Up Fuel Update: New domain has been picked. UpFuel.com (will explain how I came to the choice and why I made the switch soon)
Please notify me if you find any errors (redirection not working etc)
Over 3 years ago I bought the domain name MakeMoneyontheInternet.com for $5,000 but I’ve decided it’s time for a new domain name.
[Update] Contest is over – my new domain is UpFuel.comWhy am I buying a new domain name?
I know a certain percentage of the internet population that stumble across my blog will automatically assume – based on the domain name – that my blog or the strategies I share are scams. Long time readers will know this isn’t the case, but first impressions matter and I should have made this change well over a year ago when I first felt I should rebrand.
So how can you help me?
Help me pick a new domain name!
[Update] Contest is over – my new domain is UpFuel.comWhy did I buy MakeMoneyontheInternet.com in the first place?
I originally bought the domain name in part because of the SEO value of the exact match keyword domain name (which doesn’t really matter as much now). Years earlier Google released an update to their keyword tool and turns out the search data supplied for “make money on the internet” was actually inflated by quite a bit at 60,000 searches vs only 1,000 – lame. In either case it was a big mistake to buy that domain name and I’m looking for help in finding a new domain name.
[Update] Contest is over – my new domain is UpFuel.comP.S. I have income results for my survey case study from last month but I’ve decided to build a separate website about surveys that I’d like to get up before I publish the results – stay tuned.
Hey Chris,
That’s unfortunate you paid so much money for the domain name just to no longer be using it. What are you going to do with the domain when you change to your new one?
Hey Jamie,
I’ll just 301 redirect it. Yah it’s not that big of a deal though. Sunk cost. Move on. That’s my attitude at least. I have another $5k domain for a project that simply cost too much so I stopped building it ($15k down on that one). But if I don’t spend the money and take the risks then I won’t end up with the big wins I’ve had as well though.
Chris
Chris, I’ll have to get my thinking cap back on for you sometime next week. Back in the past it was easy to rank for “make money online” in Google but now it is not and it’s a good idea that you rebrand yourself as I see good value in all of your blog posts and a frequent lurker.
SEOmoz recently rebranded themselves with a lot of planning and I believe money was involved. I hope you have planned this whole rebrand thought out and cover all the small details besides the obvious stuff.
Hey Derek, I ranked (and think I still rank for) “make money on the internet” but the keyword gets hardly any traffic. Now I think a keyword domain actually hinders what I’m trying to go for with my site.
I’m willing to spend several thousand dollars if the right name comes across that I absolutely must have when compared to free / cheaper alternatives.
SEOmoz rebranded – I’m assuming – because they want to focus more on general marketing for websites and to perhaps distance themselves from the SEO aspect of the business (which typically has a negative connotation) that’s my opinion at least.
You don’t bother to answer comments any more so why should we help you?
Joe – you’ve only posted two comments on my blog. The previous comment you posted wasn’t phrased as a question just an FYI type of thing… so I’m not really sure what you’re talking about. In any case, I try my best to reply to all comments especially if the individual is asking something unique.
With that said – what did you want to know that I haven’t tried to answer?
Update: So apparently WordPress Threaded Comments plugin was making it so none of my comments that were direct replies to people were displaying… that’s annoying and why Joe thought I wasn’t replying to people’s comments.
Anyone know of another plugin that does something similar?
Thinks change and evolve and if we don’t move will get left behind. I agree with your sentiment about the connotation that some people have towards your current name. Why not use your own name for the website as people that you you’ve been dealing with already know your reputation?
Well I offered $1,500 for ChrisGuthrie.com a few years ago but he wasn’t interested in selling. Haven’t reached out since and I’m not interested in using my own domain name.
Hi Chris,
I just submitted one that I think you will love! It calls out marketing, making money and all the goodness you want without sounding scammy. Hope you like!
Take care,
Dan
Thanks I’ll check it out 😀
Chris,
This is off topic, but hope you can help me out here. I’m starting out and going through your posts, specifically about Amazon affiliate sites. How many amazon sites do you recommend putting per hosting account?
Is there a risk of having Google punish you in the rankings if you have a lot of affiliate sites on one shared hosting account?
Thanks.
I wouldn’t worry much at all until you’re making at least $1,000 per month. Don’t let concerns about what might happen in the future stop you from taking action now. Build it. Make money. Then as you see results worry about that stuff.
But that said I’ve had dozens of websites on the same server with no troubles at all…
originalstudentofmarketing.com
marketingclass101.com
Hi Chris,
My wife’s asleep now, but I’ll ask her about it tomorrow…I mention her specifically, because she has this crazy talent of coming up with great domain names. Me personally, I have a great idea every once in awhile…
For instance, I was going to move away from my Toyota recall site to cover more brands. Having covered the whole Toyota recall debacle since 2010, I didn’t want to give up on them just yet, because if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be an auto journalist today. So, I started thinking of acronyms, and came up with this brillant one:
ToyotaAndIncludingLexusScionSubaru.com
Or tailss.com! I couldn’t believe that it was available!
Since I purchased that, I’ve been hired on by the Examiner and Car Fanatics to write for them (you guessed it, about auto recalls). So, instead of doing another car site, I’m going to “re-brand” it as my main dating blog…I might have two, since I still have wrestlinginjello.com (no content on either one, been busy with writing and running a watch forum).
5000$ is too high for a domain name unless you make an income that can make back the money you spent..Well , the contest has expired .. 🙁 so i can’t submit a domain name nor can i participate in the first online contest i came across.
Regards,
Pramod
[…] Chris Guthrie has made $100′s of thousands online, but is looking to re-brand his website, Make Money on the Internet. �Is he making the right move, and is it an option you should consider as well? […]
i will you to explain the domain name for me one on one one awaiting ur reply
Is this site dead? What happened to you Chris? You went back to a 9 to 5? lol
lol no been busy with a few businesses I’ve been building. I guess you could say I’m spending a tad more time doing instead of teaching…
How did that happen that Google inflated the keyword results by 59,000? Did that happen to other keywords too? Can we depend on Google Keyword tool to give us accurate info nowadays?
This was years ago. They’re more accurate now :0
I made your same mistake and I have no clue how I should rebrand. I am afraid that I will loose all my links.