There are several new articles (CBS news, CNN) listing metro areas which appear to be “recession proof” and are continuing to experience substantial population growth.

A study by MetroMonitor looked at several growth indicators such as employment, home prices, and foreclosure rates. The researchers ranked and listed the Top 21 cities that produced the best statistical figures.

The ultimate standout was the booming Dallas-Fort Worth metro area that added more residents in the past decade than any other city. Fueling the growth there is a very positive business climate in which there is no corporate income tax and regulations are minimal.

The state of Texas was very well represented with 6 cities making the Top 21 list. The highest ranking cities meeting the recession-proof criteria were (in alphabetical order):

Albany, NY
Augusta, GA
Austin, TX
Baton Rouge, LA
Buffalo, NY
Columbia, SC
Dallas, TX
Des Moines, IA
El Paso, TX
Honolulu, HI
Houston, TX
Jackson, MS
Little Rock, AR
Madison, WI
McAllen, TX
Oklahoma City, OK
Omaha, NE
Rochester, NY
San Antonio, TX
Tulsa, OK
Washington, D.C.

The MetroMonitor study includes a wealth of information on various cities’ standings along a number of economic indicators.

Premium domain names of interest related to the above cities include:

• AugustaGeorgia.US
• AustinRealEstate.biz
• Columbia.info
• DallasTexas.biz
• ElPaso.biz
• HonoluluHawaii.biz
• HoustonAttorneys.US
• LittleRockRealEstate.info
• OklahomaCity.biz
• OmahaNebraska.US
• SanAntonioRealEstate.info
• TulsaHotels.info
• WashingtonDCRealEstate.info

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The premium geo domain name, Raleigh.com, is up for auction via Snapnames. The auction is occurring in association with the GeoDomain Expo® which will kick off in New Orleans on April 28. I just read about this very interesting geodomain sale on Michael Berkens’ blog, TheDomains.

Raleigh.com is one of many stunning geo domain names owned by Boulevards New Media. Boulevards have a massive stable of top-of-the-line city domains including Detroit.com, StLouis.com, Indianapolis.com, and Memphis.com to name a few. Raleigh is North Carolina’s second most populated city. It is the state capital, and home to Research Triangle Park and NC State University. Raleigh has been ranked as one of the fastest growing cities in America.

The current auction reserve on Raleigh.com is set at $1 million to $5 million dollars. This premium domain name is certainly an incredible portal for the Raleigh, North Carolina area and presents a once in a lifetime opportunity for the appropriate buyer to acquire a top domain.

Raleigh.info is owned by me. Raleigh.US is registered to Sigmund Solares, and Raleigh.biz was acquired by a South Korean registrant named Song Dongil.

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A 2010 survey by property consultants, Knight Frank, ranked the most influential cities on the plant according to four factors. These factors were economic activity, political power, knowledge base, and quality of life. The results were reported by CNN.

Coming in on top as number 1 was New York City. Number 2 was London. Number 3 was Paris. And number 4 was Tokyo. Los Angeles made the top 10 list as did Berlin and Beijing.

Geo domain names have been of interest to a majority of domainers since the introduction of the internet and domain names in general. New York City (and Manhattan) are two geo domains that have been on my radar for a number of years due to their huge population, unrivaled luxury real estate market, and role as the economic center of the country.

The CNN report pointed out that several rising Asian cities have begun to garner increased economic relevance and political influence. But, they have not yet arrived as locations where the world’s wealthiest would have a first or second home.

The value (and price) of a geo domain name is not easy to calculate, and is heavily dependent on a variety of inter-related variables. Some of these include city proper population (within the city limits), surrounding urban population (larger metro/suburb area), city relevance as a center of business, importance of the city as a vacation destination, current growth rate, and projected importance in the state/region.

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Of the many varied categories of domain names, geo domains (or geodomains) are my favorite. Cities, towns, and states have a singular and unique identity. These geo locations define the community of people who reside there as well as the local businesses that operate there.

A recent report (CNNMoney) listed states that are experiencing a shift (decline) in their population figures in relation to the past two years economic woes. California was ranked first in losses, New York second, and Michigan third. Everyone has heard about California’s financial difficulties. And most everyone is aware of the auto industry’s seemingly constant trouble achieving profitability (and consequent layoffs).

Generally speaking, citizens will migrate to areas of the country where new job opportunities are coming into play. Other factors which contribute to population shift are climate/weather, cost of living, state tax rates, ethnic/racial profile, and the presence of family support.

As long as there exists a substantial core “audience” for a city or locality, then a particular geo domain for that area will retain value and relevance.

Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and displaced a large segment of the population. However, the city itself enjoys such dynamic history and tourist appeal that reconstruction was quickly on the agenda of real estate development firms who aimed to capitalize on New Orleans’ fame and relevance as a great American city. Consequently, as a geo destination, New Orleans has sustaining appeal.

Developing a geo domain is a bit simpler today than it was two years ago. That does not mean that it is necessarily an easy process. Quality content, frequent updates, and selling advertising are everyday challenges best taken on by a small dedicated team as opposed to a single individual who is operating solo. That being said, geo domain sites can be built one piece at a time and incrementally expanded with time and development capital.

The arrival of minisites, Wordpress, and web development platforms like DevHub have greatly simplified the process of erecting a basic geo domain website.

Whatever a geo location’s population, there is niche content that will well serve that particular town or city. So, experimentation may be required in order to learn what a city’s residents and businesses want (or need). The geo domain, in a best case scenario, will reflect what the majority of site users really want … perhaps real estate for sale, local job listings and job search, area news, entertainment links, an online business directory, or other. The right combination is a process of understanding the locale and the people and businesses who call that geo destination their home.

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Developing a geodomain offers many options and requires many decisions. These choices typically revolve around website content, website structure, and the site’s identity as perceived by visitors. My overriding goal with this project was to settle on a development model and “unique personality” which could be duplicated across many cities.

In building Charlotte.US from the ground up, I reviewed both the positive and negative aspects of a number of other geo sites. I also considered the platform on which to build Charlotte.US such as “static html” files vs. Wordpress.

Content can be modified much more easily than can site structure. Structure is something which you will be married to and which cannot be easily converted. For this project, Wordpress was selected due to its many automated features, plug-ins, publishing options, and excellent universal compatibility.

Actually, I had been looking for a geo portal template for some time that would allow me to add and subtract content components. Eventually, I found a news oriented portal, built on Wordpress, that I could heavily edit. The current version, now viewable at Charlotte.US, has been dramatically modified from the original template.

The site is in what I consider a workable early form right now. There are a variety of auto-updating feeds & content such that revisiting the site numerous times per day will provide the user with new material. This concept I hope to take to an even higher level over time. I have had good success obtaining permissions where required, and I plan to develop partnerships with local businesses as time permits. Local advertising revenue will be pursued though no hurry on this at the moment.

Future upgrades will aim to customize the content sections especially in the real estate, apartments, entertainment, and online services area. Currently, these are linked to local service providers via Superpages content. The Ticketmaster section is fairly well done as is.

Interested readers may also like to follow Detroit.US which is being modeled after the Charlotte site.

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Ron Jackson’s DN Journal made my day with this story. Atlanta.com owner, Skip Hoagland, sent out a letter to employees of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution offering them job opportunities with Atlanta.com. Newspapers in America have been laying off news staffers left & right.

Some papers have declared bankruptcy. Most are in steady decline. My wife and I stopped taking the Greensboro News & Record over a year ago. So have many others. A co-worker asked me “Have you seen the High Point paper? It’s about one-third the size it used to be”.

City geo domains are the natural evolution, the next step. With career journalists, writers, and investigative reporters suddenly in search of a new home, what better option than to channel their talents into the ultimate new news medium, The Local Geo City Portal.

Most impressive is Skip Hoagland’s obvious approach to forming mutually rewarding partnerships. He is offering excellent compensation to writers, and providing them a great future opportunity to sustain and/or remake their careers via Atlanta.com.

Reminds me of the way Apple launched iTunes and single-handedly overtook the entire music industry … who, like the newspaper industry, stood idle while the future strolled right by them.

Side Note: Want to see a great city with a great website full of content? So do I. But there’s a problem. Their domain name.

The Charlotte Convention & Visitors Bureau have rebranded themselves “Visit Charlotte”, and the corresponding website is CharlottesGotAlot.com. There is a FULL PAGE ad in USA Today for this new website. I wonder what that cost! This is what is referred to as a domain name marketing catastrophe.

Atlanta.com … will not have that problem.

Keep your eye on Geo Domains! More to come.

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Warren Buffett has weighed in on the declining newspaper industry. Here’s the scoop taken from his comments at the Berkshire Hathaway stockholder meeting which occurred this past weekend.

Buffett states that newspapers run the risk of “unending losses“. That’s a pretty powerful statement. This collapse of the American newspaper industry is an odd development. Local geo domain portals are most likely going to take news in a new direction as traditional newspapers die off. Buffett also said …

For most newspapers in the United States, we would not buy them at any price.

I am not aware of the status of newspapers in areas outside the U.S., but my suspicion is that this decline is not confined to only the USA. Probably a global occurrence tied to internet proliferation in every country.

I took my family to Wilmington last weekend and we went to several newly released movies. Ironically, both movies had prominent scenes addressing the rapid decline of hardcopy newspapers in America. Check out State of Play (Russell Crowe & Ben Affleck) and The Soloist (Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr). You’ll see what I mean. It’s obviously a hot topic in Hollywood.

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Within any given city or state jurisdiction, there is a community of local businesses from different biz categories. Popular examples include real estate, legal services, financial services, hotel & travel, restaurants, and retail stores. These various businesses serve residents and companies within the surrounding area … as well as those who live and work outside the immediate community.

Geo targeting pertains to narrowing one’s focus to a specific geographical region. This is not a new concept, but is a highly effective method (utilized by marketers and advertisers) for achieving maximum impact from advertising dollars. Geo targeting allows companies to address the needs of their local, and most relevant, audience of buyers. Traditionally, people and businesses advertised in their city’s newspaper as that used to offer the best opportunity for reaching the most relevant audience.

Fast forward to the internet age and we see that geo targeting is still highly effective, but being adapted in a new way. Newspapers are on the skids after having enjoyed many decades of a local monopoly. Today, ever increasing numbers of people are relying exclusively on the internet for business search, news, information, entertainment, education. While the mechanism has shifted from newspaper to internet, the basic need of the customer is exactly the same: to locate what they need quickly and easily.

Locating a service within a geographical area is achieved through two means: direct navigation, or a search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN).

Both methods have their unique advantages. Direct navigation means typing what you are looking for directly into the address bar (as shown above). Appropriate domain extensions might be .com, .info, .biz, or .us. This is one form of geo targeting and is built on the logical City + Business concept. Such web addresses are commonly referred to as “geo targeted domain names”. The domain itself contains all of the necessary information that the online consumer is searching for.

Geo targeted domain names are high quality internet properties, and are often purchased by professionals who work and live in a particular city or state. These professionals realize that owning the geo targeted domain for their profession gives them a marketing advantage over their competitors. In short, the professional captures all of the direct navigation traffic while their competitor must promote their business with a lower quality domain name which must be supplemented by additional search engine advertising.

The other advantage of the geo targeted domain name is its superior clarity and descriptiveness. Geo targeted domains are easy to remember and to convey to customers … both in writing and in verbal communication.

If you are a business owner (or domain name investor), a geo targeted domain name may represent a logical acquisition for your company. A good tip for discovering the benefit of a particular domain is to enter the keyword combination (ex. Los Angeles Attorneys, or Miami Real Estate) into Google, and perform a search. Pay attention to the advertiser search results at the top of the results page and along the right side margin.

At the bottom of the right margin, is there a blue link that says “More Sponsored Links”? If so, then you know this is a highly relevant phrase, with multiple advertisers, and might be a fitting geo targeted domain acquisition for your business. For example, try typing in Los Angeles Attorneys into the Google search field and hit enter. You will find many pages of law firms and attorneys advertising under this phrase. This is because advertisers want to reach customers specifically in search of Los Angeles Attorneys.

Geo targeted domain names are frequently included in high profile auctions and listed on domain name sales sites. Sometimes, a geo targeted web address is used to display a list of local advertisers in the desired profession. At other times, the geo targeted domain will resolve to a fully functional website such as MiamiRealEstate.com, a nice example of geo targeting within the real estate industry.

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