I randomly came across the name – StocksAndSharesISA.co.uk – around 2 years ago while on the hustle for domain deals. I think I just typed it in and checked the WHOIS after seeing there was no site live. I noticed it was due to expire shortly. So I bought my raffle ticket for the domain’s impending expiration for £30 and waited to see whether Dale’s system would catch it. Some months later, the domain was finally released and I ended up with a great domain for less than a round of Jagerbombs.

I’ve had the domain for a while but haven’t got to work on it yet. It currently contains an intro to stocks and shares ISAs, but the content needs a lot of expanding and promotion.With the tax year about to end, I’m seeing adverts for ISA investment funds all over the place and it’s reminded me of the domain’s potential. There’s good demand for this financial product all year round, and while I’ve missed the boat on this year’s seasonal spike, I hope to have things nicely in position for next April.

Now, the first version of the website launched this summer, and despite being very simple, it’s doing really well.  A few small tweaks to the way the search criteria works have improved the engagement visitors have with the tool, and playing with ad placements has also resulted in some quick wins revenue-wise.

Version 2 of CIG involves a rework of the home page layout and the search results – it’s not a total redesign, but we’ll be optimising the way key information is presented.  We should have the form even more user friendly, with a few bugs squashed in the process. Certain pages are currently quite poorly laid out – for example, “Car insurance groups explained” – this should be remedied too. The launch of V2 will coincide with a content push as I look to add further value for users visiting the site.

That’s it for now – I’ll post another update here when the site is relaunched.