Update: Due to high volume, newsletter will now be sent out on Monday, January 9th, 2012.
Domaining.com is accepting names for a special newsletter scheduled to go out on Monday January 9th, 2012. The newsletter will also be sent to DNForum and DomainState members, so it looks like a good way to get your name in front of a lot of fellow domainers.
Here are the details as well as a few recommendations…
- They are accepting one domain per person and selecting a total of 100 names - all extensions welcome, but .COM recommended. It should go without saying (for the first three), but the submission page states ‘no typos, hacks, cyberquatting, or adult’.
- Sales commission is 10% with 2 week exclusivity after the newsletter is delivered.
- Domain sales handled by escrow (included in commission) via Domaining.com’s ECOP escrow service.
Recommendations…
- Since the submission page mentions ‘priced for domainers’, this is probably not the place to look for end user pricing.
- The submission process uses Valuate.com’s (owned by Domaining.com) automated appraisal process, so if you are trying to decide between a few different domains to submit, might be a good idea to run them all through Valuate.com since this may be used as a significant factor in domain selection.
- As with any automated service, its algorithm may favor certain types of names (e.g. high CPC / search demand, etc.), so you might want to factor this into your selection decision. For example, I haven’t decided on which name to submit yet, but am considering one which has a $7,100 valuation due to a $12+ CPC.
- The submission page also has an optional short slogan or note - always a good idea to fill out to bring additional attention to the name and to list anything that makes it special.
Here’s the link for the submission form:
http://www.cax.com/submit/newsletter/
Best of luck on an early domain sale in 2012!
Wanted to pass along the following article from SearchEngineLand…
A new study from Microsoft Research confirms what most SEOs have known for years—that domain names are a crucial element for capturing clicks and conversions from search results. Unlike what’s been published in most search marketing forums, however, this research was not focused on SEO techniques or search engine ranking algorithms, but rather on observed searcher behavior, offering insights about how people actually respond to what’s presented to them in search results.
Here’s the link to the Search Engine Land article….
As well as a link to the research paper…
It seems like you can’t open your e-mail box, without black friday offers, from just about every type of product. Reviewed all the offers I’ve seen so far, and wanted to pass along some of the better ones which might be useful to domainers….
Hosting Coupons and Hosting Specials
1. Received an e-mail with advance notice of HostGator’s Black Friday sale. Right now they are offering 20% off, but as of midnight tonight, they will be offering 50% of all hosting services, including shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, Dedicated servers and Windows hosting (but not including domain names). The special will run for one day, and will not require a special coupon code. Here are some of the pricing examples given in the message.
- Shared hosting: As low as $4.95 Now only: $2.48/month (pre-paid)
- Reseller Hosting: As low as $24.95 Now Only: $12.48/month (pre-paid)
- VPS Hosting: As low as $19.95 Now Only: $9.98/month (First Month)
- Dedicated Servers: As low as $174 Now Only $87/month (First Month)
If you’re like most domainers, you probably already have a hosting account which lets you host unlimited domain names. However there are a few reasons to have more than one ‘unlimited’ account….
- For a few extra dollars a month, it’s nice to be able to spread sites across a different hosting accounts. If you’re using shared hosting, you’re site’s probably been down a few times over the last year. With multiple servers, even bad outages only affect a small percentage of sites.
- Some domainers mirror all their sites on two different hosting accounts - that way they always have an online backup. Also if a host is having an extended outage, they can just change the DNS for the sites to switch to the live server.
- Multiple IP addresses - For SEO purposes, some domainers choose to link different sites to each other. From a SEO standpoint, tread carefully. Cross link everything and you run a good chance of being penalized, do it where relevant and you may get a nice SEO boost. Since shared accounts typically use the same IP address or IP range, linking sites using two different hosting companies can carry more wait than linking sites on the same server since the sites are probably being hosted on a different IP range.
Not sure if I’ll pick up an extra account at midnight, have been thinking of getting trying out their VPS Hosting account, so I may give it a try.
2. Not sure what Dreamhost’s Black Friday special will be yet, but noticed that they are running a Thanksgiving special (good till midnight tonight) offering a year of hosting for $9.24 cents. This one requires a coupon code - which is ‘777thanks11′ and is good until midnight tonight.
3. Fatcow Hosting is offering $3.15/month shared hosting including unlimited domains and bandwidth (65% off). This special is for the next 3 days and does not require a coupon.
I’ll live blog this post and keep adding to it, but wanted publish what I had so far, since the Dreamhost special ends in about 90 minutes.
In the meantime, if you come across a good special, please feel free to add it as a comment or e-mail me and I will post it here.
If you’re looking to maximize the sales price of your domains and own names which are likely to be attractive to end-users (e.g. generic exact match .com/.net domains), you might want to consider these two strategies…
First, it’s helpful to stop thinking like a domainer and start thinking like an average end-user. Most end-users aren’t familiar with whois and check to see if a domain is available by one of two ways:
1. They simply type the domain name into their browser…
• If they see the name is owned by a company in their business, they likely stop right there.
• If they see an error message or a un-configured hosting page, they likely stop right there.
• If they see a parked page, and there’s no prominent and obvious indication that the domain is for sale, they likely stop right there.
Why not make it easy for them?
If your names aren’t developed and you’re not making a lot of money from parking, consider creating a simple ‘domain for sale page’ and pointing your domains to it. At the bare minimum, the page should clearly indicate that the name is for sale and tell visitors how they can go about purchasing it. Even better, assume that the end-user probably hasn’t bought an aftermarket domain before and…
• Talk about the importance of having a good domain and explain the advantages (e.g. professionalism, memorability, SEO, better response rates from off-line advertising, etc.).
• Reassure the end-user that these types of transactions are easy and safe to complete.
• Include your contact information, or an unintimidating form that the end-user can use to get in contact with you.
How to do it
You don’t have to be a web developer or have any major web design skills.
One way is to set up a simple page using WordPress. If you already have a web hosting account with a popular hosting company like Dreamhost or Hostgator, you probably already have the ability to create an unlimited amount of sites for free and to install WordPress with one click.
Once WordPress is installed, you can select from the many free themes that most hosting companies include and configure a simple page in about an hour or so.
Or if you don’t have a hosting account or aren’t familiar with WordPress, you might want to use a service like Wufoo which makes it pretty easy and has a free plan for simple pages.
Summary
Either way, once you have your page on-line, end users who type in your name will have no doubt that it’s for sale, may start to warm up to the idea of purchasing it (vs. hand registering an inferior available domain) and will have a clear cut way of contacting you and initiating a dialog.
In the second part of this post, I’ll discuss the other primary way end users check availability and a very easy way to get your names directly in front of them along with some specific pricing tips and strategic advice.
If you are developing your domains into web sites, link building can be one of the more challenging tasks. Just read the following post at SearchEngineLand and thought it would be useful to many domainers….
15 Link Building Predictions & Recommendations For 2011
The post includes link building tips from 3 well known SEO / link building consultants…
- Eric Ward (definition of old-school link builder - Helped Amazon.com with their initial launch and worked with other heavy hitters like PBS, Warner Brothers and Weather.com)
- Debra Mastaler (offers link building training and operates Linkspiel.com)
- Julie Joyce (operates a link development firm and is a founding member of SEOChicks.com).
I’m currently putting together a list of exact match .com keyword domains which I’ll be offering for sale at domainer/resale prices. The list will include generic product names, high demand CPC names and some good directory quality names. Also some traffic/revenue names and a few minisites / e-commerce storefronts - some with top 10 Google rankings and original content.
If you’re interested in receiving an advance copy of the list or are looking to buy certain types of names (specific keywords/niches, high CPC, geo, etc.), email me or DM me on Twitter.
I’m pretty lazy about checking my parking stats and am usually more concerned with developing and selling names. Recently starting using a pretty cool iPhone app which lets me glance at daily and monthly revenue as well as well as my top performing names for the day.
Noticed that one of my hand registrations (Free800Number.com) just earned $4.87 a click on Smartname. Logged in to my account and see that the name is doing pretty well (especially for a non-optimized straight parking page which I haven’t spent any time customizing).
Turns out this name received 70 unique visitors this month, has a 17% click-through rate and generated $22.93 this month. Average Revenue per click for the month is $1.91, so I don’t know if the $4.87 click was a fluke or an upward trend (possibly due to Smartname changing to a Bing feed), but one can hope.
Of course most my hand registered names don’t do this well parking, but it is a nice surprise and should pay some renewal fees while I decide to develop or resell the name.
Feel free to post any of your own specific domain parking examples (good or bad) below. If there is any interest I might make this a regular feature so we can all learn from each others experiences.
Wanted to post a quick follow up to my recent available domains post. 54 names from the list were registered - the great majority within 4 hours.
Chris from Zoop.co was the contest winner and will receive a free custom written article for his ProteinShakes.biz hand registration. Congratulations Chris and best of luck with the name!
If you would like to be notified next time I publish an available domains list, you can sign-up here to receive advance notification.
Wanted to post some raw data that I use to analyze names for potential hand registration. As of the time of this post (11:00AM), all the following names are available to register with your favorite registrar.
In case you are new to this, here are a couple ideas you might want to use for the better names…
- Use the ‘Search Demand’, ‘CPC” and ‘Advertisers’ column to estimate the potential profitability of a name.
- temporary park them to see what kind of type-in traffic they might receive
- for product domains, try creating a free Smartshop site
- create a free Whypark site to try to help market the name to an end user
- build a mini or microsite using Wordpress or XsitePro
- decide which names lend themselves to development, which to market to end users and which to try to flip to other domainers.
Free article contest: If you register any of the following and leave a comment with the name and your idea, I’ll pick one comment and supply you with a free custom written article you can use to get your minisite or web 2.0 parked page some unique content and jumpstart your chances of getting your page indexed and ranked. Details below…
| Domain |
Avg Search Volume |
Avg Cpc |
Search Ads |
| proteinshakes.biz |
90,280 |
$2.22 |
10 |
| restaurantfurniture.us |
49,410 |
$2.13 |
11 |
| smallbusinesscreditcards.biz |
33,062 |
$21.08 |
11 |
| hottubcovers.info |
33,062 |
$8.41 |
5 |
| sexualassault.us |
33,062 |
$6.30 |
8 |
| orlandohouses.us |
33,062 |
$2.74 |
11 |
| magazineracks.biz |
27,084 |
$2.38 |
11 |
| dslproviders.biz |
22,082 |
$6.51 |
11 |
| billorganizer.us |
22,082 |
$1.15 |
11 |
| digitalvideocameras.us |
14,762 |
$3.14 |
11 |
| pregnancyyoga.us |
14,762 |
$1.16 |
8 |
| broadwayshowtickets.us |
9,882 |
$8.25 |
9 |
| corporategiftbaskets.biz |
9,882 |
$5.11 |
8 |
| aluminumtrailers.biz |
9,882 |
$0.77 |
11 |
| vampirecostume.biz |
9,882 |
$0.47 |
1 |
| michiganforeclosure.us |
8,052 |
$2.42 |
9 |
| internetdomainregistration.us |
6,588 |
$14.45 |
11 |
| jewelryauction.biz |
6,588 |
$2.66 |
11 |
| customerservicenumber.net |
5,368 |
$3.42 |
0 |
| businesstaxes.biz |
5,368 |
$3.34 |
8 |
| fitnesscamp.us |
4,392 |
$2.28 |
11 |
| videobabymonitor.us |
4,392 |
$1.55 |
5 |
| teammotivation.net |
4,392 |
$1.41 |
8 |
| privatejetcharters.us |
2,928 |
$20.53 |
11 |
| boosters.us |
2,928 |
$1.38 |
3 |
| apacheloganalyzer.com |
2,318 |
$5.83 |
11 |
| huntingdogtraining.net |
2,318 |
$1.46 |
6 |
| highriskcreditcardprocessing.us |
1,952 |
$26.97 |
11 |
| eggharbortownship.net |
1,952 |
$1.97 |
5 |
| distressedproperty.us |
1,952 |
$1.77 |
8 |
| smallbusinessvaluation.us |
1,586 |
$4.73 |
11 |
| breakfastinbedtray.com |
1,586 |
$0.83 |
5 |
| rothiraearlywithdrawal.com |
1,220 |
$5.12 |
4 |
| luxuryestates.us |
1,220 |
$3.36 |
4 |
| handicapper.us |
1,220 |
$1.59 |
6 |
| 40yearmortgagecalculator.com |
1,073 |
$6.91 |
11 |
| equipmentoperator.net |
1,073 |
$4.21 |
10 |
| autumnweddingfavors.com |
1,073 |
$2.16 |
6 |
| showerradiocdplayer.com |
1,073 |
$1.02 |
8 |
| lineofcredithomeequity.info |
878 |
$27.09 |
11 |
| payperclickmanager.info |
878 |
$13.69 |
11 |
| broadcastservices.info |
719 |
$7.03 |
3 |
| aluminumwindchimes.com |
719 |
$0.99 |
9 |
| nonprofitcreditcarddebtconsolidation.com |
585 |
$18.67 |
11 |
| postcardmailers.net |
585 |
$12.23 |
11 |
| 1031taxfreeexchange.info |
585 |
$10.42 |
10 |
| lifesettlementbroker.biz |
475 |
$16.91 |
11 |
| onlinepennystockbroker.com |
475 |
$10.09 |
11 |
| schoolshelters.info |
475 |
$1.83 |
3 |
| webvideoconferencingsoftware.com |
390 |
$16.38 |
11 |
| corporatebusinesscards.biz |
390 |
$11.49 |
4 |
| ukfixedratemortgage.com |
390 |
$8.67 |
11 |
| federalsecurityjobs.com |
390 |
$1.81 |
9 |
| lightupkeyboards.com |
390 |
$1.51 |
11 |
| securedcreditcardsuk.com |
317 |
$11.01 |
9 |
| dogbiteliability.com |
317 |
$5.41 |
0 |
| reloadableprepaidcreditcard.com |
317 |
$4.16 |
11 |
| businesscreditcardholder.com |
317 |
$4.14 |
5 |
| scottsdaleluxuryresort.com |
317 |
$3.39 |
11 |
| maketeeshirts.com |
317 |
$2.48 |
6 |
| tshirtprintingbusiness.com |
317 |
$1.93 |
7 |
| beatspeedingtickets.us |
317 |
$1.45 |
5 |
| softwarebargains.net |
317 |
$1.33 |
5 |
| motorcyclebatteries.info |
317 |
$0.94 |
6 |
| automotiveinsurancequote.us |
256 |
$35.14 |
11 |
| debtconsolidationcreditreport.com |
256 |
$14.20 |
11 |
| chilledwatersystems.com |
256 |
$1.54 |
4 |
| virginiaapartmentsforrent.com |
256 |
$1.09 |
11 |
| tableairhockey.com |
207 |
$1.08 |
4 |
| refinancemortgagehomeequityloan.com |
170 |
$22.08 |
11 |
| travelagentlist.com |
170 |
$1.21 |
11 |
| pinstripeshoes.com |
170 |
$1.03 |
6 |
| weddingspeechetiquette.com |
170 |
$0.33 |
5 |
| doubleglazingcompanies.net |
134 |
$7.74 |
11 |
| winegiftcertificates.com |
134 |
$3.43 |
5 |
| federalforeclosure.us |
134 |
$3.40 |
9 |
| golditaliancharmbracelets.com |
134 |
$2.04 |
8 |
| vancouveraccomodations.com |
134 |
$2.02 |
10 |
| irritablebowelsyndromerelief.com |
134 |
$2.01 |
9 |
| lcd30.com |
134 |
$0.71 |
4 |
| charitablevehicledonation.com |
110 |
$19.76 |
11 |
| crmfinancialsoftware.com |
110 |
$17.66 |
11 |
| monitorglarefilter.com |
110 |
$1.68 |
11 |
| policecertificates.com |
110 |
$1.06 |
4 |
| buysleepingbag.com |
110 |
$0.97 |
4 |
| lowestraterefinance.com |
88 |
$27.68 |
11 |
| co2laserengraver.com |
88 |
$5.89 |
11 |
| rentalcellphones.com |
88 |
$5.30 |
11 |
| cairopackages.com |
88 |
$2.25 |
7 |
| 401kpenalty.com |
88 |
$0.87 |
1 |
| confirmedaddress.com |
70 |
$2.33 |
0 |
| findobgyn.com |
70 |
$1.36 |
11 |
| desktopdockingstation.com |
55 |
$1.74 |
5 |
| monthlyapr.com |
43 |
$2.94 |
0 |
| strandbeach.com |
43 |
$1.41 |
1 |
| homecleanup.biz |
33 |
$3.16 |
9 |
| homebusinesspromotion.com |
26 |
$6.54 |
5 |
| mortgageinterestrepayment.com |
14 |
$5.31 |
9 |
Free article contest details: If you register any of the above names and leave a comment with the name and your idea, I’ll pick one winner from the comments and supply you with a free custom written article you can use to get your minisite or web 2.0 parked page some unique content and jumpstart your chances of getting your page indexed and ranked. The article will be unique and custom written by one of my regular writers - not the result of a PLR article spinner or scraper content. Even if your eventual goal, is resale of a name to end user, creating a one page minisite demonstrating the use of the name can be a helpful selling point since it allows them to visualize the use of the name.
Retweet this post and double your chances of winning the contest. Leaving a comment AND retweeting this post will double your chances. Just use the retweet button at the top right corner of this post.
Misc domain updates:
- I read Acro’s article yesterday and tend to agree. It may be too soon to tell, but I have noticed an uptake in parking earnings both on Parked.com and Smartname - both who have recently implemented the Bing/Yahoo changes.
- I’ve also noticed an increase in unsolicited end user inquiries this month - even on a number of recently hand registered domains.
- Hope to have some new case studies up soon. Right now I have a nice end user directory domain on Auction at Sedo ending in the next 24 hours. Reserve has already been met, but the name is still priced still well priced under Valuate.com appraisal and comparable domain sales. Might be worth checking out if you are considering getting into lead generation or have in interest in setting up a Directorypress site with featured end user listings.
That’s it for today. If you are interested in receiving advance notice on future available domains, you can subscribe to my free domain newsletter here .
Rob Monster’s TRAFFIC Swapfest auction starts at 10:00 this morning. Here are my .com and .net picks (with stats). Most are geared towards product portals, however a few might be suitable for resale to end users. All picks are on the merits of the domains themselves as I didn’t have time to review existing sites or current earnings. I used the search data and CPC listed on the Swapbook spreadsheet so you may want to use the Google keyword tool or Valuate.com to double check as a few of the CPC’s listed seemed very high.
| Domain Name |
Estibot |
Searches |
CPC |
| 2linetelephone.com |
$2,200.00 |
1,968 |
$3.85 |
| attention-deficit-disorder.com |
$15.00 |
73,810 |
$2.46 |
| booze-cruise.com |
$130.00 |
9,882 |
$1.57 |
| brazilianbathingsuits.com |
$720.00 |
2,337 |
$16.05 |
| bread-slicers.com |
$10.00 |
9,963 |
$1.17 |
| bubbleliquid.com |
$1,100.00 |
1,082 |
$70.05 |
| bubblenecklace.com |
$2,100.00 |
1,230 |
$69.05 |
| carboosterseat.com |
$3,100.00 |
3,538 |
$1.53 |
| cellphonechargingstation.com |
$1,700.00 |
5,412 |
$0.99 |
| confidentialityagreement.net |
$920.00 |
18,056 |
$1.00 |
| digital-converter.com |
$630.00 |
27,306 |
$1.30 |
| disposablebedpads.com |
$210.00 |
590 |
$28.05 |
| dog-feeders.com |
$20.00 |
2,952 |
$1.42 |
| drinkingwaterhose.com |
$510.00 |
1,599 |
$98.05 |
| dualtimezonewatch.com |
$640.00 |
2,952 |
$1.28 |
| ethernet-switches.com |
$450.00 |
5,412 |
$5.06 |
| evaporativehumidifier.com |
$4,400.00 |
2,337 |
$2.55 |
| floatingswimsuit.com |
$1,500.00 |
590 |
$96.05 |
| gamingcomputerdesks.com |
$1,500.00 |
1,073 |
$3.26 |
| glassjamjars.com |
$780.00 |
2,337 |
$99.05 |
| graphictablets.net |
$1,800.00 |
9,963 |
$2.64 |
| hdmireceivers.com |
$2,200.00 |
2,337 |
$1.23 |
| hdtvprojector.net |
$1,800.00 |
3,567 |
$3.70 |
| hulaskirt.com |
$12,000.00 |
6,588 |
$1.18 |
| keyloggerdetection.com |
$2,800.00 |
2,928 |
$1.57 |
| motorcyclecameramount.com |
$1,400.00 |
2,952 |
$1.45 |
| muscle-supplements.com |
$170.00 |
9,963 |
$2.33 |
| photo-mugs.com |
$990.00 |
14,883 |
$4.08 |
| pirsecuritylight.com |
$550.00 |
2,952 |
$127.05 |
| recessedledlighting.com |
$1,300.00 |
1,230 |
$3.16 |
| rechargeabletoothbrush.com |
$3,800.00 |
5,412 |
$2.29 |
| retractablelanyards.com |
$4,000.00 |
590 |
$52.05 |
| rfmodulator.com |
$38,000.00 |
22,082 |
$1.56 |
| rubber-wristbands.com |
$65.00 |
12,078 |
$5.95 |
| sailboat-rental.com |
$15.00 |
2,318 |
$1.74 |
| seltzermachine.com |
$680.00 |
319 |
$55.05 |
| small-printers.com |
$20.00 |
5,368 |
$7.50 |
| smallbeanbags.com |
$480.00 |
1,082 |
$119.05 |
| smallfishtanks.com |
$760.00 |
885 |
$157.05 |
| spiralbindingmachines.com |
$1,600.00 |
479 |
$57.05 |
| sweat-bands.com |
$20.00 |
3,567 |
$2.38 |
| swimtubes.com |
$1,200.00 |
590 |
$114.05 |
| teethwhiteningtray.com |
$4,800.00 |
4,428 |
$5.00 |
| usbcreditcardreader.com |
$1,600.00 |
1,082 |
$5.20 |
| usbethernetadapter.com |
$1,700.00 |
3,567 |
$1.35 |
| usbpendrives.net |
$1,300.00 |
5,412 |
$2.82 |
| visiontest.com |
$5,400.00 |
12,078 |
$0.54 |
| waterbottlecooler.com |
$1,100.00 |
885 |
$3.40 |
