I’m pleased to be sharing a bunch more new bookmarklets I’ve come across recently in a great post by Tom Critchlow on SEOMoz. These SEO-centric bookmarklets provide immediate access to pertinent data from Google and leading SEO tools.

The bookmarklets below may appear like regular hyperlinks, but you will need to drag and drop these links to your browser toolbar or save them as bookmarks for them to function properly. Consider creating a folder to drag the bookmarklets to if you plan on using many of them.

Domain Name and SEO Bookmarklets

These bookmarklets, when clicked from the browser toolbar, will provide quick access to valuable information and analytics about the website currently being viewed.

Bookmarklet: OSE Report (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Open Site Explorer by SEOMoz offers a comprehensive SEO report

Bookmarklet: OSE Top Pages (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Analyzes a domain name for the most authoritative pages

Bookmarklet: OSE Anchor Text (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Displays a report on the anchor text used to link to a domain

Bookmarklet: Google Site Search (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Performs a query to retrieve all indexed pages for a domain

Bookmarklet: Google Cache (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Access the most recent Google cache version of a URL

Bookmarklet: Google Insights (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Performs a search for the term popularity of a domain name without the TLD

Bookmarklet: Google Ad Planner (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Runs a comprehensive report on a domain including traffic estimates and related sites

Bookmarklet: SEM Rush (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Comprehensive PPC  marketing report

Bookmarklet: MajesticSEO (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Displays a report on backlinks to a domain over time

Bookmarklet: Topsy (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Shows the latest engagement activity on Twitter for a particular domain

More Bookmarklets

Get 12 more domain and SEO bookmarklets from my previous article for quick access to data on DomainTools, Estibot, Archive.org, Compete, Delicious and others.

Share the Time Savings

I hope you’ve enjoyed these time-saving bookmarklets for domain name and SEO research. Please consider sharing this post with your fellow web professionals if you found them particularly useful.

What are your favorite bookmarklets? Leave a comment below and let us know which ones you use the most or share a useful bookmarklet not mentioned here.

10 More Time-Saving Domain and SEO Bookmarklets DotSauce Magazine

I’ve recently discovered a new, possibly better solution for displaying a domain portfolio within any WordPress page using the My Domain List WordPress plugin which is available at CodeCanyon for $12.

As it turns out, this plugin is a great way to both market your domains for sale and manage your portfolio privately.

[Header image via Flickr]

Automated Whois Information

One of the key perks of My Domain List is automated retrieval of whois information. This is a great feature which enables you to keep up-to-date on all of your domain information from multiple registrars in one central location.

My Domain List Management

The following data is displayed for all domains within a private domain management page.

• Domain registrar
• Owner name
• Whois creation date
• Ownership change date
• Expiration date

These details can be displayed publicly as part of your domain list table or kept private.

If you would like to manage your portfolio with My Domain List while keeping some domains private you can do that as well. Select the “Unpublish” to set a domain to only be visible through the domain management page.

Your domain list is displayed by placing a shortcode within a post or a page and customizing it to suit your needs, as in this example.

[my-domain-list-portfolio show='owner,extension,registrar']

With this initial release of the plugin there are some features left to be desired (such as domain search and categories), but all the essentials seem to be covered. The UI is well designed for both owner and visitors and the Make Offer process is user-friendly and inviting with a fixed priced domain.

My Domain List Screenshots

Here are more screenshots of the Domain List display and the private back-end. You can review the full plugin documentation here.

My Domain List – Full Demo

Incoming Offers Stats – Displayed on WordPress Dashboard

Optional Pagination by Letters

Get My Domain List

My Domain List is available exclusively at CodeCanyon. The WordPress plugin is reasonably priced at just $12. This is a bargain for being able to manage and market your domain names for sale.

Let me know what you think. Please leave a comment below if you decide to give it a try.

My Domain List WordPress Plugin: Market and Manage Your Domains DotSauce Magazine

What was traditionally thought of as a blogging CMS has been transformed into a powerful, user-friendly development platform. Virtually any type of business website can be created using a combination of innovative WordPress theme design and advanced plugins.

Continue reading to enter to win professional logo design! (No purchase necessary)

For a limited time I am offering these special rates on development services for the following turnkey web development solutions powered by WordPress.

Updated June 22 – I’ve lowered the prices to make them even more attractive. Pay half up-front to get started and the remaining half when your website is completed. Contact me to get started.

Magazine / Blog / Business – $350

Below is an example of the many high-quality, visually appealing and flexible themes for creating a web based publication, blog or business website.

Affiliate Product Portal – $350

Create a niche affiliate site and earn commissions by referring customers to popular products. Bonus: A plugin will track stats and create custom affiliate URLs.

Product Reviews – $350

Similar to an affiliate portal, you can review products and promote affiliate products. This layout is intended for ratings and reviews from you and a community of visitors.

Q&A Site – $400

Question and answer sites are a popular new trend that is great for business and getting advertising revenue.

Classifieds – $400

Find an audience for professional classifieds site to help people market their products and services. Collect listing fees through PayPal.

Job Board – $400

Certainly a great time to develop a job board as many are looking. Connect employers and job seekers and collect listing fees through PayPal.

eCommerce Storefront – $400

Whether you have your own products or are selling digital goods, this turnkey solution makes use of a flexible shopping cart, but has options for external purchase options.

Membership Site – $500

With premium membership plugins you can setup private membership site and collect subscription payments. A-List Blogging site shown as example.

Group Buying Site – $650

This wildly popular trend is sweeping the world by helping small businesses profit and customers save money. It will take some commitment to get the site started, but the rewards can be big.

These innovative new WordPress themes use the latest standards from WordPress 3.0. Much more than incredible designs, they are built for turnkey online business. Theme and plugin files, documentation and authorized licences are included.

You can select one of these turnkey solutions  to customize and launch your online business, or you can request a comparable design to work with. Pick any premium WordPress theme the web has to offer, the cost will be included in the service fee.

Added Features & Services

The following features are included with all turnkey development options at no additional cost.

• Professional logo design and theme integration
• Design customization and widget setup
• Social media integration
• Navigation and content map setup
• SEO review, consultation and latest plugins
• Website performance optimization and plugins

Pay half to begin development and half upon completion!

That’s right, I can get started for an initial payment of half the special rates listed above. You can then pay the remaining half when the website has been completed and you are 100% satisfied.

I would be happy to discuss design options or answer any questions you might have about the development process.

Please get in touch as soon as possible; availability will be based on demand. Contact me here with details about your development needs to get started.

Logo Design Giveaway

The team at Logo.com has been kind enough to offer professional logo design services to one lucky DotSauce reader.

This is a $199 value!

There is no purchase necessary, anyone is eligible to win. Simply connect with the Rewards widget below and follow the instructions to earn entries.

• Comment on this post saying how a new logo design will help you (+1 entry)
• Like DotSauce on Facebook (+1 entry)
• Tweet about this giveaway (+1 entry)
• Bonus (+unlimited entries): Share your invite link to earn +1 entry for every unique click-through and +5 entries if your friend joins the giveaway.

Enter to Win

Update: Abhinav Gulyani has been selected as our lucky winner. Enjoy your new logo!

This giveaway ends on June 30th at midnight EST. Thank you for participating and good luck!

Again, please contact me soon with your interest in my turnkey web development solutions.

Turnkey Professional Web Development Special and Free Giveaway DotSauce Magazine

I’ve kept watch and tried out many new web development techniques. I’ve also held an active interest in engaging with readers directly on site and through social networks as much as possible.

In this article, I share the optimization techniques and resources that have been most beneficial to me as a web developer and blogger.

Site Header Tips

1. Optimize your title. By default, WordPress and other CMS’s append your website name to the end of title tags on posts and pages. Using your choice of SEO optimization plugin, such as All In One SEO or WordPress SEO, you can configure post titles to contain just the title of your post.

This technique has proven to be beneficial for ranking well for key terms within post titles. It works because you will eventually receive backlinks with better anchor text and more relevancy on social network shares.

2. Set a default image URL for Facebook & LinkedIn sharing. In the past, images accompanying my articles when displayed on social sharing services like Digg, Facebook, bitly, and others always seemed to be the wrong one or missing entirely! The problem annoyed me to the point that I had to seek out a solution.

I was ecstatic to finally work out a simple way to define the proper post image every time. Plug this code into your site header to define the image URL.

<link rel="image_src" type="image/jpeg" href="post-thumbnail.jpg" />

3. Set an author link attribute. (New) Google, Bing and Yahoo recently announced a joint initiative hosted at Schema.org. This HTML tagging platform will work as a framework for defining the structure of a website and individual bits of data. This initiative to create a more open web filled with rich data is just getting started.

Google is getting started right away with a new way to connect authors with their content across multiple websites. Simply define rel=”author” when linking the author’s name in post display as shown here.

<a rel="author" href="http://markfulton.com">Mark Fulton</a>

Site Speed Tips

4. Track page speed with updated Google Analytics code. (New) Last month Google introduced a revolutionary new feature as part of the upgraded Google Analytics, tracking website load times.

With a little adjustment to your tracking code you can begin receiving reports on site speed analytics. Get this rolling and watch as the next few tips greatly reduce page load times.

_gaq.push(['_trackPageLoadTime']);

5. Minify JavaScript and CSS files. WordPress Minify is a must-have plugin for any site using JavaScript files and detailed CSS.

Automagically have all these files compressed and combined. This will reduce the number of HTTP requests, significantly speeding up page speed performance.

6. Compress images and serve them across multiple sub-domains. Another highly recommend solution for improving website speed is the WP Smush.it plugin which compresses images as you upload them.

I still recommend saving all images for the web using PhotoShop before uploading. Then let Smush.it work a little extra magic to reduce the file size further without noticeably compromising quality.

Additionally, hosting some images on different sub-domains allows them to be loaded simultaneously instead of one at a time.

7. Place non-critical JavaScript calls in the footer. By placing your JavaScript calls just before your closing tag you make sure all critical content and design layout is rendered before JavaScript enhanced elements. This is as important for user experience as page loading time.

Ironically, the new Google +1 button code suggests placing the script tag in your header. Put it in the footer instead!

Increase Conversions

8. Split test your business and lead generation copy. We’re hearing more and more about split-testing or A/B tests in recent years as easier tools are made available. The smallest of changes in copy, color or positioning of call to action elements can sometimes yield big returns.

Here are some economical choices for getting started with split testing your website content.

• Google Website Optimizer
• A/B Theme Testing Plugin for WordPress
• Visual Website Optimizer

9. Reduce bounce rate by engaging readers. There are a lot of great methods for engaging website visitors, encouraging them to stick around longer and click-through to further pages on your site.

I’ve written some common sense suggestions for reducing bounce rate in the past. Simple things like improving your navigation or adding images to content can help.

I have been pleased with increased engagement here at DotSauce Magazine using the following applications.

• Wibiya Toolbar (red toolbar at bottom of window) – An incredibly useful toolbar with lots of applications.
• Punchtab Rewards (“Rewards” icon at bottom left of window) – Encourage return visits and sharing content with Punchtab’s innovative new social rewards layer.
• HelloBar – Run a promotion in the header of your site to get immediate attention. Simple app with lots of thought put into it.

I have 5 beta invites to HelloBar for those interested. Please leave a comment and let me know you’d like one.

Extend Your Reach

10. Go mobile. I use the WPTouch plugin which automatically generates a mobile optimized version of DotSauce Magazine. Have you looked at your Google Analytics browser reports to see if many visitors are using mobile devices? It’s likely more than you think.

Greatly improve their user experience and conserve server resources by implementing a mobile optimized display.

11. Get social. Love them or hate them, social networks are driving traffic and allowing your following to engage and endorse your content. Discover the best widgets and sharing buttons for your website and include them in prime positions such as at the top of your sidebar or directly after post content.

I recommend you highlight the big 4; Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and email.

• Facebook Social Plugins
• Twitter Website Resources
• LinkedIn Share button
• Google +1 Button (New)
• Sharedaddy (Part of JetPack for WordPress)

12. Become a curator of the latest news and resources. This suggestion goes hand-in-hand with getting social. The most influential people on social networks are found generously sharing editorials, news and resources. It’s a great way to build a following and get recommended.

Every day I share a selection of domaining, online business and web development resources on Twitter, the DotSauce Facebook page, LinkedIn, social bookmarking and social news websites. I’ve been doing this for years and have found the practice to be very rewarding.

I’m now using Keepstream to publish a monthly roundup of the best links here on DotSauce. You can also find over 90 industry leading publications at the new DotSauce News site.

Next Up: Optimizing Publisher Experience

I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips and techniques for optimizing websites for both search engines and readers. I’m considering a related post that will feature methods of optimizing your experience as a publisher on the backend of a website. This year, I’ve discovered some very interesting tools and resources that make professional blogging that much easier. Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading my tips. Please leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions about this article, I would love to hear your thoughts.

12 Tips and New Standards for Optimizing Your Website DotSauce Magazine

[Image via Flickr.]

This particular piece of software called FeedNamer recently launched with a bang, using one of those very loud and long landing pages.

The application extracts words and phrases from RSS feed headlines and scans for domain availability. Supposedly hundreds of valuable domains are up for grabs using this method. I have my doubts.

I will admit the landing page is fairly well done for conversions, I can imagine this sort of thing taking off as some domain flipping courses and apps do. You’re getting what seems to be a pretty neat piece of automation software for $44. I’m sure a handful of you might even buy FeedNamer because I’m writing about it right now, even though I’m telling you NOT to.

The creator, Brad Gosse claims to be an 11 year veteran internet marketer, but I have to say he does not seem very experienced with quality domain names as evidenced by comments made in a video introduction. The examples provided are typical “dreamer” domains that someone just beginning to build a portfolio may think is valuable; domains with obscure niches or unprofitable speculative domains.

Putting the FeedNamer Concept to The Test

Knowing how simple the software is, I wanted to test the validity of the claims that good domain names can be extracted from RSS feed headlines. So, I put the concept to the test using free web based tools.

1. Find headlines

I used DotSauce News to get the latest headlines from 17 leading business blogs and 16 awesome marketing blogs.

I also tested extracting keywords from popurls mobile pages. Any page with feed headlines will work.

2. Extract phrases

Using the free web-based GetRank keyword extractor tool, I was able to replicate the FeedNamer software functionality by simply entering any URLs containing feed headlines.

I can’t say for sure that this keyword extractor is equal to the one used by FeedNamer, but I imagine they use comparable dictionaries. You will get a list of phrases as shown here.

3. Bulk availability check

Last week, DomainHole launched a fast and free bulk availability checker. I pressed the developers on Hacker News and they have confirmed no data is being logged.

Tip: You don’t need to format the text or type .com at the end of each line.

Simply plug the two or three-word phrase results you get from the keyword extractor into the bulk checker and you’re finished.

So, what is the result? Unfortunately, it’s as I expected; nothing good. I was unable to find any domains worth registering. To the developer’s credit, FeedNamer does mention that you will have to filter through some junk, I just can’t see any diamonds emerging from this junk pile.

I tried multiple different feeds and categories. Here are a few examples of my typical results:

If you haven’t already guessed, I am not a believer in this particular method of available domain mining. Do you see any domains even remotely valuable here? I for one wouldn’t want to be tasked with skimming through lists of this poor quality.

I highly recommend going with a domain suggestion tool that uses verifiable keyword data such as TailWords or DomainHole suggestions.

What do you think of the FeedNamer concept? What are your favorite domain suggestion tools? Please leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Don’t Waste Your Money: FeedNamer Tool Flops DotSauce Magazine

After reviewing the full offering, I am convinced that CodeGuard is going to be a must-have service for serious web professionals and I am thrilled to be using it to protect my websites.

[Image by Flickr user Aaron Landry]

Super Backup

CodeGuard connects to your site through FTP and seamlessly goes to work for you backing up and monitoring your files.

Unlike traditional cloud storage services like DropBox, CodeGuard can be setup to backup your website hourly, daily or monthly and stores a unique image of your site each time.

Thwarting Hackers

Over the years I have seen a steady rise in attacks against websites and have even fallen victim to some very devious hacks and exploits myself. I wish CodeGuard would have been around to alert me about those issues.

CodeGuard continually scans your website files for unauthorized code. Pro members can be alerted by email in as little as a few minutes if anything malicious appears.

Mishaps Be Gone

CodeGuard Pro members never worry about breaking their websites. An amazing “rollback” feature works just like an undo tool, letting you effortlessly restore a previous version of an entire site.

The rollback feature could be particularly helpful when dealing with CMS updates that can at times break a customized website.

FREE Beta Offer With Activation Code: DOTSAUCE

CodeGuard is offering up to 5000 free accounts during their beta launch. They have been kind enough to provide DotSauce readers with an invitation.

Simply enter DOTSAUCE as your activation code when signing up for CodeGuard. You can use this activation code to backup one site for free or get CodeGuard Pro features and backup multiple sites for just $10 per month.

If you’re interested, hurry and try out the free Beta offering while it’s still available.

What do you think of CodeGuard? Leave a comment below to let us know how it works out or ask any questions you might have about CodeGuard’s service.

CodeGuard is a Must Have for Website Backup and Malware Monitoring – Free Beta Offer! DotSauce Magazine

These applications and resources can be an invaluable addition to your domain investing tool-set. Enjoy!

[Image by Flickr user bertboerland]

1. Rapportive for Researching Inquiries and Offers

Just yesterday a DotSauce Domain Club member contacted me for a consultation seeking advice on a recent offer received by email. He wanted to know if he should respond with an asking price or direct the person to a Sedo auction. As part of my recommendation, I suggested researching the name and email address of the interested party and gave Rapportive as a starting point. Surprisingly, the Domain Club member was able to discover the incoming offer was actually a domain buying scam.

2. Tout for Email Marketing

Last year I wrote about how to automate end-user domain sales marketing using the web-based Tout email application. I’m pleased to report that Tout has received updates in both user-interface and interesting new features.

3. WordPress for Blogging and Building a Domain Portfolio

I mention WordPress and blogging all the time, and will continue to do so because it is such a valuable medium for online businesses. Publishing unique content about your interests or niche can drive new customers from search engines and build your reputation.

4. Facebook for Networking

This link leads to the ever popular Domaining on Facebook group. If you are a serious domain investor who wants to learn and network with your colleagues, I welcome you to request an invite and join in on our discussions.

5. Noted for Research and List Manipulation

Noted is a very unique resource you’re unlikely to see mentioned elsewhere. Noted was developed a decade ago and I have been using it as my primary notepad application ever since. The simplicity, speed and text manipulation features offered by Noted have saved me countless hours. Learning to master find and replace can be a great skill for domain research.

6. Ping.fm for Social Marketing

This application is another time-saver that I don’t know what I’d do without. Ping.fm enables you to broadcast a 140 character status update to dozens of social networks at the same time. You can also create specific groups to segment which networks receive each update. For example, I have specific groups for sharing with everyone or just the DotSauce Facebook page.

7. Google Docs for Spreadsheets

Domain investors are constantly dealing with spreadsheets full of domains and analytics. Storing these files on the Google Docs cloud can offer you quick access and unique tools on the go. You may also want to check out Web Scraper for Chrome which can extract and export tables on web pages to Google Docs.

8. Browser Addons & Bookmarklets for Saving Time

There are dozens of very useful browser addons for making online business easier to manage and saving you time on repetitive tasks. The two links above lead to round-ups of some incredibly useful Chrome addons and a list of browser bookmarklets for domain and SEO research.

9. Friends & Family for Feedback

The people you talk with everyday are likely only somewhat familiar with the domain name industry, but they can still be an invaluable resource. When it comes time for usability testing you can ask for a quick opinion to get an outsider’s perspective. Whether it’s your website navigation or a potential domain investment, ask a friend what they think.

10. Sleep & Exercise for a Balanced Mind

I recently read a surprising article on sleep at the Harvard Business Review that really hit home. Tony Schwartz says sleep is more important than food, “even small amounts of sleep deprivation take a significant toll on our health, our mood, our cognitive capacity and our productivity.“ Working from home, I am often a night owl, but I have been trying to manage my sleep better and it helps greatly.

I hope you enjoyed these 10 unconventional ideas, tools, and resources and have a chance to put them to good use. If you know someone else who would find these useful, consider sharing this post.

Did I miss a unique resource? Please leave a comment with your favorite unconventional domain tools.

10 Unconventional Tools & Resources for Domain Investors DotSauce Magazine

The development team happily announced considerable optimization and performance gains and hinted at a new plugin community.

By utilizing Custom Post Types and tight WordPress integration we have shaved off more the half the file size of our download!

The WP e-Commerce 3.8 release has been mostly about optimization and aligning our code and our User Interface with WordPress standards.Future proofing our software and stabilizing it by utilizing the most up to date WordPress hooks and filters has been our top priority.

…our goal is to foster a Plugin community around e-Commerce functionality so that the WP e-Commerce Plugin stays fast and lightweight.

WP e-Commerce Preview – Normal Looking WordPress Interface

Other notable WP e-Commerce 3.8 updates include:

• New user interface
• Integrates with WordPress Media Manager
• Better template integration for WordPress themers

The new WP e-Commerce interface blends seamlessly with other WordPress administration pages. Anyone familiar with adding posts and pages will be right at home building an online storefront with WP e-Commerce. Today I’m going to help you do just that by helping you build a custom domain portfolio.

How to Build a Domain Portfolio with WordPress

In just a few simple steps you can now create a functional domain name storefront or portfolio using your choice of widget-ready WordPress theme.

Let’s get hands on! Follow along as I describe the basic steps in setting up the WP e-Commerce 3.8 plugin to sell your domain names.

1. Install WP e-Commerce 3.8

And you’ll want to upgrade to WordPress 3.1 if you haven’t. Go to Plugins > Add New and search for WP e-Commerce.

Make sure to install the original plugin and not an imitator.

2. Configure essential WP e-Commerce options

Under Settings > Store, setup your payment gateway and other basic WP e-Commerce options.

Note: Be sure your WordPress admin user email address is the same as your PayPal account if you choose to use PayPal.

3. Rename the “Products Page”

After installing WP e-Commerce you will notice a few new pages have been automatically created. Navigate to the newly made “Products Page” and rename it to “Domain Portfolio” or whatever you like.

4. Create new Product Categories

Build up your categories such as ‘Short Domains’, ‘Product Domains’, ‘Business’, ‘Shopping’, etc., for easy browsing.

5. Create a New Product for each domain

Be sure to include a description and any other details which may be helpful in marketing your domain for sale.

Example Domain Product Page

6. Set your price or a discounted offer and other details

Also upload an accompanying image, remove shipping requirements and check that other details are correct.

Note: You may want to create a custom-meta entry or edit WP e-Commerce theme files to create a “Make Offer” option that links to your contact page. You can also input external links to auctions or marketplaces which will override the shopping cart action.

7. Set Quantity to Limited

In the Stock Control area set the product quantity to 1. Presumably each domain is unique, so you’ll want to be sure to select this option.

You can also choose to be notified when a sale is completed.

8. Add your choice of WP e-Commerce widgets

Under Appearance > Widgets to your theme you can select widgets such as Shopping Cart and Latest Products, as well as special offers, a search bar and any other useful information for your visitors.

You now have a working domain portfolio powered by WordPress and WP e-Commerce!

You can view this example portfolio page on one of my sandbox WordPress installations to see the results of completing these steps.

Making the Most of It

If you take the time to thoroughly describe your domain and include related data you will gain targeted search traffic. WP e-Commerce allows you to interact with customers in a way that sales by email does not provide. Having a web based portfolio can also be a great way to track your sales and inventory even if a domain isn’t sold on the site.

You can further customize your WordPress theme files to integrate your domains and shopping cart however you like.

Another alternative is to invest in a premium WordPress theme that is customized for and compatible with WP e-Commerce 3.8. You may need to wait awhile for theme developers to catch up to the new release, but it should be any day now that themes will be updated.

How I Am Using WP e-Commerce

Want more WordPress ideas? WP e-Commerce was just 1 of 20 ways to make money blogging featured on DotSauce this year.

I’m currently working on multiple development projects using WP e-Commerce for clients and my own business.  While I have recently transitioned my focus to the DotSauce Domain Club, I am excited to say I will soon update the 2 year old AQDN marketplace with WP e-Commerce, a fresh look and new concept that is sure to turn heads.

Stay tuned for updates and let me know how your portfolio development comes along. If you have any questions about setting up a domain portfolio with the new WP e-Commerce, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will try my best to help you out.

How to Build a Domain Name Portfolio with WordPress eCommerce DotSauce Magazine

I’m happy to share a great solution I’ve discovered for quickly extracting data from many websites. It is a new Chrome browser extension called Web Scraper and is a great example of a new era in web productivity. This is one smart tool that can be used for common domaining tasks. The application is not restricted to the confines of a web address. Web Scraper can read user input (the selection) and is able to inspect and analyze the source of any given web page.

Web Scraper enables you to highlight text from any web page and right-click your selection to “Scrape similar” data. The scraped data is shown in a preview table alongside features for removing unwanted columns or applying a preset filters for manipulating the data. When finished, the data can be instantly published as a new spreadsheet to your Google Docs account.

I’ve tested this application and found it to be useful within the GoDaddy Domain Manager, AdWords Keyword Tool, Estibot, SnapNames, DNJournal Weekly sales reports, Domaining.com closing auctions, bulk WhoIs lookups and other domain research and management locations.

I look forward to seeing more smart tools that have relevant applications for the domain industry. There are some great domain and SEO bookmarklets and an increasing number of Chrome apps for developers which are helpful. However, there is still a lot to be desired.

Web apps are fast converging with browser functionality. I know there is a lot of potential for time-saving and automation; ultimately making our industry and domaining success more accessible to the public.

If you’ve spotted an innovative or advanced new application that can be applied to domain research or management please share in the comments below. And, if you’ve found Web Scraper useful, consider sharing this article with your network.

Smart Domain Tool: Web Scraper for Chrome Extracts Data From Any Page DotSauce Magazine

In an age of social networking, having a big list of followers, friends and fans is also beneficial. However, Twitter and Facebook essentially run on real-time, so your audience will only see brief messages occasionally. That is the unfortunate, yet necessary nature of the social stream.

Email is different and all-together more valuable than social marketing, because it reaches people in a place that is highly important to them at a time that is convenient.

Now there is no excuse for not having an email list to make more sales and drive traffic to your domain name portfolio website, blog or business.

Just a few months ago, MailChimp introduced freemium email newsletter services for small accounts and has just announced today an increase in the limit for free accounts to 2000 subscribers.

You can sign up for free here. They are  bringing on thousands of new users daily, so be patient with their website server for the moment.

I will say that I personally use AWeber to manage the DotSauce newsletter and email lists for my other websites, because of the more advanced features and tools.

I have become accustomed to Aweber, but MailChimp is a perfectly capable service with most of the same features and many other neat tools. I actually use MailChimp’s Google Analytics plugin for WordPress which mashes up data from Google Analytics, MailChimp and WordPress post data.

Give it a try and begin building your list of regular customers, clients, fellow domainers, businessmen and entrepreneurs for example. You may also want to target a particular niche. It is important to offer some value in exchange for subscriptions; exclusive offers, discounts, coupons, resources, news, or information. For some great advice on getting started, you will be interested to read the latest from Copyblogger on how to get more email subscribers.

I hope you enjoy the fun and innovative MailChimp experience and are able to grow your email newsletter beyond 2000 subscribers! The pricing at that point is just pennies per email and surely worth every one.

Please consider subscribing to the DotSauce newsletter for more domaining and online business resources.

No Excuse for Not Having an Email List, MailChimp Goes Free for Up To 2000 Subscribers DotSauce Magazine

I’m not writing this to get you to convert to Google Chrome, but I am going to tempt you with a collection of amazingly useful new applications and extensions that can be found in the new Chrome Web App Store. Enjoy!

[Image: Ian Manrue, Wrenches, February 28, 2009 via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution.]

Web Development

Window Resizer – Quickly change the size of your actual browser window to see how your website looks at common screen resolutions.

Web Developer Tools – This is identical to the web developer toolbar that is so popular for Firefox users. Featuring an assortment of useful web dev tools.

Development & Code Search – Provides quick access to documentation for popular programming languages.

IE Tab – As the name implies, launch a tab running Internet Explorer inside chrome to see how your website looks for those poor souls.

Sight – Automatically highlights code syntax when source of websites is viewed in the browser.

Pastebin – Quickly store or retrieve text or code from a secure or public location on Pastebin.com

MeasureIt! – Determine the pixel width and height on any element of a page.

Speed Tracer – This official Google plugin really puts your website performance to the test and provides valuable information for improving load times.

csscan – Quickly view the CSS properties of any element on a page.

Blogging

Create Link – Allows you to copy the current page URL and title as a fully formatted HTML hyperlink or customize your own link structure.

SEO SERP – Check the search ranking performance of multiple websites against particular keyword term or phrase.

SEO Site Tools – A comprehensive suite of tools for researching and analyzing SEO and social performance of any website.

Pixlr Grabber – Useful for taking a full or partial screen capture of any website and instantly enables crop and editing.

Word Count – Watch what you’re writing. This app counts the words and characters within a selection.

RSS Subscription – Amazingly, Chrome does not automatically recognize RSS feeds. This application remedies the problem and helps you quickly subscribe to the feed of any blog.

Social Media Marketing

Session Manager – Enables you to save individual sets of tabs to open anytime you want. Use this to quickly open a set of important websites or for repetitive tasks that require multiple windows.

Personalized Web – This powerful application allows you to mold the web to work for you. Modify the code of any site to your liking.

iMacros – Automate repetitive tasks with ease with this advanced application. Record and playback actions to make your PC do the grunt work.

Stay Focused – Limit the amount of time you spend on time-wasting sites or manage your marketing efforts by making sure you cover all the bases before you run out of time.

Proxlet Tweet Filter – An amazing new web application layer for Twitter.com that enables useful features such as filtering your twitter stream, hashtags, and blocking annoying Twitter applications.

Thank you for browsing this list of tools for website development, blogging and social marketing. What are your favorite items from the Chrome Web App store? Let us know which tools you can’t live without.

If you found these Chrome applications useful and know someone else who might, please consider sharing this post.

Chrome Web App Store’s Useful New Tools for Web Developers, Bloggers and Marketers DotSauce Magazine

Not only does a blog help establish your identity and lend credit to your expertise, it can drive traffic to your business and help pay the bills.

In this article I will describe some of the best ways available today to make money blogging.

Business Services

These scripts and plugins can enhance your website with powerful new features.

1. Job Board – A job board is a simple software solution that functions like a directory and a classifieds system rolled into one. There are numerous solutions for WordPress and other CMS systems you might be using.

Additionally, some major job search networks such as Simply Hired have affiliate programs which can be implemented on your blog through various means.

2. Classifieds – Another great feature to add to a blog is a classifieds system. Essentially enable your visitors to post short advertisements for their own products and services. This could potentially be the focal point of a blog. Classifieds can work well for a local website or a popular niche segment.

3. Paid Directory – Who says a blog can’t be a directory too? New options are becoming available to add directory features of varying feature sets to blogs. Alternatively, you can use a feature rich platform like PHP Link Directory in addition to your blog CMS.

4. WP Auctions – With WP Auctions you can embed a fully featured auction platform into your blog. This could be relevant to some publications and unique products that are right for auction style sales.

Banner Advertising

Sell graphic advertising positions in your header, sidebar, below or within blog posts.

5. BuySellAds - This is one of the top networks for direct ad sales, particularly in the technology and web/graphic design industries. The directory of sites on the BuySellAds network continues to grow with nearly 3,000 blogs on board. Publishers can apply to setup a profile for their website.

The service will cost 25% of your revenue, but you set the rates. The real value is that thousands of advertisers purchase banners seamlessly through the network website.

6. Google AdSense – This is often the only option for new publications, but can provide some added revenue to established blogs. Google’s network works on a Pay-Per-Click system in which advertisers bid for targeted placement.

Some clicks may only pay out pennies, while highly relevant content for products and services can sometimes bring in clicks of up to a few dollars each. You will need to rake in at least $100 in earnings before receiving a check, so be prepared to stick it out if you decide to invest time implementing AdSense.

One way established blogs can earn revenue from AdSense is by adding the code to older articles that are receiving high search traffic.

7. OIO Publisher – If you do have an established blog bringing in any amount of regular traffic, it’s time to start looking to sell advertising directly to interested businesses and related websites. The OIO-Publisher plugin for WordPress makes for an easy solution to managing direct ad sales.

Affiliate Networks

Connect with the best networks to earn commissions on top selling products related to your content.

8. Share-A-Sale –  This rising player in the affiliate business offers you access to over 3000 retailers in all major categories.

9. PepperJam Network – Another great network with high quality products and services.

10. Commission Junction – The industry leading network represents thousands of the top brands and businesses.

11. Google Affiliate Network – Google recently launched their own affiliate network and now represents hundreds of retailers in dozens of categories.

Affiliate programs offer you the opportunity to sell products that will be widely recognized and possibly already used by your website visitors.

You have the option of making referrals by adding links within related article content, emails, status updates. You can also feature graphic banners for affiliate programs to fill unsold ad space.

Sell Your Products

An excellent way to bring in the big bucks is to dedicate time to creating your own products.

12. Membership Site – Create a subscription based members only area of your site. This can be accomplished using new WordPress plugins, discussion forum software like vBulletin. The most advanced and feature rich option is AMember, which can connect to almost all blog and CMS platforms.

13. Write an eBook – Writing a book on your topic of choice is a long-time standard for making money with your blog. If you are an expert on a subject, it could pay off very well to publish the sum of your knowledge in an enticing digital download. Remember, once you’ve completed the work of marketing your eBook has just begun.

14. Sell Access to Your Tweets – This new concept has just emerged and could become a trend in coming years as more people are accepting of pay walls for premium content. The model has proven to be a success for some stock advisors, celebrities and other experts.

15. WP e-Commerce – This software is the most popular storefront solution available for WordPress. This enables you top open up shop directly from your WordPress dashboard and begin taking orders for your products and services.

16. Downloads – Digital goods are big business. You can sell information, white papers, photos, art, data, and much more. A wise way to deliver downloads is to mange them with an email subscription service. This way you can build a list of your customers or readers and additionally have the download automatically delivered when the subscription is confirmed.

My email marketing and delivery service of choice is AWeber. You can also use scripts, services and various plugins like Ecwid to charge a fee for file downloads.

Bonus! Sell Domain Names – Join the new DotSauce Domain Club to discover how you can build a portfolio of quality .com keyword domains to resell for considerable profits.

Sell Yourself

No, not in Vegas. Offer your technical knowledge and skills at a reasonable rate.

17. Donations - Hook up with PayPal and create a unique donation button to add to your website permanently or within a special blog post. There is no harm in asking for a little support and you may find your loyal readers more than happy to support you.

18. Consultation – Another way to sell your expertise is by offering it on a personal basis with private consultation. Explain how you can help an individual or business achieve success. Include a well formated contact form for interested parties to contact you directly from your blog.

19. Your Services – What can you do to work from your computer? Millions of freelancers are working from home everyday. With some skills on your side, you could be earning added revenue by promoting these services to your blog readers.

Graphic design, writing, web development, programming, marketing, SEO, all that interesting stuff you learned to make your blog better can be put to good use.

20. Sell Your Website – When the time finally comes that you need to move on from your project you may consider selling your blog. The good news is that if you have been putting any of the other methods of making money into practice then there is a chance your blog is quite valuable.

Flippa is the leading website sales marketplace. Post comprehensive auction details including proof of traffic and revenue for the best results.

Happy Blogging!

All these resources and ways to make money have been of particular interest to me personally. I hope you have found them useful as well. I wish you the best on your quest for blogging success in 2011.

I’m sure there are many other great options and companies available to help you earn profits while blogging. Please share your tools of choice in the comments below and pass this article on to aspiring pro bloggers.

20 Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2011 DotSauce Magazine

There are over 7.5 million unique place names represented with an additional 5.5 million alternate names. The data trickles on down to your very own neighborhood and street level. Even interesting geographic features such as elevation and environment type are included.

Visit the GeoNames Data page for download information and options.

Data Without the Download

GeoNames also has a graphical web interface for those looking to quickly browse the database with a Google Maps overlay . When you perform a keyword search from the homepage you are presented with all matching locations around the world.

Once you select a specific location you can filter and download a .csv list file of up to 50 surrounding place names.

Several of the tools are seamlessly integrated with WikiPedia, including many interesting web services that can be used to enhance the functionality of your own website or application.

This is likely the same data powering tools like GoDaddy’s Geo Domain Map and Name.com’s Geo Domain finder.

Finding Quality Geo Domains

I think a good Domaining strategy is to filter populated places down to the most quality city-centric domains. These would be places that are most populated and relevant to people in a given city.

You can then append additional keyword lists such as local services (insurance, design, construction, magazine, blog, sales, coupons, etc.) to the city names. While the majority of these domains will be taken, you may be able to find some gems still available.

Do you have an idea for using the GeoNames data for domain research or to build an application? Please leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Free Database of Place Names from GeoNames DotSauce Magazine

These all come highly recommended for the serious blogger, but are sure to get a new comer excited about the possibilities of customizing and improving the blogging experience.

Featured below are new ways to snap the web, edit your code, curate tweets, organize upcoming posts and even get more readers. Enjoy!

1. Pixlr Grabber

Capture the web quickly and easily. Pixlr Grabber is a browser extension for both Firefox and Google Chrome developed by Pixlr, a slick web based image editing solution.

The Pixlr Grabber extension helps you take screenshots of selected portions or entire webpages. You can then save to your computer, upload to the web or immediately share your screenshots with friends.

2. Code ‘n’ Run

This simple web application enables you to connect to your own server via a secure FTP connection and edit your website code.

The interface is extremely minimal and user friendly, perfect for use on an iPad. Code syntax is properly highlighted and multiple files can be worked on quickly and efficiently.

3. KeepStream

The Twitter app I’ve been waiting for is finally being developed. KeepStream is a new startup that aims to help you organize your favorite twitter updates. You may have noticed it in the latest DotSauce Link Roundup.

You can select tweets from your public timelines, your own stream, a search, a Twitter list or your starred favorites. Tweets with links in them can optionally feature full titles and short descriptions of the destination pages.

Tweets are saved within a nicely formatted list that is shareable and embeddable. Here is a live example:

4. Editorial Calendar

This new WordPress plugin provides a clean calendar view of your posting activity. Browse your live posts and quickly create drafts for posts you’d like to schedule at a later date.

Using this plugin definitely beats selecting dates manually from the new post page.

Get in a rhythm and manage your posting schedule with this great plugin. I’m sure it’s going to be one of the next best essential plugins for all blogs.

5. Sharedaddy

Hot off the presses! Automattic has just announced this exciting social sharing plugin today.

Sharedaddy is for both WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress blogs. The plugin places buttons below your post that enable readers to quickly share posts on social networks, bookmarking services or directly to a friend’s email. The option is also available to add additional services.

View this video for a quick walk-through of the Sharedaddy administration or see the plugin in action below this post.

Stay Tuned For More

I hope you found these new apps and plugins for bloggers as useful as I did. Stay tuned to DotSauce for upcoming collections of useful new apps for social media and business soon.

If you have friends who are fellow bloggers, consider being one of the first to put the new Sharedaddy plugin to good use. Thanks!

5 Incredibly Useful New Apps for Bloggers DotSauce Magazine

WordPress 3.0 has introduced some exciting new features, not the least of which is a merger with WordPress MU!

That’s right, the WordPress team has made it much easier to quickly deploy a network of WordPress powered websites on the same host, using the same WordPress installation and administration.

How To Enable WordPress MultiSite

To get your website network started, you will need to enable the WordPress Multisite feature and become a Super Admin! Reason enough, right?

I’m going to direct you to this great MultiSite walk-through at Weblogtools Collection to get the job done.

Follow a few steps, and once enabled, you will notice a new “Super Admin” menu appear.

Setup Domain Names for Each Site

Next, you’ll want to be able to map your domain names to each of the websites you setup in your new network. Unfortunately, this requires a special plugin that has to be installed manually.

Not to worry though, Otto on WordPress has created this great MultiSite domain mapping tutorial.

Follow these two simple guides and you will be well on your way towards building a powerful website network. Your websites will have their very own administration panel, unique plugins and themes.

Each site on your network will be empowered by the innovations and flexibility that WordPress has to offer.

Make Your Network Beautiful

The new default WordPress 3.0 theme “Thelonius” has some cool features and is pretty customizable, but I would like to recommend an even more advanced and more customizable new theme from PliablePress: the Chameleon framework.

With this one theme you can make each of your websites look unique. Setting up the theme options is fast, without any design or coding skills required.

You can learn all about PliablePress here at DotSauce. For a chance to win a free PliablePress theme, join the all new DotSauce Q&A Forum to be entered into our prize drawing!

Build Your Own Website Network Easily With WordPress 3.0 DotSauce Magazine

Many have questioned the accuracy of Compete and Alexa traffic rankings. Could social engagement data soon be viewed as more relevant metrics?

PostRank came on the scene in 2007 with a goal in mind of helping people find the best blogs by topic and to help publishers measure their influence and reach.

Today, PostRank is monitoring and tracking social engagement across all domain names in real-time. Data is gathered on where and when someone shares a post on any number of social networks or makes a comment on-site.

The PostRank Labs team are working on (among other things) a tool that will look very familiar to many of you.

We all love website comparison charts, but this is not simply an estimation of website traffic like you’re thinking.

See this PostRank Labs demonstration for a quick preview of the data.

I was surprised at the differences between on and off-site engagement when comparing websites and how that percentage affects the engagement points total.

PostRank Domain Industry Rankings

I have setup a “Domains” tag on PostRank and added a number of publications. Unfortunately, some blog feeds were not able to be discovered by PostRank. Feel free to add additional feeds if they are relevant.

Clicking a title will show individual posts and enable you to find those with the best social engagement performance.

Social Data, Coming Soon to an App Near You

The PostRank Data Services toolkit for developers has just been updated with a Domain Activity API. Developers may use the APIs to incorporate PostRank, FeedRank and Domain Activity metrics into their own applications.

If you’re a programmer, the PostRank APIs may provide a unique opportunity to develop applications or services related to social engagement. I have a few ideas for using the real-time domain activity analytics, please get in touch with me if you would like to hear them.

I have a feeling we will start to see specific metrics such as provided by PostRank become more prevalent and useful.

Keeping tabs on your PostRank domain activity can help you get motivated to start actively promoting your content on social networks. Find out what works and potentially discover new ways to engage your readers and keep them coming back for more.

New PostRank Domain API: Tracking Social Engagement (+Domain Industry Rankings) DotSauce Magazine

In this article the bookmarklets may appear like regular hyperlinks, but you will need to drag and drop these links to your browser toolbar or save them as bookmarks for them to function.

Consider creating a folder to drag them to if you plan on using many.

Domain Name Bookmarklets

These bookmarklets, when clicked, will provide you quick access to important information about the current website you are browsing.

Bookmarklet: DomainTools (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Redirects to WHOIS lookup for the registrant of the domain you are currently browsing. This includes such information as name, address, email and phone.

Bookmarklet: Alexa Info (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Redirects to Alexa traffic rankings and data on current website. Provides a glimpse into the popularity of a website.

Bookmarklet: Compete Info (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Redirects to Compete report; another popular traffic rankings provider.

Bookmarklet: Archive.org History (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Directs you to the complete archived history of any domain dating as far back as 1996.

Bookmarklet: Estibot Appraisal (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Loads an automated appraisal report on current domain. Estibot reports consider the keywords within a domain name and analyze many factors to produce a valuation along with other interesting data.

Bookmarklet: Delicious Saves (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Searches Delicious bookmarks history for any saves from the current website.

Bookmarklet: BackTweets (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Scans the current website for any mentions on Twitter. Automatically detects shortened URLs as well.

SEO Bookmarklets

These bookmarklets will help you quickly analyze and research key factors effecting search engine ranking performance.

Bookmarklet: Show NoFollow (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Highlights all links on a page designated as NoFollow.

Bookmarklet: SEOSiteCheckup (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Directs to a very comprehensive SEO and page performance report by SEOSiteCheckup.

Bookmarklet: SEOMoz Linkscape (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Directs to SEOMoz linkscape report for information on links to current domain and mozRank.

Bookmarklet: TouchGraph (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Launches the TouchGraph visual Google browser to explore related sites and see how they connect. Requires JAVA.

Bookmarklet: Pingdom Test (Drag & Drop link to your toolbar)
Description: Performs a live website loading time test. Watch as Pingdom loads each element of the page and find out how it performs.

I hope you enjoy and make good use of these domain name and SEO bookmarklets! While you’re at it, be sure to drag DotSauce Magazine into your browser bookmarks as well!

Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions for another tool or service that could use a bookmarklet and I will consider adding it to the list.

12 Useful Browser Bookmarklets For Domain Name and SEO Research DotSauce Magazine

Tynt Insight technology is being used to track content sharing via copy & paste actions in a user’s browser. According to the company, an average of 6% of page views on the web result in some kind of user action that can be tracked by their technology.

In a recent rebuttal towards TechCrunch’s claim that 45% of all social sharing is done on Facebook, Tynt has shown clearly that this is not the case.

Email deserves the top spot for overall shares at 75%, Facebook accounts for 25%, blogs and forums (labeled “Other”) still account for a significant number of shares while Twitter is still growing with 1% of the social sharing action.

Tynt went on to provide a different and all-together more interesting break down of social sharing by showing how shares are performing in the chart above. Apparently Tynt Insight is tracking more than just copy/paste actions. This is valuable and definitely insightful click-through data!

Here are highlights I’ve observed containing some very interesting data revealed by Tynt:

• There are an estimated 1 trillion to 1.4 trillion page views on the web each month.
• Slightly over 2% of all page views result in sharing via copy & paste actions, totaling 20 billion shares per month.
• Sharing via built in share buttons (Digg this, Tweet this) account for only 400 million shares per month.
• Email is used for 70% of all social sharing and accounts for 48% of new site traffic.
• Blogs, forums and other mediums generate 36% of new site traffic despite accounting for only 4% of total shares.
• While 25% of all sharing is done on Facebook it only generates 10% of new site traffic.
• Digg generates 5% of new site traffic despite accounting for less than 1% of total shares.

What can we do to improve user experience and cater to the kind 2% of visitors who choose to share our content?

Website publications and blogs could definitely use more accessibility and unity with email sharing. We put an emphasis on social sharing and tend to leave email as a fall-back option when in fact it is being used the most.

Adding a prominent notice or automated form to share via email may do the trick and help tap into the prevalence of email sharing.

I’m sure improvements and new applications, website widgets, and browser addons for both email and social network sharing will be coming soon throughout 2010.

Tynt’s Insight software will automatically include a link back to the source page when text is copied from a website. I’m still a little dumbfounded that they are tracking copy and paste data, why didn’t someone think of this sooner?

I’m interested to see what content is being copied from my sites, how often, and how I can use that information to generate more site traffic. If this sounds good to you as well, check out Tynt Insight‘s free service and leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Surprising New Website Data Reveals Social Sharing and Traffic Trends DotSauce Magazine

1. Delicious.com Tag: free

If you’ve been using Delicious bookmark service for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed the community is a bunch of geeks! This makes for some fresh design, software and web service freebies almost daily.

2. DevSnippets Free Code & More

Packed with great resource articles and lots of juicy code snippets for bloggers and developers of all experience levels.

3. WebDesignLedger Freebies

WDL provides extensive resource articles, graphic freebies and design goodies.

4. Smashing Magazine Freebies

A crowd favorite for great freebies ranging from WordPress themes, Icons, Wallpapers and more.

5. BittBox Freebies

This great blog has been offering up free graphics for quite awhile and has amassed one of the largest collections of design freebies ever! Textures, fonts, vectors and more.

6. Envato Network Blogs

Oh, how I love ThemeForest and the rest of the Envato marketplaces. They generously offer up one file from each marketplace each month, so stay tuned for the newest freebies.

7. Noupe Design Freebies

Yet another awesome blog featuring regularly updated graphic design freebies.

8. Tutorial9 Freebies & Resources

Top quality design resources, tutorials and icon sets and some code to boot! You’ll need to subscribe to the newsletter for some exclusive downloads.

9. SEOMoz Free SEO Tools

Some of the most innovative and advanced search optimization tools available are found right here. Alot of SEOMoz tools are free to try and can provide some juicy data on your website.

10. BoagWorld: Free Software for Web Designers

Fresh article points out some quality free alternatives to pricey software designers need.

11. TUTS Plus Free Tutorials

TUTS+ is the leader in quality tutorials for web professionals. They have a huge archive of coding, design, audio, flash, and web development tutorials. I’m a member myself (well worth the $9/month) and love the source files and accompanying video tutorials.

12. Lifehacker Tag: #free

This wildly popular blog often shares free software and resources to keep your PC in tip top shape.

Know of any more great places for web design or development freebies? Please share your favorites in the comments area below.

If you found these freebie locations helpful, definitely bookmark them and consider passing this article on to your network!

12 Great Places to Score Web Development and Design Freebies DotSauce Magazine

A standard link to any one of thousands of retailers or individual products can be detected by VigLink and once clicked, affiliate tracking information is added dynamically. You earn the commission and VigLink takes a percentage for their wizardry.

GigaOM reports, “VigLink estimates that less than half of links that could be monetized are hooked up to affiliate programs.”

Publishers can request a free pre-sales report which analyzes outbound links and uses several estimates to determine potential earnings. In the example report above, popular blog Gizmodo could potentially earn $4,413 per month with VigLink.

On the Horizon – Affiliate Marketing to the Masses

VigLink’s CEO Oliver Roup has hinted that their open API can already be connected to social services.

I believe VigLink will be able to tap into massive social networks where people are sharing links to products constantly. The major hurdle will be making deals with the likes of Twitter and Facebook. If this doesn’t spark an online business boom, I don’t know what would.

I look forward to watching what happens as the company evolves and will likely be joining in myself as this may be a way to circumvent Amazon’s recent ban of North Carolina affiliates.

What are your thoughts? How did your pre-sales report turn out? Please leave a comment below.

VigLink To Provide Seamless Affiliate Earnings to Bloggers and Beyond DotSauce Magazine

Usabilla, a usability testing startup, launched earlier this month and congratulations are in order, as they have already been featured on Mashable.

While there are many popular and effective services for getting feedback about your website or application, Usabilla is bringing powerful tools like heat mapping data display and an innovative test interface to the masses.

As expected, the Usabilla member dashboard is extremely easy to use and building a usability test for your webpage is done in minutes.

Here is a quick video introduction showing Usabilla in action.

Usabilla works by displaying an image of your webpage to a participant who is asked to perform a task or answer a question about the page they are viewing.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to ask your website visitors questions like these?

• What things draw your attention the most?
• Which images are most appealing?
• What elements of the page do you like?
• What things would you remove from the page?
• What things need improvement?
• Where do you click to purchase?
• Where do you click for contact info?
• Where would you click next?

Now you can get valuable feedback from these questions and more.  Participants respond to tasks by tagging or clicking areas of the page and can additionally leave comments.

Once all of the data is collected, you can analyze a test through various methods including a visual heat map (shown below), or you can select a specific element of a page to view corresponding results.

You can use Usabilla on up to 5 pages and share the test with up to 25 participants for free. For those with the need to reach more participants and test more pages, there are Usabilla plans from $50 a year.

While reviewing Usabilla, I did notice that flash objects do not show up in their generated screenshots, so you may want to look into uploading a pixel perfect screenshot of your own to get the best test results. I recommend FireShot for Firefox, it can capture an entire page beyond the page fold.

I would love to hear if you give Usabilla a try and how the results work out for you. Please leave a comment below with your thoughts.

New Usability Tool Provides Valuable Feedback for Website Owners DotSauce Magazine

I am a big fan of the Envato web goodies marketplaces, ActiveDen, AudioJungle, VideoHive, GraphicRiver, but most especially, ThemeForest. Hundreds of fresh, high quality CSS/HTML and WordPress themes can be found from top designers.

The Envato referral program is pretty neat, earning members 30% of the first cash deposit made by anyone they refer. It is not a traditional affiliate program by any means. However, it can still be a nice bonus for little effort (the content really sells itself).

My earned cash is spent on awesome WordPress themes! I have downloaded many premium themes this way, essentially for free.

I Wonder If I Can…

I contacted Envato to request a way to add my affiliate ID to their new category RSS feeds. They replied to let me know that they currently do not have code in place to accomplish this, but would be looking into my suggestion.

I’m pleased to present that I may have saved them the trouble!

Solution for Adding Affiliate ID to RSS Feeds

I decided to find my own solution and came up with a custom Yahoo Pipe for appending my affiliate id to any RSS feed.

Using this solution I would be able to share all the beautiful WordPress themes as they are released on ThemeForest with my @ThemeHunter Twitter followers and earn some cash while doing so!

The Custom Pipe

I am using Yahoo Pipes to alter the original RSS feed and output a completely new feed with affiliate ID appended to the end of each feed item URL. Here is my custom pipe structure:

(Get This Pipe)

Customize the Pipe

Here are the simple steps you need to take to make this your own.

1. Login and Clone the Pipe so you are able to save and customize.
2. Paste your desired RSS feed URL into the “Fetch Feed” box.
3. Replace “?ref=DotSauce” with whatever affiliate ID you need to append.
4. Run your new pipe and get it as RSS!

Using my custom pipe you can create an unlimited number of revenue generating feeds from your favorite affiliate or referral programs. Embed your dynamic feeds on your site or even share them on social networks!

I hope you enjoyed this resource. Please consider sharing this article with fellow affiliates. If you have any questions or related ideas I would love to hear them. You can find the comments tab above the article.

How To: Append Your Affiliate ID to Any RSS Feed Using Yahoo Pipes DotSauce Magazine

Mainstream domain marketplaces charge you, the domain owner, a  hefty percentage of the final sales price as their commission. The rates look something like this: Sedo (10% commission), Afternic (10%-20% commission), SnapNames (20% commission), Bido (8% commission), etc. on every single transaction.

These marketplaces may be right for you if you have valuable domain names and want to opt for the seller protection and escrow services they provide.  However, in many cases the final sales price on large marketplaces could end up being much less than you could earn if you found a buyer yourself!

5 Tips on Selling Domains for Max Profit

So, you’re looking to make some domain sales? These tips and tricks should help you become a more savvy domainer.

1. Choose names that have selling potential. If there is no market for your type of domain name then you simply won’t make sales.  Do the keyword research before you go on a GoDaddy shopping spree. You may want to check your domain’s keywords against Google search data using the AdWords keyword tool.

Some things to ask yourself before purchasing or registering a domain…

• Are the domain name’s keywords getting searched for?
• Are there paying advertisers appearing for the exact match search?
• Are there websites or products related to my domain’s keywords?
• Would someone want to build a website using the domain?
• Are similar names being used as fully developed websites?
• Do the words make sense, look and sound good spoken?
• Is there a better option available for this type of name?

If you find your name stands up to these questions then you are likely the new owner of a valuable piece of internet real estate.

2. Invest some time in marketing and promoting your own domains. With the explosion of social media, there is no excuse not to dive in and start spreading the good word about the value of domain names.

Domainers are currently tapping into the huge audience of users on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin. More consumers, business owners and potential domain buyers can be found on these networks than all of the major domain name marketplaces combined.

Here are some ideas for making the most out of your time on social networks.

• Connect with fellow domainers and follow their lead. Check out the WeFollow #Domains tag or this Twitter list on DotSauce.
• Share resources, news, links that you found helpful with your friends and followers. Simply talking about yourself or promoting your products won’t get you anywhere.
• Follow lots and lots of interesting people on Twitter.  Use Twitter’s search feature and find as many real and relevant people as you can to follow. They will likely follow you back if you tweet about similar things. If you don’t have time to follow hundreds of people, Hummingbird software can help.
• Join the Facebook Domain Name Marketplace and other groups of interest, engage with them and befriend new people. Every connection you make essentially lasts forever and opportunities may arise at any time.
• Create a separate profile for your business or domain sales updates as a service to your customers. For example, I have setup @AQDN on Twitter to alert followers when new domains sales are added.
• Use Twitter live search to research potential domain buyers.  People are talking about anything and everything and it’s not far fetched that you find a person who would love to own your domain.

3. List your domains for sale on free marketplaces and forums. This is a great way to get free exposure to your domain sales. Be sure to price your domains very reasonably to get sales. Be cautioned as a large part of the buyers here will be domain resellers, but really, who do you think is hanging out at Sedo.com and other big marketplaces? Resellers also.

Here is an older but still relevant article from DotSauce that has a large list of forums, 33 Great Marketplaces for Selling Your Domain Names (and Websites).

4. Set up your own web presence to display your domains for sale. A unique domain portfolio website is a valuable asset to any domain investor. Your domain portfolio website should be professional, user friendly and informative. You can send customers new and old to browse your inventory here, include a link to your site in your email signature, set up RSS feeds and alerts for customers, accept payments directly on site and more.

Here are some options for developing your own domain portfolio website.

• Get WordPress up and running and use blog posts and pages to highlight each domain name. Alternatively, you can customize themes and install plugins to enhance user experience. Check out this nice article which highlights 14 Domain Portfolio Examples and other resources.
• DomainPortfolio.us is a free PHP script for creating and managing your domain portfolio.
• A newer alternative is Domain Portfolio Manager which is similar to DomainPortfolio.us in that it is PHP / MySQL based with many of the same features and styling. MediaWizard informs us that with Domain Portfolio Manager your domain WHOIS data is updated on-the-fly, so you’ll never have to update expiration dates or name servers again, very cool!

5. Go after the end users. Depending on the quality and reach of a given domain name this can be either an easy or difficult task.  Your first step is to simply research websites of the same category as your keywords.  See what the industry or niche is up to and what businesses and individuals are appearing on the top search results pages for the exact and similar keywords.  You may even want to do a Google blog search for fresh results.  Contact anyone you feel would benefit from owning your domain.

Here’s a quick tip from DNW; Do a WHOIS search to see if your domain has been taken in any other extensions (.net, .org) and contact those registrants.

Further reading on selling domains to end users.

• DomainMagnate’s tips on How to Sell Your Domains to End Users.
• Morgan Linton shares Why End-Users Are So Important.
• Elliot Silver details his story of a Domain Sale to an End User.
• Rob Sequin’s 10 Step Process for Selling Domains to End Users.
• NameFlipper’s great Guided Tutorial on Selling Domains to End Users.

I wish you the best with all your domaining ventures.  I hope these tips are able to help you out in some way. If you have any comments or suggestions please leave one below!

5 Tips on Selling Domain Names for Maximum Profit DotSauce Magazine

I’ve decided once again to open access to DotSauce Premium to all registered members. Current Premium members will no longer have to pay their subscription and will keep their Premium title for life, granting an all access pass to any features that might be paid in the future.

For those not familiar with DotSauce Premium, it is a private area of our forum community featuring a wealth of domain resources.

Some of the links and articles may be dated, but the content is still relevant and with more eyes on the Premium forums I hope to keep things fresh in the coming weeks and months.

Here is what you can look forward to once you peek inside DotSauce Premium!

• Quality Available Domains – My email newsletter packed with great .COM names available for registration. Available domain lists will now be accessible to all registered members at the same time! So, I would strongly recommend that you subscribe by email to be alerted the minute a list is posted.

In light of free access and the expected larger audience, there will now be a suggested PayPal donation for registering DotSauce available domains.

• Domaining Articles – Exclusive articles featuring information for your domaining success.
• Video Tutorials – Videos from me personally and domainers and developers around the world.
• Free Software Downloads – Exclusive free software and code snippets.
• Domaining Product Coupons and Discounts – Special offers on select paid domain resources, tools and services.
• Development, Design, Programming, WordPress Resources – Within the domain tools and resources forum there are numerous topics labled “Mark’s Bookmark Vault” where I share links to cool tools and sites I have bookmarked over the years.

Two Easy Steps for Free Premium Content

1. Register a username or login to access DotSauce Premium!
2. Subscribe to our email newsletter to be alerted the minute available domains are sent out.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter (@DotSauce) know that I love to share all kinds of great web development and WordPress goodies and you will soon be seeing those appear on DotSauce Premium.

I would like to encourage you to join our Domaining community today, so you can start browsing the DotSauce Premium forums now. Please feel free to contribute your own links, articles, discounts and other resources.

DotSauce Premium Domaining Content is Now Free for Everyone! DotSauce Magazine

These 10 WordPress themes and plugins could each be used to launch your own online business or breathe new life into your existing website.

1. YellowPress

This premium quality theme features custom plugins which transform your WordPress website into a yellow pages style directory. Accept payments automatically through PayPal and have your members sign-up and create their own listings. A ThemeForest exclusive.

2. WPAuctions

This is a plugin that you can incorporate into any WordPress Theme. A sleek user interface and powerful auction administration make this a great plugin for managing your own private live auctions.

3. WPClassified

Created by the same developer as YellowPress. WPClassified has further features for managing classified style listings directory through WordPress. Potentially generate good revenue from user listings. A ThemeForest exclusive.

4. WordPress Affiliate Theme

Developed by the Unique Blog Designs team, leaders in WordPress design and development, Affiliate Theme overhauls your WordPress admin and allows you to quickly customize and develop beautiful mini-sites, landing pages and blogs without touching any code!

5. Flexibility

This advanced theme is similar in concept to Affiliate Theme, allowing you to create an unlimited number of landing pages and squeeze pages for your products or affiliate offers.  Advanced backend features give you the ability to customize and build great landing pages.

6. WordPress Shopping Cart

Market Theme adds excellent shopping cart and product management features to your WordPress dashboard. Using custom fields you can transform blog posts into product features.

7. wpShop Reloaded

Another WordPress shopping cart plugin featuring a light and dark style.  Advanced features for publishing, managing and making product sales through WordPress. A ThemeForest exclusive.

8. WordPress Wiki Theme

A beautiful theme that comes in 6 vibrant color variations and features some innovative details for developing a user-friendly Wiki or FAQ website. Unique sidebar features and a clean layout with great whitespace.  Wiki Theme is a ThemeForest exclusive.

9. ReviewAZON

This plugin can incorporate Amazon customer reviews into your blog posts. Earn more affiliate commissions from Amazon when you write about any product your readers can view relevant reviews from actual customers.

10. OIO-Publisher

The premier WordPress plugin for managing advertisements, affiliate offers and sponsored content on your blog. You keep 100% of advertising profit and set it on auto-pilot!

I hope you enjoyed the list! I would love to hear your comments and would appreciate it if you would share this post with fellow WordPress fans.

Powered by WordPress: 10 Themes and Plugins for Turnkey Online Business DotSauce Magazine

FreshDrop.net originally launched in 2007 as a unique tool for browsing GoDaddy’s popular TDNAM domain marketplace. Over the years, founder Tan Tran and his team have worked on many enhancements and new features that have transformed FreshDrop.net into an all-around powerful domain research tool designed by domainers for domainers.

FreshDrop.net is not your average domain search and scan tool. The power lies in the amazing filters, functions and statistics that allow domain investors to easily target valuable domains. By filtering out all the “junk” names and getting right down to the types of names one is looking for at the best deals.

Where Do These Domains Come From?

The first thing you will see on FreshDrop is a list of domain marketplaces and individual areas of interest in certain marketplaces. TDNAM, Sedo, Afternic, BuyDomains, Fabulous, Dynadot, and yea even eBay. The marketplace data highlighted in yellow is reserved for FreshDrop Pro subscribers.

Here is a quick overview of some of the filters, features and search parameters that are not to be missed on FreshDrop.net

Domain Filters

This is where FreshDrop really shines. Unique filters narrow down thousands of results based on specific and strict filters like the following…

• Language Filters: English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Pinyin, Turkish, Italian
• Short Domain Filters: VCVC, CVCV, LLL, LLLL, LLLLL, NNN, etc.
• Geography Filters: Geo, Travel, US State, US City, Region, Country
• Niche Filters: Adult, Auto, Finance, Health, Internet, Legal, etc.

Domain Search Features

Once you have chosen a desired filter on FreshDrop.net you can further narrow your results to find the perfect names with these search features…

• Domain Extensions
• Require or Exclude Keywords
• Require Statistical Values (See Below)
• Domain Length Restrictions
• Exclude Undesirable Hyphens or Numbers

Domain Statistics

This is something that virtually all domain marketplaces are missing out on. They simply do not show you the hard data attached to each domain. FreshDrop.net aggregates a ton of valuable data and displays it for each domain. Does a domain receive traffic? Is it indexed on Google?

FreshDrop Pro members enjoy valuable added statistics like WordTracker scores as well as in-depth Google search and advertising data for domain searches that provide awesome insight into the value of names.

Go Give It A Try! Free Pro Subscription Trial

So you’ve read about all these cool features on FreshDrop.net and you’re still here? Go check it out for free!

If you’re a domainer looking to automate and expand your domain research then you definitely want to sign up for FreshDrop Pro, there is a 10-day no risk free trial!

I would love to hear your comments about FreshDrop, please leave one below.

FreshDrop: Powerful Domain Name Research DotSauce Magazine

Twitter Friendly Links – Yup, Your Own Short URL

Download Twitter Friendly Links or Visit Plugin Website

This is quite simply an in-house URL shortening service that creates links using your short post ID’s.  For example you can visit http://DotSauce.com/1632 to access this very post!

Twitter Friendly Links plugin can help you preserve and increase your domain name brand exposure on Twitter and give your shared links more credibility.

The only caveat is that you are sacrificing click analytics, though I’m sure the developer of this plugin already has that in mind.

Analytics360 by MailChimp – Bringing Google Analytics to WordPress

Download Analytics360 or Visit Plugin Website

To use all of Analytics360 options you are asked to register a free account with MailChimp,  a web based email marketing and newsletter management system, but you don’t necessarily have to use their service.

Analytics360 adds a feature to you WordPress admin that connects with Google Analytics to display traffic stats, top referrers and most viewed articles.

A really cool feature of Analytics360 is the orange dot marker next to each of your blog posts over time so you can visually see how your posts are performing!

Disqus Comment System – Revolutionizing Blog Comments

Download Disqus or Visit Plugin Website

The default WordPress comment system is severely dated! I tried the WordPress threaded comment system for awhile and while it is slightly better it still fell short. Disqus simply has alot of appealing features…

• Track your comments across all blogs
• Verified emails and avatar uploads
• Instantly connect with Twitter and Facebook
• Moderate comments via email or assign moderators
• Top commentators and recent comments widgets

I am extremely happy since installing Disqus. It was surprisingly easy to install as any WordPress plugin usually is. Large sites like TechCrunch and Mashable have adopted Disqus and I foresee it soon becoming the standard for blog comments.

WP Smush.it! – Better User Experience by Reducing Image File Sizes

Download WP Smush.it or Visit Plugin Website

I was ecstatic when I found this plugin, a plugin that actually shrinks your image files on the fly!  Most people should know how to use the “Save For Web” feature when working with images to keep file sizes down.

I found that Smush-It actually works better than PhotoShop for getting down to the smallest file size, especially with GIF and PNG files! Amazingly, no image quality is sacrificed.

You can even go in to your gallery and smush previously uploaded files!

Sexy Bookmarks – Making Social Sharing Fun

See Live Example Below!

Download Sexy Bookmarks or Visit Plugin Website

This plugin is quite literally beautiful! There are lots of social bookmarking plugins available for WordPress already, but this is by far the most appealing and unique set of bookmarking icons. In just a short time since installing I have noticed a few readers making use of my Sexy Bookmarks!

So yea, maybe you want to have unique looking icons and that’s cool, but I think it will actually benefit blogs on the whole because readers will be able to instantly recognize Sexy Bookmarks buttons and share blog posts.

These plugins rock, huh? Please share this post using my Sexy Bookmarks buttons…

5 Fresh WordPress Plugins Ready to Enhance Your Blog DotSauce Magazine

Blogging is one of the most beneficial things a business or individual can do to increase exposure to their product or service. Many even consider blogging essential for successful presence on social networks.

There are many ways you can enhance the effectiveness and exposure you can gain from blogging and the most important is optimizing your posts so they rank high on multiple search terms (SEO).

Popular keyword research company, Wordtracker, has recently released an excellent Firefox addon for bloggers called SEO Blogger.

While some bloggers use alternate keywords and phrases related to your post subject by simply pulling them from memory, the free SEO Blogger tool can provide real world search data to back you up.

Ken McGaffin, CMO at Wordtracker makes a great point in this comment about their new SEO Blogger tool…

“Bloggers often don’t take the time to do keyword research… they just want to get their story out there. Now, bloggers have instant access to relevant keywords…That’s sure to bring them extra traffic.”

SEO Blogger Keyword Suggestion Tool: How to Use It

Once installed, click the small Wordtracker icon in the lower right of your screen that looks like this…

The SEO Blogger tool opens in a sidebar panel in your browser (see screenshot) where you can enter any keyword or keyword phrase and then be presented with keyword suggestions ranked by popularity.

You are then able to select which keywords you would like to use in your blog post.

Your saved keywords will be shown in the lower half of the sidebar and you may continue to type in additional keywords in the upper half to be presented with more keyword suggestions.

One of the cool features of SEO Blogger is that as you write your post it tracks how many times each chosen keyword is used.

I might find myself using this tool outside of WordPress also for quick keyword suggestions, domain research, article ideas and other writings.

So, give SEO Blogger a try and let us know what you think of this free tool by commenting below.

SEO Blogger: Free Keyword Suggestion Tool for Firefox DotSauce Magazine

Gizmodo reports that Google has reserved 1 million new phone numbers from Level 3 communications.

An article by Adam Mills of the Charlotte Examiner points out this twitter update by one of the Google Voice Founders who states they are working 24/7 to get it released!

Just What is Google Voice?

Using VoIP technology (this means any mobile device, even your iPod), users will be able to route all their phone calls from any mobile device as well as send and manage SMS text and voice mail through one central web based location.

Google Voice will also feature all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a Google app, like these examples…

• Voicemail transcripts – Read what your voicemail says
• Share voicemail – Forward or download voicemails
• Conference calling – Join people into a single call
• Call record – Record calls and store them online
• GOOG-411 – Check directory assistance
• Block calls – Keep unwanted callers at bay
• Phone routing – Phones ring based on who calls
• Forwarding phones – Add phones and decide which ring

Goodbye Phone Contracts. Hello VoIP!

The outlook is bleak for the phone carriers of today. VoIP and WiFi hot spots will soon replace these ghastly cell contracts and finally open the mobile web to the masses.

SecondLife virtual world has generated over 15 billion minutes in free online voice calls in just under 2 years and wildly popular Skype has reportedly played host to 200 billion minutes in it’s 6 years in operation.

Here is a quick video demo of some Google Voice iPhone features in action.

Will There Be A Google Voice Phone Number Land Rush?

This could be an opportunity to pick up an awesome phone number for your online business!

You can sign up to receive an email alert when Google Voice goes live at the Voice home page.

Since signing up will require a unique Google account to claim a Voice phone number, I think this phone number rush will be comparable to the recent Facebook username rush.  (Where I scored facebook.com/MarkFulton!)

It is also likely that you will not be able to choose the digits of your phone number, but who knows? We’ll have to wait and see!

I will be looking out for the launch announcement email, you may want to do the same and tell your friends and associates.

Google Voice Launching Any Day Now: Be Ready to Reserve Your Phone Number! DotSauce Magazine

Just what does Authority Labs really do?

The service allows you to monitor your domain names for search engine rankings of specific keywords or search terms of your choice.

Once you set a domain name and define the search terms you want to track, Authority Labs goes to work monitoring your ranking for those terms. There are options to be updated via email alerts and you can view charts to track your performance over time.

Monitor One Website for Free

You can give this service a go for free through a promotional free trial account. You can monitor one domain and 10 search terms.  Simply visit the Authority Labs website to sign up.

There is also a Personal Plan which is $9 per month to monitor 3 domains, though the beauty of this service may lie in the fact that it’s scalable, allowing paying customers to monitor many many more websites with ease.

Why Bother?

Monitoring search rankings can beneficial for numerous reasons. For one, it can help you visualize the progress you are making, especially if you are just getting started!

Keeping tabs on those rankings can help you discover where your traffic is coming from and try to repeat that success.

Do you track your search rankings? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Monitor Google, Yahoo and Bing Rankings for Free with Authority Labs DotSauce Magazine