Now I know some of you are asking “Why does this matter, does it help anything? Why not just renew at the end of each year instead and save some money for other promotion for the blog?”.

Actually I have a few pointers as to why its important to renew your domains for longer then just 1 or 2 years. I went the full 9 year option but anything above 5 is good in my opinion. You see the search engines and some other programs take your domain age but also how much longer your domain is registered for into account in giving you rankings.

For instance I have done tests and found that aged non dropped domains instantly rank better in the search engines then a new domain, even if that new domain is the perfect keywords you want to rank for the aged name still won out. Obviously that changes as you get into deeper seo and promotion but I’m talking at the start only.

I know this may sound weird and even confusing but trust me when I say registering the domain longer then you need to is worth every penny. Its also a good selling point if you ever decided to sell your site that way the buyer doesn’t have to worry about the name dropping any time soon.

This was just a quickie update but I encourage all of you to renew your domains as long as you can.

Oh and BTW be sure to subscribe to my blog to help me beat Tom from StandOutBlogger.com as you all know if I win this contest with Tom I have a special prize pack I am going to give out to the best member of my blog and his so its worth helping me win! Trust Me, Its Worth It!

Since I lost my domains I want to talk about that a little bit, somehow this person got a keylogger onto my pc and then stole my GoDaddy account info and transferred all the domains out to another GoDaddy account.

You can read the whole build up story at my personal ShannonLilly blog if you wish…

Basically I am going to continue the story here…

As it all comes down I did finally get nearly all my important domains back (still waiting on 4 of them) but other then that I got my fathers site, IBB and Bz back as well as POB which is another great source for mmo / blogging tips!

Through the whole proccess I learned one very important thing and that one thing is… MAKE SURE YOUR SECURE SO THIS DOESNT HAPPEN TO YOU!

I never thought it would happen to me and I was on the net 10+ years never having a problem like this. With that said I have learned my lesson and I won’t be making that mistake again for the rest of my life. If something like this ever happens again it won’t be because of anything I did not do I assure you!

So first things first, make sure you have the following done and be sure to print this list out if your note sure so you can check em off. Its the same list I talked about on Gnets Blueverse blog but they are the vital things you need if you want to be secure. 

1. Make sure you use different passwords for every site you’re a member of, that includes GoDaddy and any other registrar out there. Do it just to be safe! 
2. Secondly make sure you buy privacy policy / the domain ownership  secure feature on all your important domains. Nearly every registrar has it and its impossible to hack I hear without doing tons of ground work that nobody is going to take the time to do!
3. Install the best security / antivirus program available, second best simply won’t do if you want to be secure. I am now using ESet NOD32 and it’s rated the best around! It is expensive but worth it I assure you!
4. Reformat your pc leaving nothing left on it, just be sure to put the files which you have backed up back on the machine. This way no hidden KeyLoggers can be found and or create future leaks.

The list is small and simple but thats all you really have to do, in fact if I had done #3 6 months ago none of this would have happened to me. Yes I accept full responsibility because it was my job to make sure that all our pcs had such programs on them that actually work. I didn’t and because of it I lost a couple hundred dollars myself and who knows how much damage it has done to my fathers business, praying for none but you never know.

Well that will just about sum things up for today, thanks once again all for sticking with me and watch out for more great tips to stay secure and also to improve your blogging!

The post today is all about sites / domain selling, well at least a form of it. I have discussed the basics in the past of working a site and then selling it once you reach a decent traffic level. However today I am going to get a bit more in depth with the subject with a simple 5 step plan to making a profit on a website.

- What Sites To Buy: You may be asking yourself what the best sites to buy are. While I am no pro at knowing the best niche sites to grab I have found decent success with sports, technology and pet related sites. The main reason I sell these the best is because I have some knowledge of all these areas and can continue to build the sites so things are not stagnant as I flip the site into what it should be.

- How Much To Spend: Aside from knowing what type of sites to buy you also need to know when to walk away from a sale because of price. Basically my rule of thumb is if I cant pay for it with cash (the amount I pre-determined) I simply walk away from the sale. I can always get my hands on another site later on that will suit my needs! I don’t see the logic in buying a site you cannot afford simply to try and make it work. Besides I have found some of my best sellers to be small sites I found and bought em and turned em in the same week.

- What To Stay Away From: When buying a site or domain there are a couple of things you should stay away from. A few that come to mind are ebay, bad ITrader ratings, Low Rep Score and even people who have never proven to be trustworthy. There are lots of scammers running rapid around the net making a killing on all those who don’t learn a few basic principles about buying and selling sites. Don’t get caught in the traps they lay, seek out wise council and your chances will be better!

- Where To Buy Sites / Domains To Turn: Another great question I saw floating around the net a couple weeks ago was where does one buy sites or domains to flip and resell for more profit. I didn’t even have to think about it because the answer is simple. SitePoint, Digital Point Forums, V7N and BzImage is all you need!

- What Tips I Have For Flipping A Site: The best and most difficult question to answer would be the last one. When it comes to what to flip on a site to turn a profit so many factors can come into play. It all depends how badly you need cash and how much your willing to put into a site that may not make a cent more then you paid.

When it comes to flipping sites its all about hitting it at the right time and finding the right buyer, the same places you bought from above you can sell at and those will be your best bet to finding a great trustworthy buyer. As a rule of thumb a few things you may want to flip on the sites themselves are:

• Logos
• Buttons
• Slogan
• Design
• Re Word Some Content
• SEO The Site
• Get Traffic Flowing By Social Bookmarking It!

After you get onto flipping sites for a while you will start to see how much easier it gets every time you do it. I would not say I have made it rich flipping sites like some have but I have made some decent money throughout my time online and I know you can to! Who knows you may be the next Bill Gates and we don’t even know it yet!