Review of Last Month’s Minisite Domains

April 6, 2009

I’ve been doing a running experiment for the last six weeks.  Each day I highlight one good available domain and write about why I like it.   I pick mini site quality .com names – ones which can easily be monetized.  As a domainer, it helps keep my skills up – nothing like instant feedback from a bunch of active domainers to see if a name is good or bad.   The results have been encouraging.  Out of the last 15 names posted, all were registered within 5 minutes and many were registered in less than a minute.

Thought it might be helpful to share the factors I look for…

  • Domains must be .com generic names containing exact match keywords
  • The keywords must be relevant and have good commercial value.  I measure this by using Google’s sktool, Trellian and Wordtracker to check demand and CPC.
  • The keywords must be in the correct order.  No misspellings, typos or strange variations.

These types of names get better type-in traffic and are excellent for developing into mini sites.   Since they have Adwords advertisers, they can be easily monetized with Adsense/affiliate programs or resold to an end user.

Some of the domains I have posted…

I just updated the complete list, but here are some of my favorites from last month…

Details

I typically post the available domain of the day betweeen 11AM – 11PM EST.     I e-mail it first to my mailing list subscribers, then post a tweet 1-2 minutes later.    I try to include a link showing possible uses like a Google search showing advertisers or a list of relevant products.

Since the names are unregistered, people can use their favorite registrar.    Usually several people all try at once and the winner tweets in to claim victory.  If you are interested, here are a few tips to help improve your chances…

  • Subscribe here to receive advance e-mail notification of each day’s name.
  • Follow me at @DomainTweeter.  I usually post a notice before sending the e-mail and then tweet the name two minutes later.
  • Since most names receive many simultaneous registrations, you may want to use a fast registrar and have your billing information pre-programmed.  Or use a program like Roboform to fill in your information.