Thread: new domain name

Nice, short domain name. Usually, numbers can turn people off but in your case, 4x4 is pretty standard in most minds. You going to park the domain or build upon it?

I wasnt planning on doing the website thing right now but I thought about the name and it was available so I scooped it up. I may as well do something with it. trading isnt taking up as much time as I thought.

I just have no idea what I want to do with it lol. I will stew on it for a few days and see what pops into mind.

Carrie,

Look into parking it. You can do this for free and (hopefully) make some money off of it with ads until you decide if you are going to use it or not. You may want to visit www.namedrive.com to get started on researching the concept of domain parking and how to get started. ...Are you thinking of creating a forum, blog or an ecommerce site or ??? Keep us posted, and go for it!

wow! cool resource. I've got half a dozen domains...

not doing a thing with them...

"someday"

maybe I'll do this if it doesn't take much time!

Thanks! ++

Thanks for the rep. ...Domain parking is fascinating. If you have a bunch of names you can park them all and see which ones are generating traffic-which will help drive the value of the domain if and when you go to sell (in theory). There are multiple approaches to optimizing a parked domain; I think namedrive has some articles about it.

Don't look to make a ton of money though unless you have domain names that people will be typing in several times a day. For example, (not knocking it)....unless the website 4x4u.com is realllly popular, 4x4you,.com will not get a ton of "type in" traffic. A domain that would...cars.com

What's it mean?

So true. The difference between traffic is if people type in what they are looking for into a search engine v. typing in the domain.com to see what comes up, like cars.com

You may not make a ton of money, but it can be fun putting together a page- and who knows what other ideas might spring forth from you doing that. ...If you have the time, knowing that it may only generate a couple of bucks, but could lead to something down the road- go for it. ...We were looking at trying to buy the acronym for our site, (4 letters) and it was taken and parked. The guy has a pretty good ad stream going, (so it appears) and wants $10k for the name. ...And the letters are just nonsensical. Of course, he may be basing the value of his domain just on the fact that it is 4 letters, nonsensical or not!

I think I will try to throw something up myself.

I would imagine that even if I just threw up some links of my own and maybe adsense Id make more money that way by cutting out the middle man.

I'm totally ignorant about this domain stuff, but I find it fascinating. So, please don't flog me for asking ridiculously elementary questions.

I bought/registered a few domain names at 1and1.com that I like. I have ideas about how to develop several of them. So please (using small words!!) explain to me what I need to do in the meantime.

When I key one into the address bar, it comes up with a bunch of ad links on there already. Does that mean that 1and1.com is getting click-thru $ for them instead of me?

If I want to use one for a blog, how do I get other clickable links on there with which to make $?

How do I maximize traffic, with the goal of revenue generation so that I may ultimately sell the domain name at a profit?

I'm so green at this, I don't even know what I don't know yet!! I've scanned a few forums and online articles to try to get the basics, but I'm really a bit overwhelmed at this point.

Help? Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by Jill

Help? Thanks in advance!

Sounds like your domains are parked, but if you want to develop them yourself, you should host them as inexpensively as possible. I've been using GooglePages, and it's satisfactory for the startup stages and includes basic templates for building some pages. Plus, it integrates handily with Google's Adsense, Adwords, Analytics, and Webmaster Tools. Except for Adwords, they're all free and relatively user-friendly. You just need to commit to the time and due diligence.

As far as making money, I would read the article I posted on monetizing your blog. My blog is currently at Blogspot, but if I want it to take off, I'll need to host it myself.

Anyway, I'm still just learning too, but I hope some of these resources help.

Thanks, oodles. I'll start with some of those links, then come back with some more intelligent questions!

Jill, I'll add a couple tidbits in addition to Peerless. Just a couple, as you said you were overwhelmed and just learning; I know the feeling, I am as well.

If you purchased your domain names and have changed nothing, the adds you see belong to 1and1. In essence, they are parking the page instead of you. To change this, you have to change your NameServers. This is always the same no matter which registrar you use.

Prior to this, you would have signed up with a parking company or purchased a hosting plan. Either way, each will have their own nameservers, which will most likely be emailed to you when you sign up for anything. It will look like ns1.parkingcomany

In your registars control panel (1and1 in this instance), you can change the nameservers to the destination of the company or hosting of your choice. This will get you on your way to controlling your online property.

From here, you will most likely either set up parking pages from within that companies website or setup an ftp account and upload software/content.

The best place to learn about domain flipping is www.namepros.com or places of the like.

Originally Posted by Jill

Thanks, oodles.

You're welcome. I hope it helps. Just stay focused and read like a pro. There's a lot of info out there, and you need to sift thought the jargon to the content, so that you avoid analysis paralysis.

Originally Posted by mtnman

Prior to this, you would have signed up with a parking company or purchased a hosting plan. Either way, each will have their own nameservers, which will most likely be emailed to you when you sign up for anything.

Good stuff, mtnman! Can you (or anyone else) recommend a good parking company? Or are they all the same?

Everyone has their opinions, but the favorite seems to be www.namedrive.com . I have used parked.com, namedrive, and a couple others, but I don't put too much time into it, as it's super slow on revenue unless you have incredible type ins. I believe there are a few threads on this topic, but I don't have them all bookmarked. Here's one....

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com...hlight=parking

Pages 7 & 8 of the Domains thread..http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com...6779#post36779

Originally Posted by mtnman

. . . but I don't put too much time into it, as it's super slow on revenue unless you have incredible type ins . . .

So I'm better off developing some kind of legitimate content on the site, and trying to get traffic from actual searches rather than type-ins, eh?

Haha, well this too is a matter of opinion. The advantage you have is understanding fastlane to slowlane. Most get lost in the quick buck. I'll be the first to admit I did. BUT, "with great struggle, comes great reward."

No matter the opinion, the reality is, unless you have incredible exact word/phrase 'type-in' domains (regged in the 90's for the most part, or purchased for many thousands of dollars), there isn't much that's going to help a parked page. At 2-30 cents ppc, it wreaks of slowlane. As always, there are MANY exceptions to the rule...if you happen to coordinate an exception, then you could chase the google.cm dream.

My opinion is, development all the way. You can creatively design and execute a planned system that will blow the doors off your potential parking revenue.

I must say, these next few statements aren't a direct quote (quote intended), but a direct result of some of the most valuable knowledge I've learned; this specifically being from MJ.

It's simple, the more you offer, the more you earn. The more value you create, the more success you will have. If your business, website, heart, whatever... is NOT providing a legitimate service that aids peoples lives with a decent impact, then the dollars do NOT follow. Not that you need an elementary lesson here (utmost respect intended Jill, you and your hubby are admired!). In terms of parking pages, what does that offer people?

IMHO a bunch of shit, that internet savvy people click away from or get annoyed by (speaking for myself). In return, the owners make pennies per click. On the contrary, Lucinda Bassett (random example of an anxiety treatment empire), created an online counseling service, membership program, helpful media, etc... to go along with her books that helps gazillions of people with anxiety. In return, her company makes gazillions of dollars.

There's no need to spend crazy money on domain names when you can add value yourself. On a side note, sitepoint.com has great sales for previously registered names.

Creative thinking and effort can add value to anything. Including a web address. It's just like buying a run down foreclosure...fixer' up, add value, and sell for profit. In this case, you buy an available domain name (avg $10, and has no value other than it's own note, much like a dilapidated property) pick one of the myriad of ways to add value, and either sell or design to remove yourself from the equation (long term use), as your fastlane plan sees fit.

Also, I'm not sure what industry your topic or domains fit in, but I would recommend seeing what the current trend is while your planning your attack. I didn't do this in the beginning, and it set me back quite a bit.

What I mean by that is use one of the many methods to detect what people want. I think some or Peerless' links lead to google adwords keyword tool and google trends. Those should get you started in that arena.

MJ's EP post is a good one to read, right before jumping into researching for your online projects. Furthermore, in your specified niche, what is lacking? What do people want?

Do you find websites in your niche providing content or service that you're knowledgeable about? Do you research your niche and say to yourself, "these people are idiots, this is what they REALLY need to do"? If anything of the like fits, or a 'missing link' can be identified, then I think it's safe to say "you can do it better."

There are many more knowledgeable about this arena than I, hopefully they will chime in. Perhaps I should have put this in it's own thread.

Sorry to hijack Carrie!