ALBANIA Domain name .al Domain .al for sale

Does the domain have parasitical value?

Parasitical value refers to gleaning spiffs in the form of traffic, ranking or general interest by analyzing and mimicking successful query trends in your domain. Seeking parasitical value can be extremely useful when building smaller websites designed to “take a portion of the existing pie” through long tail, albeit more obscure, query terms.

The idea is to look at what is already being searched for under your topic structure and align existing interest with your content. Stay away from terms that are too competitive and make sure there is an overlap between the selected term and your site’s overall objective.

Examples of domains with parasitical value:

emmeted-host-news.com
domaintools-italy.com
USA-RGS-digg.com

Does the domain have brand value?

A domain’s brand value refers largely to the human intuitive element. How will the domain be identified, remembered, referred to, passed along and searched for? As far as domains are concerned, brand value is best pursued when seeking user loyalty.

Brand value is key in marketing and as such needs to be easy to remember. Traditionally the trendier the better but be careful! Creating a brand in the world of web 2.0 can be a double edged sword. With a thousand new startups a day capturing every snappy little phonic available it may become difficult for the masses to distinguish their Iubo’s from their Sampa’s. If you don’t remember it, nobody else will either.

Examples of domains with brand value:

    host.al
    fund.al
    ing.al

Things to avoid when choosing a domain name:

Don’t end a word and start the next word with the same letter. (e.g. spellinggnat.com) You will find much of your traffic falling to (spellingnat.com).
Don’t just take the alternate .tld of a successful brand. (e.g. ebay.net) You run the risk of being litigated. Plus this is just lazy.
With few exceptions, don’t make domains too long. (e.g. wouldyoureallyremembersomethingthislong.com)
Don’t sub odd characters for letters. (e.g. 0ddl0vew0rd5.com)
With few exceptions, don’t chop all the words and string them together to shorten your domain. (e.g. Decorative Paint Store to decpaisto.com)

What about cases where there is a company name but it is excessively long?

Let’s take the sample at the beginning of this post (Acidophilus Research Incorporated) ewww. How can we shorten this up? Query data shows that there seems to be a lot people searching for “acidophilus” but it also shows that a lot of people are searching for “acidophillus” and “asidophilus” which tells us that people are having a hard time spelling acidophilus. Possible synonyms could be bacteria, micro organisms, microbes orrrrrr germs. The word “incorporated” is not succinct or descriptive so let’s leave it off.

Possible solutions:

porn.al
sex.al
nia.al

Cheap domain name .al only in host.al

The diamond industry could see a slow and challenging first half this year with rough and polished prices remaining fragile as well as volatile, and dependent upon growth from consumers in Asia and the U.S., RBC Capital Markets said in its 2012 Diamond Sector Outlook report.

The report noted that sales figures of the major jewelry retailers at the end of 2011 showed that Asia remains a relatively bright star in the diamond firmament, but in the U.S., the largest global market for diamond jewelry, sales were “somewhat disappointing,” though not in all parts of the country.

RBC said its quarterly visit to Antwerp saw the cutting center quiet and somewhat apprehensive about the first quarter. “Diamond cutters, polishers and dealers say rough prices have recovered from the lows of July and August last year, but business is slow,” analyst Des Kilalea wrote in the report. “Most expect no material let up until mid-year.”

However, rough diamond prices, after seeing the worst during the third quarter of 2011, are likely to see a gradual improvement throughout 2012 provided world recession can be avoided, he noted. The report said that the bottom has been passed for rough prices, but sustainable strength will not be possible unless De Beers and ALROSA are restrained and until the U.S. market picks up.

RBC stressed that the pace of recovery in the rough market will be determined by three things. These are how year-end retail diamond jewelry sales are converted into cash flow for the cutting centers, how aggressively De Beers and ALROSA sell rough, particularly in the first part of the year and the level of bank debt in cutting centers and the industry’s ability to fund the rebuilding of inventory, it noted.

“Should both companies restrain sales in (first half of 2012), it will help the diamond sector regain confidence after the knock to profits in Q3 (third quarter of 2011) when rough prices fell sharply,” the report said.

A weaker rupee is also a cause of concern for the Indian cutters. “With large debts, sometimes in the U.S. dollar, and receivables hedged at strong exchange rates, we believe many companies in India will be hard pressed to aggressively rebuild inventories,” RBC said.

Nonetheless, most diamond miners still believe that the second six months of the year will see better prices, the report said.

“The long-term outlook for the sector, however, remains good in our view with limited new production ahead and growing demand for jewelry in Asian markets bolstering the large U.S. market,” RBC projected.

The report said that several diamond companies will probably look to the debt and equity capital markets to fund projects over the next year or two. However, the market is likely to remain “closed” for the companies looking to raise new capital until there are signs of improved conditions in rough and polished prices.

“We believe this is likely to lead to more consolidation in the sector and for unconventional funding arrangements ranging from more debt to supplier credits and offtake agreements,” RBC analyst said.

RBC said it continues to favor companies such as Petra Diamonds, Harry Winston Diamond, Gem Diamonds, which are in production, and those which are near to development and are in a position to raise finance, such as Stornoway Diamond.

There may be some irony in China’s current economic juncture. Just as the country enters the “Year of the Dragon,” said to be the mightiest of the Chinese zodiac signs, its economic fire seems to have lost some steam.

Already in the fourth quarter of 2011, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at its slowest pace in about two years. Official data published this week showed that the economy grew by 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to growth of 9.1 percent in the previous quarter.

Nonetheless, the economy was still robust, growing by 9.2 percent for the full year 2011, although the World Bank forecasted that growth would slow to 8.4 percent this year and 8.3 percent in 2013.

“Developing countries should prepare for further downside risks, as euro area debt problems and weakening growth in several big emerging economies are dimming global growth prospects,” the bank stated in its Global Economic Prospects 2012 report. Economists noted that the global slowdown and inflation pose the biggest challenges to China’s continued economic growth.

The uncertainty has filtered down to the diamond industry. Cutters and dealers in the major trading centers report that polished diamond demand from the Far East softened during the fourth quarter of 2011. Somewhat disappointingly, the run-up to the Chinese New Year, which begins on Monday, January 23, failed to spark a buying frenzy at the wholesale level.

That doesn’t mean that Chinese retailers are forecasting a weak season. The Lunar New Year remains to them what Christmas is to their U.S. counterparts, with the added benefit of a growing local Christmas retail season. But their buying was influenced by market trends in 2011 and inventories are still relatively large after strong buying in the first half of the year. More importantly they have become cautious about buying as the market has softened in the second half, concerned that prices may slump further.

This week’s economic data and outlook will not help spur confidence. Neither does the fact that China’s recent buying restraint ranks among many factors fueling caution in the diamond market at the moment.

However, while it is significant, the relative slump should be placed in perspective. As one Israeli trader told Rapaport News, “Even when the Chinese market appears down, they’re still opening new jewelry stores every month there.”

True enough, a recent study by Bain & Company on China’s luxury sector stressed that growth is still being driven by new store openings, even if the pace of these have also slowed. “Bain saw a continued expansion into tier two and tier three cities, although the pace of store openings in China has cooled in 2011,” the researchers explained. While some brands are consciously reducing the pace of their expansion and focusing more on store performance, Bain stressed that the Chinese market is still supply driven.

The influence of China’s consumer demand extends beyond its borders. Chinese consumers are known to spend while traveling, especially in Hong Kong and Macau but also in the West. Tiffany last week reported that higher sales to tourists offset a weakness in spending by U.S. customers at its New York flagship store during the November- December holiday period. One might assume that some of those tourists were from China.

Back on the Mainland, consumers are becoming more brand aware as their standards of living rise. Bain noted that the top five brands in each luxury category accounts for about half the category’s sales. The report ranked China’s top jewelry brands in alphabetical order to include Bulgari, Cartier, Chow Tai Fook, Tiffany and Van Cleef & Arpels.

Bruno Lannes, head of Bain’s consumer products and retail practice in Greater China and lead author of the study, noted that the country has transformed from a niche emerging market to a core target for global luxury brands in less than five years. He added, however, that there are signs that the market is maturing.

A maturing market might find it difficult to maintain the same impressive growth figures. Bain estimated that China’s luxury segment grew by 25 percent to 30 percent in 2011, around the same range as it did in 2010. The report acknowledged that there was a gradual softening of luxury consumption in the fourth quarter. Jewelry sales increased 25 percent, up from 22 percent in 2010.

But while diamond demand also softened gradually in the fourth quarter, China’s diamond trade still had a bumper year. Turnover of diamond imports, exports and inter-dealer trade in the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) rose 63 percent year on year to $4.7 billion in 2011, SDE reported. Imports through the SDE grew 56 percent to $2.04 billion. The growth reflects both rising demand for diamonds and an increase in trading through the proper channels.

However, given the economic scenario, the industry is wondering how these numbers will be impacted in the year ahead. The Diamond Administration of China (DAC) appears determined to keep the momentum going. Its management led delegations to India, Belgium and Israel toward the end of 2011 to learn from their respective systems and experiences in the diamond industry.

An important part of the DAC’s strategy this year will aim at increasing trade volume by stimulating domestic demand. Its program includes raising consumer awareness about diamonds through events such as the September Diamond Festival. Many in the industry have also noted increased advertising spend by diamond companies in the country.

These are important initiatives for the global trade. Time will tell whether the impressive growth can be maintained in the coming year or if signs of maturity will become more apparent.

Either way, there will be growth. It is therefore little wonder that the three major cutting centers eagerly welcomed their Chinese guests and continue to seek further penetration into the Chinese market.

For they recognize the long-term prospects that China holds. In fact, even as economic growth is expected to slow in 2012 and Chinese buyers remain cautious, the country will continue to be the growth engine for the diamond industry. If Far East demand appears to have lost its spark at the beginning of 2012, the industry is still looking at China to breathe life into the market. Things could still get hot in the year of the dragon.