Cheapest UK domain names with good support

Namecheap currently offer the cheapest UK domain names with prices starting from as little as £3.50. Their current offers on hosting packages are very good too and they offer a huge range of services from private Whois to advanced DNS.  No discount codes are required for their low prices.

In our experience, they are very reliable and have up-front pricing on both domain pricing and hosting. Tech support is via chat or email and the quality of support we received over the years has been generally higher than most registrars. Support emails tend to be replied to within 24 hours.

Click the banner below to get free Whois privacy for 1 year and benefit from their keen pricing:


Free WhoisGuard with every domain purchase

 

 


TweetAttacks review – best auto tweeter

Tweet Attacks review discount codeHere is my TweetAttacks review.  This powerful program can be used for mass Tweeting campaigns as an inexpensive and effective marketing method. Of all the mass-tweeting software programs, the best I have tested (and there has been quite a few) has to be TweetAttacks. Now on its second major update it is the most fully featured Twitter tool out there.  Here are some of the clever features:

 

  • List importing functions
  • Can filter bots and humans
  • NO monthly fees, just a one off charge
  • Can use unlimited accounts
  • Build many thousands of followers with no API limit problems
  • Free lifetime updates
  • You can drive huge amounts of real traffic without followers
  • Get results without being followed
  • Send direct messages to your own followers with a few clicks
  • Schedule thousands of ‘tweets’ without hitting API limits
  • Reply to huge amounts of users looking for your offers automatically
  • Compatible with  #newtwitter

 

With all these features it takes a few days to get into, but consequently you discover new and improved ways of mass tweeting.  For those doing CPC or CPA marketing, the killer feature is the fact you can pick up on people tweeting “I need an iPad 2” or “I have a problem with…”  This is worth the money alone, targeted marketing at its best.

 

TweetAttacks backlinking bonuses

When your link gets retweeted by hundreds of other Twitter users, the tweet will be listed in quite a few Tweet statistic sites. This should give you many many backlinks and boost your site’s rankings.

UNFORTUNATELY, Tweet Attacks is no longer available. What has replaced this as our go-to tool of choice is Bleupage. We shelled out (yes it is expensive) for the Bleupage Ultimate version which in the long term has increased our followers and user interactions by thousands. No other tool we have used has given us this much versatility, but because of the price we realise it’s not for everyone. Still, if you can run to it then it would benefit your website or product immensely and save you hundreds of hours of messing about getting nowhere. Visit Bleupage Main Website for an overview


GoDaddy 99 cent domains are back!

Godaddy cheap domain trickYes, GoDaddy 99 cent domains are back with this simple method and coupon code for December! It’s limited to 3 per account but does include existing GoDaddy account holders to purchase. I’ll show you below how to mix it up and get 6 domains for as low as $4.

At time of writing, 4USD = about 2.50GBP or 3.8AUD or 4.7 NZD or 3Euro

Start off by opening GoDaddy using this link (opens in a new window).

Sign up or login if you are already a customer.

First off, if you are from any country other than the US, set your primary currency to dollars. I’m outside the US but I keep it in this currency as it’s often where the better deals are.

Search for your 3 .com domains and add them to your basket.

Set all domains to 1 year duration using the dropdown menu.

Below each domain you see this:
YOURDOMAINNAME.INFO FREE with .COM or .CO^ – Add

Click the little ‘Add’ link for each one, this will add the free .info to your basket.

Verify your domains and that the corresponding .infos are all there, you should have 6 domains in total.

Now go to your Order Summary box on the right side of the page and add this special GoDaddy promotional coupon code:

LKSRTL99X

You should see that all 3 of your .coms have dropped to $0.99 (plus $0.18 tax) and that the .infos are completely free (with $0.18 sales tax). Something like this:

Godaddy 99 cent domain coupon code

 

Godaddy free info domain

 

At their current non-discounted prices (and GoDaddy are reasonable for their full-price domains) the basket would cost $82 for those 6 domains. Using this trick it comes down to a shade over $4.

That’s a $78 dollar saving, or 95% if you prefer!

Here’s what I have just ordered:

Godaddy 99 cent domains coupon deal

Yes that really is just over $4 for 6 domain names!!

 

Update: Working GoDaddy coupon codes for January 2013:

Enter code cjc295j1 for any domain at $2.95

Enter code gd3115c for any .info at $1.49

Enter code UNLOCKED for any .com at $1.17

Bookmark this page and check back for new codes before purchasing any domain!

 

Go straight to GoDaddy and register your domains now (link opens in new window).


Cheapest .info domain – less than 50 cents

Hard to believe you can buy the cheapest .info domain for less than 50 cents for a whole year, but it’s true.  Here’s a walkthrough of how to achieve this, no matter what country you are in.

Login to GoDaddy or create a free account here.

Note: If you are resident in the US then you would skip this next step…

If you don’t live in the US, set your account to default to payment in dollars. Do this by clicking on the ‘My Account’ menu, then selecting ‘My Account’, ‘Account Settings’ and on the right side select ‘Currency Preference’ to Dollars.

Now search for a domain that isn’t likely to be taken. I do this using the .co option from the dropdown. Now, check if the .info domain is available at this point, it’s displayed on the screen at the top. If it is then great, if not then try another search.

When happy, add the .co domain to the cart, then go through the required options by clicking the ‘Next’ button (such as Domain Registration Settings, Domain Settings, Domain Protection). It’s after this that you’re offered the .info domain at $0.49 in a little yellow panel. I tick the box next to it that immediately adds it to my basket. Now we have the .co and the .info in there.  It’s a simple matter of removing the .co domain and there you have it, a .info for $0.49

Bulk order .info domains

Since GoDaddy has a minimum order of $1 you can go up to the Domains menu and select Bulk Domain Registration to add a list of other .infos you wish to purchase. Selecting .info here is fine because we have locked in the price to $0.49

Cheapest .info domain to flip or use for IM

If you are planning to resell (flip) these domains or use them for Internet Marketing then it makes sense to buy multiples at the same time. As a rough guide, by using this method a hundred domains would cost less than $50 instead of $800 for the .coms, a saving of $750!!

Enjoy your new cheap .info domain and drop me a line if it helped you save some money

Link to GoDaddy main screen


Amazon ISBN EAN linking with Associate ID embedded

How to programmatically embed your Amazon Associates affiliate code into a link using 13 digit ISBN codes.

After digging quite a lot into this, I found out that the 13 digit ISBN code is different to the 10 digit and you’ll probably want to perform an ASIN lookup rather than rely on the ISBN. Some 13 digit ISBNs are the same when converted to a 10 digit call, some not. Amazon don’t recommend using conversion tools or mapping as this can break things.

Here’s my starting point for a search request using ECS:

[CODE]https://ecs.amazonaws.com/onca/xml?Service=AWSECommerceService&Operation=ItemLookup&SubscriptionId=[your_AWS_ID]&AssociateTag=[your assoc id]&ItemId=[ISBN]&IdType=EAN&SearchIndex=Books [/CODE]

An alternative way without ECS using a search results link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?keywords=[13 digit isbn goes here]&index=books&linkCode=qs&tag=[your assoc id]

Remove the brackets in the code samples above and you should have a neat Amazon Associates link that can be altered with a few php or javascript variables.

Please note that this currently works in June of 2013 and may change in future. Please also check that it is within the Amazon terms and conditions to link in this way as this may also change.


What is the difference between parked, addon and sub domains?

Lots of people have asked me to explain the difference between parked, addon and sub-domains so I’ll try to keep it simple. Let’s start with a Parked domain.

Parked Domain explanation

A parked domain is not a unique or standalone website. Instead, it is simply a ‘forward’ to the primary domain name of your cPanel account. Parked domains are commonly used to redirect a domain that you do not have a website for OR for when you have more than one domain that should lead to your primary domain. Scenarios may include owning multiple Top Level Domains (TLDs) such as:

mywebsite.co.uk

mywebsite.info

and needing to point them to your main mywebsite.com domain.  You can use this too for directing any common misspellings of your domain name (obviously those that you have registered first!). Consider using Dynadot.com as registrars, their prices seem lower than the rest.

 

Add-on domain explanation

An addon domain is a website, with its own unique content. For shared hosting such as the excellent cut-price Hostgator, you just point your new domain to your main account you registered. This will be accessible through CPanel and we simply need to visit the ‘Add-on domain’ section to make it work.

 

Sub-domain explanation

A subdomain is a second website with unique content, but you have no new domain name. Instead, you use an existing domain name and change the first part of the address to another name.

For example, you have mywebsite.com and you add a subdomain to make it forum.mywebsite.com or sales.mywebsite.com

 


Clickbank dormant account charges

If you’re searching for clickbank dormant account charges then you probably found out already that something’s up. I looked in on my account to see a strange debiting going on in my Clickbank account every 2 weeks. Turns out, this is Clickbank’s dark secret….

 Clickbank dormant account charges explained

What they do is allow you to make one or more sales that puts your account into credit, then, after a period of ‘inactivity’ of 90 days, they start to deduct a ‘maintenance charge’ on your account. Worse still, this keeps going every billing period. And with Clickbank’s billing period set to every 2 weeks this means that your earnings plummet quickly and soon you’re back where you started on a zero balance. This really isn’t well explained and I had to search elsewhere to find out what was going on.

A ClickBank account can become dormant if there is a positive balance in the account but no earnings have been made for a 90-day period.

Furthermore, ClickBank say that they shall withhold payment of any account balanceto an affiliate  until at least 5 sales have been made with 5 or more different credit card numbers.  Also, the affiliate’s account must have received at least 2 different payment methods from the following list:

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • PayPal
  • European Direct Debit (ELV)

This is bad practice and considering how often most people check their affiliate accounts, it’s designed to make money by borderline fraudulent means.

This from Clickbank themselves:

Accounts with a positive balance but no earnings for an extended period of time are considered dormant. Dormant accounts are subject to a charge of $1 per pay period after 90 days of inactivity, $5 per pay period after 180 days of inactivity, and $50 per pay period after 365 days of inactivity.

$50, are you kidding me? We’re supposed to be working together!

Here’s a funny (yeah, hilarious) twist too, PayPal purchases do not count toward the minimum 5 different credit card numbers.  This is despite PayPal users having to have a different credit card to own different accounts. Imagine everyone pays by PayPal, that leaves you on the bi-weekly debit cycle that soon gobbles up all your earnings. For many affiliates, this means they’ll never get to make any money at all, despite generating sales. So you could earn $30, $300 or even $3000 and then watch it drip slowly away – and there’s nothing you can do to stop it except drive more sales their way.  This stinks of writing the rules to profit the most and it’s a very shady way to do business.

Clickbank charges workaround

So the only workaround I can see is to set the payout threshold to the minimum $10 before payment is sent.  Well this would work for US affiliates, but consider a UK affiliate that has to receive cheques (payout by PayPal is not an option). There is at least a £5 charge with most high-street banks to cash a foreign cheque, so this really eats in to a $10 (£6) cheque!  Did I mention too that there’s a $2.50 charge for each and every payout? That’s in the Clickbank small print somewhere and would bash the affiliate who cashes out on a $10 amount a whopping 25% of their earnings.

Unfortunately, unless you are a US affiliate you’ll need to be pretty sure you can make money REGULARLY enough to avoid the so-called ‘dormant account’ penalties. If you’re taking a break from promoting Clickbank then consider emptying the account out immediately.

Hope this helps a few people out there, please drop me a comment below if you’ve had similar experiences with Clickbank dormant account charges or if this article has helped you save a few pennies.


Godaddy Domain coupon codes 2013

Godaddy cheap domains 2013

GoDaddy cheap domains are unstoppable with these hard-to-find coupon codes.

Latest codes for July and August 2013

cjc32np – 32% off new products
cjc25nc – 25% off new customers and renewals
cjc299c $2.99 .coms
cjc4fp – $4 .coms inc free private registration
cjc500v – $5.99 .com
cjc798dom – $8.49 .com renewals
cjc50hh – 50% off Godaddy hosting plans
cjcchp20 – save 20% off all hosting plans

These great offers allow existing GoDaddy account holders to purchase as well as new accounts.

Just copy the codes above and be sure to click the blue link which takes you to the purchase page.

Go straight to GoDaddy and register your domains now before the offer expires (link opens in new window).

 

Bookmark this page and check back for new codes before purchasing any domain!

 


Bot blocking tool Spyder Spanker review

Websites are plagued with bad bots and often come grinding to a halt without the aid of a bot blocking tool. Here, I’ll review the latest kid on the block, Spyder Spanker.

Bot blocking plugin wordpress

First off, Spyder Spanker is a WordPress plugin, so if you don’t have a WordPress powered site then you’re out of luck. If you do however, then read on, it’s pretty impressive. Here’s a video that shows its merits:

 

Seen enough? Get Spyder Spanker Pro now at the best price or continue reading the review.

 

Spyder Spanker full review

Initially installing the tool is as simple as uploading your provided zip file to your server via the WordPress plugin page. Once uploaded and activated, Spyder Spanker installs itself as an admin menu item. There, you can add your licence details and you are straight in to the interface, a very neatly styled area where each component is separately presented to you.

Allow trusted bots

Setting up the plugin is very easy because all of the major trusted bots are whitelisted. By trusted, I mean the ones you actually WANT to come to your site such as GoogleBot, BingBot etc. Without these, the search engines wouldn’t know your site content and you would never get listed in the search engine results pages. This is something that is a welcome addition to the software, other packages leave it up to you to select your own trusted bots.

Disallow bad bots

You don’t even need to add any bad bots either because these are also setup when the plugin installs. Bots such as Baidu (Chinese search bot) and Yandex (Russian search bot) are unneccesary on many English language sites as they steal bandwidth to add you to their results pages, regularly returning to your pages to re-crawl them and taking valuable bandwidth.

Allowing individual bots

OK, so we have a good setup straight out of the box, but let’s dig a bit deeper and see what we can modify. Let’s take the scenario where an English language website sells products to China. If this is the case then it would make sense to allow the Baidu bot to index the website.  To do this is a simple 2-click operation, tick the Baidu bot and then click on ‘Remove selected’. Very slick and no messing about with CSF firewall rules or .htaccess country-blocking or IP address blocking rules.

The differences between Spyder Spanker and other tools

I wanted to point out that Spyder Spanker is predominantly a bot blocker and doesn’t do a lot of what tools like WP Better Security does such as secure admin areas, make files ineditable etc. What it does excel at is blocking the bots that use your resources on a daily basis and it can throttle back the good bots when they spider your site aggresively too.

WP Better Security comes with a basic list of bad bots for .htaccess (which I use) but they’re a bit more devious these days and use new names. Here is an example of a logfile entry in Spyder Spanker:

Blacklist agent testing...
---------------------------------
0447705 - 2013-05-03 03:12:52 CDT / IP: 208.115.113.90 / HOSTNAME:
AGENT: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Ezooms/1.0; [email protected])
---------------------------------
BLOCK: blacklist agent: mozilla/5.0 (compatible; ezooms/1.0; [email protected])

This is a bot you won’t generally find on many htaccess blacklists but it’s a ‘rule-breaker’ for sure. SS responded by blocking it and will pass the rule to my other sites and the community network.

Let’s be honest, a bot with a gmail address probably shouldn’t be trusted that much anyway!

Spyder spanker review – the verdict

I’d thoroughly recommend you buy this tool, you’ll recoup any outlay back in a short time with reduced bandwidth fees, time saved and more sales if you run any type of ecommerce or affiliate site. One thing though, go with the Pro upgrade that is presented as a “One Time Offer” when you have paid for the basic version because Spyder Spanker Pro integrates beutifully with Project Honeypot. This means that it can be run ‘hands-off’ and will be updated against the raft of ever-increasing spammers and bad bots out there. Add this to the community update facility and you’ll be protected for years to come across ALL of your domains.

Purchase Spyder Spanker at the current best price online