After posing this question, I decided to dig a little deeper and aggregated the domain name lengths from 97 of the most popular websites (according to Alexa’s list). I took the domain name of each site and broke down the domain name length so I could answer the question whether domain name length has an impact on a website’s popularity. Here are the results:

Photo Credit: PPDIGITAL

Domain name lengths

Below is a list of the most popular websites broken down by their domain name length:

• 2-character domains: 2 websites (2.1%)
• 3-character domains: 13 websites (13.4%)
• 4-character domains: 12 websites (12.4%)
• 5-character domains: 9 websites (9.3%)
• 6-character domains: 6 websites (6.2%)
• 7-character domains: 19 websites (19.6%)
• 8-character domains: 7 websites (7.2%)
• 9-character domains: 9 websites (9.3%)
• 10-character domains: 8 websites (8.3%)
• 11-character domains: 3 websites (3.1%)
• 12-character domains: 4 websites (4.1%)
• 13-character domains: 3 websites (3.1%)
• 15-character domains: 1 website (1.0%)
• 17-character domains: 1 website (1.0%)
• The average length of a domain = 6.95 characters

You can see from the above numbers that 7-character domain names are clearly the leader, with an impressive nearly 20% share of the most popular websites. So it does appear that shorter your domain name, the better. Another interesting figure is that nearly 63% of the most popular websites on the internet have a domain name length of 7 characters or less. For those of us that are visual learners here’s a chart:

Other interesting results

After compiling this information, several other interesting figures presented themselves:

• Not one of the 97 sites contained a hyphen
• Only one (Hi5.com) contained a number
• 24.7% of the domains started with a vowel
• 17.55 of the domains contained either a double-vowel or double-consonant (e.g. Yahoo; Google; Digg)

In conclusion

So, my question has been answered. Although building a popular website with a long domain can be done, the shorter they are the easier it is to gain popularity.

Photo Credit: Helico

Doing what you enjoy

It would be fair to guess that a large majority of the population are in careers and jobs that they do not enjoy. They get up every morning and make the trip to a job which provides them with no satisfaction. For many, they are simply fulfilling a means to an end. While this type of thinking is understandable, those who are in a job which they do not like are wasting away one-third of their life.

Breaking it down

Life can be broken down roughly into thirds: Sleep, Work & Free Time. Below illustrates this example:

The thirds of our time

1. Sleeping (8 Hours) - There is nothing that we can really do about this, it is required for us to function and live.
2. Working (8 Hours) - We spend one-third of our life working in order to make the money so we can enjoy what we do with our free time.
3. Free Time (8 Hours) - This third is the time in our life where we can do we like to do. Spend time with friends and family, going out to eat, watching movies. This is the part that we strive to make longer.

After looking at the above examples something becomes evident. If you do not enjoy what you do then you are wasting half of your time! If you are merely working so that you can pay for the things you do in your free time, then you are making a terrible mistake one that is costing you half of your time that you are awake. You are making a trade-off “I will get to do what I want 50% of the time in exchange for doing something I don’t like 50% of the time.”

On the other hand, if you enjoy what you do for you work/career/job, then you are fully occupying your time with things that you love to do! If you can be paid doing something that you love doing, then your life will be happier, more fulfilled and you will get greater satisfaction out of every day that goes by.

What would be the result if fast-food companies Sonic & Subway merged?

Answer

Subsonic: “Ridiculously fast food.”

For those that are younger we have an investors greatest asset on our side - time. We use the power of compounding returns to grow the money we invest today over 10, 25 or even 50 years. However, you don’t have to be young to still realize the amazing effect that compounding has on your money.

Photo Credit: Gaspa

Investing $1 per day

Let’s assume that you start investing $1 per day. You set one dollar each day aside for investing and at the end of one year you invest that money into a high-interest savings account, a certificate of deposit, stocks, mutual funds or any of the many other investment vehicles available.

We will also assume that you receive a 5% annual return on your money invested (a very conservative growth rate). Here’s the impact that investing $1 per day has on your money:

• 1 year = $383.25 ($365 invested)
• 5 years = $2,117.70 ($1,825 invested)
• 10 years = $4,820.48 ($3,650 invested)
• 15 years = $8,269.98 ($5,475 invested)
• 25 years = $18,291.41 ($9,125 invested)
• 50 years = $46,296.51 ($18,250 invested)

You can see the amazing returns that compounding has on your investment of only $1 per day!

Getting started investing $1 per day

To start investing $1 per day, you simply need to set up and stick to a plan. Make yourself put aside one dollar per day that you are not allowed to touch. At the end of 6 months, go invest that money. Patience and perseverance is the key and the great part of this type of system is that it is only $1 per day, something that even the most frugal of us should be able to set aside. Make it a habit to set aside just one dollar per day for your future and you will look back and pat your young self on the back.

Design elements that were used in the early 90’s are now deprecated, being replaced with modern design practices and rich multimedia. We have all come a long way.

Here’s a look back in time at the top search engine home page designs compared to today:

Yahoo!

Google

MSN

AOL

Ask

WordPress Flare Wallpaper

WordPress on Wood Wallpaper

WordPress Pink Wallpaper

WordPress Grey Wallpaper

WordPress Horizontal

WordPress Vertical

WordPress Blue & Grey

WordPress Smoke

What do you get when if merged the leader in the mustard market (French’s) with the leader in the ketchup market (Heinz)?

Answer

Hench’s: “The ultimate condiment.”

Each one of us has our own thresholds for what we consider hot and cold. Something that is burning up to me may be freezing to you and vice versa. You can, however, at least accommodate the majority of the customers that visit your store or office.

Photo Credit: kevinmarsh

Think about businesses or facilities that you have visited that are either too hot or too cold. If you’re in a restaurant in the summer and see people wearing jackets and sweatshirts, you may actually be driving away business unintentionally. Customers want to be pampered and relaxed at your facilities, if they’re not, many actually stop doing business with you. I can think of (I’m sure you can too) a half dozen places that I won’t visit because to me they’re always way too hot or way too cold, and I actually put forth effort to avoid them.

Accommodating your customers

Studies have shown that the majority of us consider 69-72 degrees to be a comfortable room temperature. By setting your thermostat in this range you effectively accommodate the majority of your customers. Ignoring to do so WILL drive away business (who wants to visit a freezing office or store for very long or very often?)

Force yourself to set a range you can go a couple degrees warmer or cooler, but keep it in this area. Make a rule not to adjust the thermostat, you’ll even save money by doing this!

It’s simple and straightforward

Make your customers comfortable, if they’re not you may lose them.

While it is true that mercury is a toxic element that can cause serious health problems, is there really any need to be alarmed?

Photo Credit: Mulad

How much Mercury is in a CFL?

According to GE the average amount of mercury contained in a CFL is about 5mg. In comparison, a standard household thermometer contains anywhere from 500mg to 3000mg and non-electric thermostats can contain over 3000mg or mercury.

Comparison of a CFL to other common mercury-containing items:

As you can see from the chart and numbers above, the amount of mercury that a standard CFL contains is minuscule compared to some of the other items found in our homes.

You should also check out this PDF provided by the EPA and found on GE’s website. You will be interested to see that CFL’s actually help REDUCE mercury distribution into the atmosphere.

What would you get if chip makers Pringles and Tostitos merged in an attempt to tap into the massive Hispanic/Latino market?

Answer

Pringlitos: “The Hispanic snack for those with discerning taste.”