For those of you that are new to this field, Internationalized Domain Names, or “IDN” to keep it short, are domain names printed in a non-Latin script like Cyrillic or Chinese and attached to Latin domain extensions like Com or Net. No, these aren’t the new non-Latin extensions you’ve been hearing about like the Cyrillic extension. This is just more of the same old Com, Dick or Harry! Sorry, I couldn’t resist that!
IDN are a wonderful way to talk to people in their own language and script. Even if your domain name is only forwarded to your English language website, at least you have shown an interest and an attempt to communicate in another language. An effort that is appreciated world-wide and often rewarded.
But if you don’t speak the language, and you can’t write or type in the language’s particular script, you need to get help. Google Translate is a great way to find this help. But be careful. While Google Translate does a good job of translating whole pages so that you can make sense of them, it often misinterprets a single word or short phrase; and it’s single words and short phrases that make up the majority of domain names. This writer, for instance, is named “mike.” When he asked Google Translate to render “Mike’s” in Russian Cyrillic, it translated it as “microphones.” And when asked for the word “domain” in Cyrillic script, Google rendered it as the Cyrillic version of “regions.” Thankfully a Russian speaker pointed this out before the script was registered as an IDN.
Internationalized Domain Names are a great way to communicate with customers in their own languages and scripts. It never hurts to try. But most of us speak only one language fluently and write with one script, Latin. We need help. Google Translate is a wonderful aid when you’re surfing the net reading pages, but it occasionally leads us astray dealing with words or short phrases. Before you register your new IDN show it to a native speaker. It might save you some embarrassment later on.
In eminent domain cases, the condemning authority must offer what they believe is a fair amount for your property, as determined by their appraiser. Be aware, however, that this value might not be accurate. The appraiser hired by the condemning authority will use methodology that benefits its client, which will likely result in an offer that is favorable to the condemning authority, not the property owner.
If you believe this has happened and you have received an offer that is too low, you are justified in pursuing a claim. When preparing your case, you need to select an appraiser and other experts to help determine a more favorable appraised value for your property. But first, you must do your homework.
Selecting the wrong appraiser can be detrimental – and even fatal – to your case
When you are selecting an appraiser, remember: not all appraisers are equal. Eminent domain is not a commonly practiced area of law, so many appraisers do not have experience in this field. If you select an appraiser without eminent domain law experience, they will not understand the full level of severance damages that should be included in your case to make sure you receive the full amount of just compensation.
You must also keep in mind that eminent domain law is full of gray areas. These areas of gray frequently arise when evaluating issues that determine just compensation. When confronted with these situations, an appraiser who primarily works with condemning authorities will likely, out of habit, default to methodology that favors the condemner and not you, the condemnee. This means that the appraiser will not evaluate your case to the full extent entitled to you under the rules of eminent domain law. Even if down the road you hire a new appraiser, the original appraisal is still discoverable and can be used against you if you pursue your case in court. This is why selecting the wrong appraiser at any point in the process can be detrimental and even fatal to the determination of just compensation in your case.
Add credibility to your case by enlisting additional experts
In addition to appraisers, it is often recommended that you enlist the help of an additional expert to assist in your case. The recommended expert will vary from case to case. Typically, in most eminent domain cases, there is a single issue that sticks out as the key factor for determining the level of just compensation damages. For example, what’s the degree of flood damage that occurred to your remaining parcel? Or, how is access going to reflect the main development of your parcel given the taking that’s occurred? Situations like these require the help of an additional expert such as a broker, engineer or planner.
In many of these situations that arise in eminent domain cases, the appraiser is qualified to make determinations on those issues, but it’s one of many areas of expertise he has to deal with in determining just compensation. So he’s ultimately a “jack of all trades and a master of none,” and in this case, you need a “master of a trade.” An additional expert focused on a specific vocation – not on valuation – can provide testimony about a very narrow topic that will serve as the basis for the appraiser’s final value conclusion. Then, if you go to trial, instead of having two appraisers engage in a battle of “he said, she said,” you have a supplemental expert on your side to make your point more solid and credible in the eyes of a jury or judge.
I know for a fact that Google loves old domain names. How do I know this? Because I have built many websites upon old domains, and the instant traffic this gives me is unbelievable. Any content that I place on these older domains gets ranked highly in the SERPS, even when I have done little to no backlink promoting. Let’s discuss how to buy an old domain name, what to put on your site, and how to cash in on the amazing traffic you will get.
Since we want all of the free traffic from Google that we can get, we’re going to go shopping for an old domain name. There are plenty of places to do this, but I personally like to deal with a domain broker that is personal and accessible in case something goes wrong. Just do a search on webmaster forums and head to their “domains for sale” section. It won’t take you long to figure out who is the most reputable domain broker on the forum. Then send him a message letting him know what you are looking for. Of course you want your primary keyword term in the domain name, but you may end up picking a new niche once you find out what domains he has available. In general, the older the domain the better. You also want to try to make sure that this domain hasn’t been heavily penalized in the past.
Now you need to decide what type of content to put on your new site on the old domain name. This brings us back to the point on the keyword in the domain name. Let’s say that your new site is antiquecars(dot)com, so obviously you need to focus on antique cars. Additionally you need to do some research on long tail keywords to determine other related searches that will bring an a bunch of visitors. Once you have figured out all of the keywords that you need to attack, just build a page on each of those that will draw in the masses.
Now that you have bought your old domain name, done your keyword research, and have built many pages that target each keyword, it’s time to monetize your site. You have plenty of choices on how to make money on your site, but the two options that are most commonly used are AdSense and various affiliates. For AdSense you just need to get an account with Google and figure out where to place the ads. For affiliates you need to get an account at several affiliate companies such as Commission Junction, figure out which advertisers have the goods your customers will want, apply to become their affiliate, and then place their ads on your site.
Using old domain names for your new sites will work wonders for you. Once you see the instant traffic and high rankings you will get, it’s likely that you will never register a new domain again.