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Domain Name Speculation
Things to do with a domain...
1. Sell it
2. Monetize it
1. Sell it
First analyse the domain. Short names and .com's sell for more than other TLD's. Identify the market. See what income opportunities are available. Is it a brandible name? Are people searching for relevant terms? Is it a popular search term?
Sell it on eBay, domain name forums, or by contacting current related web owners directly. Setup a "Domain For Sale" page and invite offers. Allow interested parties to contact you directly with a form or email link. Make it obvious the name is for sale.
Places to sell your domain:
a) <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ebay.com">www.ebay.com</a><!-- w -->
b) <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sedo.com">www.sedo.com</a><!-- w --> - domain broker
c) <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.dnforum.com/f12">www.dnforum.com/f12</a><!-- w --> *
d) <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=69">www.sitepoint.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=69</a><!-- w --> *
e) forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=59 *
* - These forums require that you have written a certain number of posts or have paid to upgrade your membership before you can place ads on them. However, they get lots of visitors looking specifcally for domains to buy and sell.
A good strategy is to build the site traffic and see some income from the site whilst you are trying to sell it. Call it an "exit strategy". This does two things.
1) It provides you with traffic statistics that you can show to potential buyers. You can prove that there is a makret for the domain. If you monetize the site in some way, and can show a profit, you open the buying market right up.
For example, if you had a domain for sale, and it was centered around golfing aids. As a raw domain with no statisitics, the only people interested in buying it would be those either already in the golfing business, or those looking to get into that marketplace.
Now consider the same domain name, but with traffic statistics and a proven track record that it makes a residual income profit. The buying market has now opened up to anyone looking to start an online business of any kind, because, without doing anything, they can simply take over the site and continue to earn the same revenue.
To make this happen, follow the guidelines below. By proving that the domain name is viable and profit generating, you are also inherently adding to its value for a potential buyer.
2. Monetize it
Identify the market to see where the income will come from. Will it be...
a) Google Adsense
b) Affiliate links
c) Own product
d) Domain parking
a) Google Adsense
The first thing to remember is that you need a ton of traffic to earn from Adsense. With perhaps only a few cents per click, it will take a while to generate enough income. Advantage is that it is automatic income once setup. To get Adsense revenue, your site has to contain HIGHLY OPTIMIZED content to generate the ads. Google will target the ads on your site depending on your site content.
To know whether Adsense is viable for your domain, do searches on Google for related terms to see how many ads there are on the results pages. If there are many, this is good for Adsense. Just a few is not good as their CPC will be low, and your revenue share even lower.
b) Affiliate links
Identify potential affiliate partners. As a current member of CJ.com, always look there first as they are very comprehensive and have many different advertisers. Also, it will help to build up your monthly income and hit their threshold much quicker so you get paid regularly. Failing that, look to places like Amazon that sell a variety of different product types. Do a search for "product + affiliate" and see what companies are out there. Again, you are looking for products that have a high ticket price, a good conversion and the affiliate program pays regularly. Always do due diligence on the company you promote to ensure you will actually receive payment. Many affiliate programs now offer payment via PayPal, which is ideal.
c) Own product
The easiest and cheapest product to create is an infoproduct. Can a guide be written about your topic that you could sell directly on the site? Can you negotiate a deal with dropshippers and sell products directly from the site? This will entail more work on your part, but would probably earn you a higher revenue in the long run. More effort = more reward. Search for dropshippers or wholesalers for relevant products and see if you can negotatiate a deal.
d) Domain parking
Domain parking is where you simply "park" the domain onto a service that produces revenue. Many domain brokers use this strategy. Effectively, they have done all the work for you. This solution is ideal if you don't have the time nor the inclination to develop a site and host it. Sedo.com is one of the better known domain brokers who provide a parking service. They will show anyone who types in that domain that the site is for sale. There will also be a few relevant links on the site which will earn you revenue when clicked. In return for the revenue sharing, Sedo will also reduce their brokerage fees if they successfully sell your domain. The main disadvantage is that you have no control over the links and ads shown. Obviously, it is in Sedo's interests to earn maximum revenue from the domain, but you may be able to improve that with your own research.
Tools
Content
To generate content for your site, whether it be for Adsense revenue, or for keyword optimization to get higher search engine ranking, here are a few ideas.
Freelance - Hire a ghost writer to write the content for your site. A dozen or so articles around your site topic would probably be enough to get the search engines interested. Each article would have to be HIGHLY OPTIMIZED around specific keywords or phrases to build the traffic and the Adsense revenue.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.elance.com">www.elance.com</a><!-- w --> is highly recommended.
Existing articles - Search <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ezinearticles.com">www.ezinearticles.com</a><!-- w --> to find relevant articles around your topic. Paste these into your site. Beware though, Google are starting to clamp down on duplicated content so this may not be the best long term strategy. Unique content will always be better.
Private label articles - Search for "topic" + "private label articles" to see if any have already been written. Private label rights are where you have the rights to claim yourself as the author, and you can edit the content as you see fit. This is a much cheaper way of getting content than hiring a ghost writer. Also look for private label forums to see if anyone has already written some articles. Resource is <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.yourownarticles.com">www.yourownarticles.com</a><!-- w -->, <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.privaterights.com">www.privaterights.com</a><!-- w -->.
Write it yourself - If you have knowledge around the topic, write the content yourself. That way you can be assured that the content is unique, and it is also FREE!
Keyword research
To find out what people are searching for related to your topic, you can use various tools. These are...
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.overture.com">www.overture.com</a><!-- w --> - Go to the resource center and use the keyword tool. Type in your required search term, and the tool will show you how many people searched for that term in the previous month and what other related terms they are searching for. Note that the results are only for Overture, and are just a guideline for how many searches are being made.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.goodkeywords.com">www.goodkeywords.com</a><!-- w --> - Free tool you can download and use to do the same thing as the Overture research tool.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.wordtracker.com">www.wordtracker.com</a><!-- w --> - The most comprehensive of all the keyword tools. not only will it show you the number of searches being made in a month, it will also show you phrases using similar words based on a thesaurus and dictionary.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.nichebot.com">www.nichebot.com</a><!-- w --> - Very basic tool that will give you a rough idea of searches being made.
Domain statistics
Potential buyers may want to know more details about your domain before parting with any money. Things they are usually interested in are...
Link popularity - How many sites are linking to your domain? This is important because each inbound link is a potential source of free traffic, and because it will help your overall search engine ranking on the results pages.
Search engine saturation - How many pages within your domain are indexed in the search engines? Again this is important because each individual page can generate traffic, if optimized well.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.linkpopularity.com">www.linkpopularity.com</a><!-- w -->
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop">www.marketleap.com/publinkpop</a><!-- w -->
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.urltrends.com">www.urltrends.com</a><!-- w -->
Site design
If you are going to be building a content based site, either for Adsense revenue, or for affiliate program revenue, a great software package is XSitePro (XSP). With XSP, you can build a site in minutes using the built-in templates. All the navigation is done for you as you add new pages. Very, very easy to use, and a comprehensive manual if you get stuck. Highly recommended.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.popurl.com/xsitepro">www.popurl.com/xsitepro</a><!-- w -->
Things to do with a domain...
1. Sell it
2. Monetize it
1. Sell it
First analyse the domain. Short names and .com's sell for more than other TLD's. Identify the market. See what income opportunities are available. Is it a brandible name? Are people searching for relevant terms? Is it a popular search term?
Sell it on eBay, domain name forums, or by contacting current related web owners directly. Setup a "Domain For Sale" page and invite offers. Allow interested parties to contact you directly with a form or email link. Make it obvious the name is for sale.
Places to sell your domain:
a) <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ebay.com">www.ebay.com</a><!-- w -->
b) <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sedo.com">www.sedo.com</a><!-- w --> - domain broker
c) <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.dnforum.com/f12">www.dnforum.com/f12</a><!-- w --> *
d) <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=69">www.sitepoint.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=69</a><!-- w --> *
e) forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=59 *
* - These forums require that you have written a certain number of posts or have paid to upgrade your membership before you can place ads on them. However, they get lots of visitors looking specifcally for domains to buy and sell.
A good strategy is to build the site traffic and see some income from the site whilst you are trying to sell it. Call it an "exit strategy". This does two things.
1) It provides you with traffic statistics that you can show to potential buyers. You can prove that there is a makret for the domain. If you monetize the site in some way, and can show a profit, you open the buying market right up.
For example, if you had a domain for sale, and it was centered around golfing aids. As a raw domain with no statisitics, the only people interested in buying it would be those either already in the golfing business, or those looking to get into that marketplace.
Now consider the same domain name, but with traffic statistics and a proven track record that it makes a residual income profit. The buying market has now opened up to anyone looking to start an online business of any kind, because, without doing anything, they can simply take over the site and continue to earn the same revenue.
To make this happen, follow the guidelines below. By proving that the domain name is viable and profit generating, you are also inherently adding to its value for a potential buyer.
2. Monetize it
Identify the market to see where the income will come from. Will it be...
a) Google Adsense
b) Affiliate links
c) Own product
d) Domain parking
a) Google Adsense
The first thing to remember is that you need a ton of traffic to earn from Adsense. With perhaps only a few cents per click, it will take a while to generate enough income. Advantage is that it is automatic income once setup. To get Adsense revenue, your site has to contain HIGHLY OPTIMIZED content to generate the ads. Google will target the ads on your site depending on your site content.
To know whether Adsense is viable for your domain, do searches on Google for related terms to see how many ads there are on the results pages. If there are many, this is good for Adsense. Just a few is not good as their CPC will be low, and your revenue share even lower.
b) Affiliate links
Identify potential affiliate partners. As a current member of CJ.com, always look there first as they are very comprehensive and have many different advertisers. Also, it will help to build up your monthly income and hit their threshold much quicker so you get paid regularly. Failing that, look to places like Amazon that sell a variety of different product types. Do a search for "product + affiliate" and see what companies are out there. Again, you are looking for products that have a high ticket price, a good conversion and the affiliate program pays regularly. Always do due diligence on the company you promote to ensure you will actually receive payment. Many affiliate programs now offer payment via PayPal, which is ideal.
c) Own product
The easiest and cheapest product to create is an infoproduct. Can a guide be written about your topic that you could sell directly on the site? Can you negotiate a deal with dropshippers and sell products directly from the site? This will entail more work on your part, but would probably earn you a higher revenue in the long run. More effort = more reward. Search for dropshippers or wholesalers for relevant products and see if you can negotatiate a deal.
d) Domain parking
Domain parking is where you simply "park" the domain onto a service that produces revenue. Many domain brokers use this strategy. Effectively, they have done all the work for you. This solution is ideal if you don't have the time nor the inclination to develop a site and host it. Sedo.com is one of the better known domain brokers who provide a parking service. They will show anyone who types in that domain that the site is for sale. There will also be a few relevant links on the site which will earn you revenue when clicked. In return for the revenue sharing, Sedo will also reduce their brokerage fees if they successfully sell your domain. The main disadvantage is that you have no control over the links and ads shown. Obviously, it is in Sedo's interests to earn maximum revenue from the domain, but you may be able to improve that with your own research.
Tools
Content
To generate content for your site, whether it be for Adsense revenue, or for keyword optimization to get higher search engine ranking, here are a few ideas.
Freelance - Hire a ghost writer to write the content for your site. A dozen or so articles around your site topic would probably be enough to get the search engines interested. Each article would have to be HIGHLY OPTIMIZED around specific keywords or phrases to build the traffic and the Adsense revenue.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.elance.com">www.elance.com</a><!-- w --> is highly recommended.
Existing articles - Search <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ezinearticles.com">www.ezinearticles.com</a><!-- w --> to find relevant articles around your topic. Paste these into your site. Beware though, Google are starting to clamp down on duplicated content so this may not be the best long term strategy. Unique content will always be better.
Private label articles - Search for "topic" + "private label articles" to see if any have already been written. Private label rights are where you have the rights to claim yourself as the author, and you can edit the content as you see fit. This is a much cheaper way of getting content than hiring a ghost writer. Also look for private label forums to see if anyone has already written some articles. Resource is <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.yourownarticles.com">www.yourownarticles.com</a><!-- w -->, <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.privaterights.com">www.privaterights.com</a><!-- w -->.
Write it yourself - If you have knowledge around the topic, write the content yourself. That way you can be assured that the content is unique, and it is also FREE!
Keyword research
To find out what people are searching for related to your topic, you can use various tools. These are...
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.overture.com">www.overture.com</a><!-- w --> - Go to the resource center and use the keyword tool. Type in your required search term, and the tool will show you how many people searched for that term in the previous month and what other related terms they are searching for. Note that the results are only for Overture, and are just a guideline for how many searches are being made.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.goodkeywords.com">www.goodkeywords.com</a><!-- w --> - Free tool you can download and use to do the same thing as the Overture research tool.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.wordtracker.com">www.wordtracker.com</a><!-- w --> - The most comprehensive of all the keyword tools. not only will it show you the number of searches being made in a month, it will also show you phrases using similar words based on a thesaurus and dictionary.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.nichebot.com">www.nichebot.com</a><!-- w --> - Very basic tool that will give you a rough idea of searches being made.
Domain statistics
Potential buyers may want to know more details about your domain before parting with any money. Things they are usually interested in are...
Link popularity - How many sites are linking to your domain? This is important because each inbound link is a potential source of free traffic, and because it will help your overall search engine ranking on the results pages.
Search engine saturation - How many pages within your domain are indexed in the search engines? Again this is important because each individual page can generate traffic, if optimized well.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.linkpopularity.com">www.linkpopularity.com</a><!-- w -->
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop">www.marketleap.com/publinkpop</a><!-- w -->
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.urltrends.com">www.urltrends.com</a><!-- w -->
Site design
If you are going to be building a content based site, either for Adsense revenue, or for affiliate program revenue, a great software package is XSitePro (XSP). With XSP, you can build a site in minutes using the built-in templates. All the navigation is done for you as you add new pages. Very, very easy to use, and a comprehensive manual if you get stuck. Highly recommended.
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.popurl.com/xsitepro">www.popurl.com/xsitepro</a><!-- w -->