another leading registrar, offers domain name registration and renewals for up to 10 years at a cost of $129.95.

What's the bottom line? If you're committed to your online business, your website, and your domain name, then renewing your domain name for a long period of time will not only stop expired domain buyers from registering your domain name when it expires, it will show Google that you're committed to it-and that may give you a boost in the search engine rankings, as well.
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by: Sadain
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/domain-names-articles/does-domain-registration-length-effect-search-engine-rankings-193539.html

How to Appraise a Domain Name's Value

Knowing the value of an internet domain name is crucial in today's business industry. Altough there is no exact formula to appraise a domain, there are a group of things to consider before putting a value to a domain. A majority of people will base their immediate appraisal on TLD extension, word length and keyword popularity but won't really consider backlinks, brandability or emerging trends part of the equation. There are a few factors that a person must be aware of before they can feel they have thoroughly assessed the domain and attach a valid appraisal amount. The first thing a person can do to is recognize that there are many subtle components that need to be assembled and viewed as a whole to get a comprehensive perspective on the domain. It seems every domainer has their own method used to appraise a domain so I've listed a few factors that I feel are necessary in being considered before a domain can be appraised.

• TLD Extension

TLD or Top-Level Domain is the ending extension attached to a domain such as .com, .net or .org. The .com extension is considered the most sought after even though there are other TLD's that are gaining huge popularity and acceptance. CC's or Country Codes are also seeing their fair share of registrations.

• Name Length

Now that all the 2, 3 and 4 letter .com's have been registered, the letter count on a domain is fast becoming a huge factor in a domain's worth. The desire for a short domain is at an all time high and values are steadily climbing due to the limited supply of shorter length domains. Seems shorter names are easier to remember and with that a value increase

• Characters, Numbers and Hyphens

Hyphens integrated between letters are often viewed as separators between keywords. Although there is much dispute whether or not the hyphens negatively impact a domain's search engine optimization, there is considerable preference that a domain not include anything extra in it's name. Number digits are beginning to see their popularity rise and can be included with relevant keywords or letters to make a great domain.

• Keyword Popularity

Marketable search terms and keyword popularity are extremely relevant in appraising adomain name. The frequency of a given search term helps to indicate the brandability or popularity of the keyword. Generic word domains, such as flowers.com or poker.com are the strongest in their keyword popularity genre.

• Traffic and Revenue

Traffic or visitors to a particular domain is one of the most important factors to consider when appraising a domain. More traffic usually means more revenue due to pay-per-click income and possible advertising opportunities, therefore increasing the value of the domain.

• Brandability and Trends

Any domain that is easily memorable, short and non-descript is considered brandable and therefore increases it's value. It would be easier for a person to remember TVrepair.com instead of the longer fix-my-broken-television.com . Not only is the first choice shorter and has better word flow but also there is less of a chance of someone incorrectly typing in the URL. Also keep tuned in to current trends that may seem to increase an otherwise meaningless domain into a treasure. An example is when Apple Computers began to incorporate the letter i into their products descriptions, such as iPhone, iPod and iLife.

• Automated Domain Appraisals

This is a tricky one. Although I feel automated domain appraisal systems such as Estibot are helpful in assisting to appraise a domain, I don't feel they should be the "end all" decision used to obtain a domain's value. If used more as a reference tool, they can be one of the greatest resources that help determine an appraisal value. Any script/applications can have some bugs, especially ones with complex algorithms as Estibot. Make automated domain appraisals one of the tools to find an appraisal, not the only tool.

• Future Potential Interest and Overall Appeal

As time goes by, new words, trends and fads explode onto the scene, and with each new word or trend created, a domain is born. Stay up with current events and become a regular visitor to news aggregate sites, such as Digg and domain industry specific DNHour to stay on the cusp of emerging potential interests.

• Backlinks

I like to keep my eye on the number and quality of backlinks to evaluate an domain appraisal. While tons of irrelevant backlinks might negatively effect a domain's search engine optimization, it can still be a positive thing for a domain names' value. With more and more domains being "parked", the links tend to lean towards relevant backlinks and therefore less likely to be bogged down in the SEO nightmare of page rank. And, it's hard to argue that backlinks don't increase traffic.

• Relevance, Region Specific and other Fuzzy Logic

As said earlier, there is no exact formula to appraise a domain name, and therefore the not-so-exact elements must come into play. An example would be that veteran domainers tend to skew their entire method of appraising when it comes to country specific or region specific domain names. Different factors are incorporated to determine non-English domain word values and domainers across the globe are becoming better in detecting future potential interests in foreign markets. Another example is the continuously growing popularity of "long-string domaining", or stringing multiple words or keywords to achieve a brandable and memorable domain name. TacoBell has ThinkOutsideTheBun.com and Amazon has the domain BuyABook.com. By definition, these would not be very valuable but that's when the fuzzy logic creeps in. A domain's value can be perceived in multiple ways.

So keep in mind that even though there isn't one exact correct formula being used by the domain industry to appraise domains, a reasonable appraisal can be determined by anyone if they keep all the factors in mind and how they each interact with each other.

I'd suggest you monitor the pulse of current domain sales by frequently visiting

DNJournal's Domain Sales Chart. This will show you weekly and even yearly to-date domain sales for the industry. And don't forget to visit the front page of Sedo to view ongoing live auctions. Each of these great resources will help you in creating your own customized method of domain appraising by seeing what domains are selling and for what amount.

by: Rudy Hernandez