The Lowell.com site is currently going through a thorough search engine optimization analysis. I wanted to catch all the low hanging fruit before I officially launch the site, and everything hould still be on target for a launch in a couple of weeks. I blogged about the SEO analysis on the Lowell.com blog, although I didn’t really get into too many details on the topic.  I am far from an expert, and it would only be humorous for me to write or preach like I was one.

I do think that search engine optimization is almost as important as the unique content I had written. I used the example of my website being like a home in the forest that needs a road and electricity. It could be the most beautiful home in the world, but if you can’t get to it, the home won’t be enjoyed by others. Search engines need a way to find Lowell.com (and other websites), and optimizing it for the search engines is the best way to get noticed.

If you have some time and interest in developing, feel free to check out the Lowell.com development blog for more details. I also added a few resources I used in addition to my friend.

An article in the New York Times confirms what most domain investors have said for years - direct navigation type-in traffic yields the most valuable website visitors. Based on a study performed by Internet marketing company Engine Ready, the article compares direct navigation traffic to search engine traffic, both paid and organic. While comparing the value between organic search versus paid search, the article mentions that neither is has the edge when it comes to valuing traffic:

“That honor goes to the people who arrive at a site by typing its Web address directly into their browsers or clicking on a bookmark. Such visitors, who tend to be repeat customers, linger the longest, spend the most money, and are the most likely to “convert” to buyers, doing so on 3.3 percent of their visits. “

Read the rest of the article on the New York Times website.

When buying a keyword domain name, it is important to know how many people search daily for the keywords that make up the domain name. You might have the most targeted website for the keywords, rank number one in the search engines and have the best website design, but if nobody is searching for those keywords on a frequent basis, it will be difficult to earn a return on your investment.

Many people reference Google’s search results to cite how much information exists for certain keywords. While Google will show how many times the keyword is mentioned on the Internet, it fails to show how many people are actually searching for it. Using Google for this can be misleading, because there can be much more information about a topic than people searching for it.

The Overture search tool  was a good indicator of the number of searches that were performed monthly but Yahoo has eliminated that tool.  I’ve used Wordtracker and KeywordDiscovery before and both offer good indications of what keywords people search. If you own the domain name of these keywords, you have a strong search engine optimization advantage over everyone else. Once you upload relevant content and have someone optimize your site, you could see an increase in revenue.

Ever find yourself at a gas station looking for directions?  When I was younger, my family pulled into a gas station in the Bronx, New York looking for directions out of the Bronx.  My dad asked the station clerk for directions, and she replied, “fill up your tank and I can help you.”  My dad filled up the tank and went back for the instructions, to which the woman replied “sorry, no hablo English.”

Soon, you won’t have to rely on the gas station service clerks for directions.  According to a CNN article and the Gilbarco Veeder-Root website, Google has formed a partnership with gas station pump maker Gilbarco Veeder-Root, which just introduced their Applause Media System.  Gilbarco’s pumps will now include an Internet connection displaying Google’s mapping service on a small screen.

At first, pumpers will be asked to find their location by scrolling through many popular categories, including hotels, restaurants and hospitals selected by the gas station’s owner.  Once a destination is selected, the pump will print out directions.

This is another way Google is becoming involved in the search business.  Some of the other non-traditional search engine searching you can do include:

• Dialing 1-800-GOOG-411 for free phone number services.
• Texting “GOOGL” along with a business and city, and Google will send you the address and phone number.
• Searching using a Blackberry or other handheld device - Google.mobi

Someone asked me what I thought the % of people who would use the Google pump maps vs. in-car GPS systems.  That got me thinking, why doesn’t Google develop an inexpensive Google Maps branded GPS system?  Better yet, why not develop an in-car computer system to allow motorists to connect to the Internet using Google’s technologies?

Sex, Nazi, burrito and Viagra: Who Googles what?

Reuters had an article today identifying the top 3 countries of searchers for some common Google searches including “sex,” “Tom Cruise,” and “Iraq” among other things. I did my own search regarding a few domain-related terms and here are some surprising results I found courtesy of Google’s Trend Tool:

“Domain Names”
1. New Zealand
2. United Kingdom
3. Australia

“Domain Sales”
1. Australia
2. India
3. United Kingdom

“Domain Parking”
1. Indonesia
2. Australia
3. Malaysia

“Web Development”
1. Pakistan
2. India
3. South Africa

Incidentally, it appears that all of these searches are trending down since inception.

Analyst: Ham and Schilling Losses Mount to Billions

Interesting article on Owen Frager’s Blog this morning about the domain portfolios of Kevin Ham and Frank Schilling. The article discusses how the amount of money their portfolios generate may be preventing them from seeing the opportunity cost of doing something much more powerful with their top notch portfolios:

“For someone in this position it must be hard to imagine anything more you could ever want. And that’s why they may never consider that the opportunity and money being left on the table is far greater than anything they’ve earned.” — Source: The Frager Factor

The article suggests that by forwarding all of their domain names to one landing page, as much as $250 - $600 million could be generated in less than 30 days. I can’t agree or disagree without knowing the traffic specifics and other variables, but that is a big chunk of change. Imagine if Frank, Kevin, Rick, Elequa, Mike and a few other large portfolio owners decided to join together and create their search engine. They would immediately pose a direct threat to Yahoo and Google, and it would certainly impact their search volume. This shows how powerful generic domain names are.

American Airlines seeks damages against GoogleAmerican Airlines filed a lawsuit against Google for selling Adwords related to its trademarks (including “American Airlines”. Personally, I think the claim is ludicrous. In my opinion, the term “American Airlines” is about as generic as they come. Why can’t US Airways, another “American airline,” purchase the keyword “American airlines?” Why shouldn’t anyone who sells anything associated with American airlines buy this particular keyword? Perhaps searchers are looking for the airline, but maybe they are just looking for information about an American airline.

I hope Google fights this and wins, because this claim seems over the top to me.