I have a search engine optimization question, and I couldn’t find it elsewhere. I know there are a number of pro SEOs who read my blog during some free time, and I am hoping someone can provide some feedback/advice for a site I am currently developing.

I am building a search based directory right now, and people can search for providers by city/state or zip code, which will yield the results pages, some of which will hopefully be filled with my advertisers. Since the pages will only technically exist when people search for them, will they be indexed in Google? If I create a site map with text links to all US cities, states, will that be sufficient?

For example, say I am developing LocalPlumber.com, and the results page for Chicago would be found when someone searches, yielding this url: http://www.LocalPlumber.com/?s=Chicago%2C+IL. Would the search result be indexed in Google – and if not, how can I be sure to get it indexed in Google/Yahoo for the keywords?

Thanks if you can help!

I am upset to see Pete Lamson leave NameMedia. I’ve done a considerable amount of business with the company over the last few years, and whenever I had a question or issue, Pete was always there to help out or point me in the right direction. I wish Pete all the best.

Back when I was doing more hand registrations, my friend Gregg) and I would email each other back and forth with some of the names we picked up. It was always fun to share what I had purchased and to see what he bought. We’ve also done some business in the past, although I wish I was able to get him to sell Puggles.com to me! Anyway, Gregg is selling close to 16,000 domain names, and he will give one free domain name to the first 5 of my blog readers who respond with “free” in the comment section (sometimes I have to manually approve comments, so it will be in order of posting, not necessarily the first 5 to show up). If you’re interested in getting his list (or interested in a free domain name), post a comment asking for it, and I will forward your email address to him.

I’m still working on the development of my first automated sign-up directory. I didn’t use eDirectory for this, and I will ask my developer/designer to write up a post once it launches. It’s very cool seeing requests I make for customizations getting completed. Depending on the success of this site, I may make some changes to other websites I own and alter my acquisition and sales strategy a bit.

With a month and a half remaining in the year, now’s a pretty good time to see if you can do anything that will make an impact on your 2009 taxes. Perhaps it’s a good idea to book flights for 2010 or pay for tickets to conferences and tradeshows in the coming year. Based on my schedule for next year, I am fairly certain I will be attending Targeted Traffic in Vancouver in June, and I hope to book the flight before year end.

There aren’t a whole lot of domain investors or domain sales companies that list their prices on site. They don’t do this because if for some reason the value on a particular type of domain name increases, they won’t have to sell it for that price. This allows companies and investors to base their prices on a wide variety of factors that can only be calculated at the time of the sale.

A few weeks ago, I received a list of domain names for sale from a company, and I looked through the list and made a few purchases. After a second and third look, I found another name I want to buy at the list price. Apparently there have been some larger sales recently in a similar vertical, so the company hasn’t decided whether to sell me the domain name at their listed price.

I am in the midst of working with the company right now, so I won’t mention the name, but this should be a warning to both buyers and sellers. If you price your names, you either need to be constantly on top of market fluctuations or risk taking a possible presumed loss on a sale. In my opinion, it’s bad form to price a domain name and then change it after a buyer agrees to pay the list price.