Acro.net – Technology Rants & Raves by Acroplex®

It’s quite ironic issuing this statement; as a web developer I am supposed to be pushing everyone around me to develop, build, create.

Right?

While this is true in small quantities, when a domain is truly one project that derives its potential from its owner’s imagination and vision, developing all domain names into web sites is not the smartest thing to do.

You’ve heard the usual mumbo-jumbo for months: develop, mass develop, build minisites and traffic will come flooding faster than a waterfall, even for the ugliest long-tail B’ class TLD that you own.

Wrong.

Without a concrete plan, throwing “content” onto a web site can actually kill its current revenue and potential.

Let me explain.

There has been some conversation lately over at DNForum whether a parked domain can bring in $1,000 per day or more – day after day. While some responses were skeptical and some negative, in all truth such consistent daily revenue is not only possible, it’s actually achievable.

The secret is simple: obtain domains that do well at their basic function of traffic generation. While this category includes the obvious generics and typo-domains, there are also domains with dormant traffic, sleeping giants if you must.

Would you develop a sleeping giant of a domain in order to monetize the traffic that’s already there to be harvested?

Again, as a web developer I would be biased if I told you to go ahead and develop. As a domainer, I will tell you: don’t do it.

In a nutshell:

Smart domaining entails being selective in your domain registrations, parking and development. With time and experience you will learn how to make the right choices about which domains to register, which domains to park and which domains to develop.

There is no single solution for all.

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After reading Rick Schwartz’s latest blog post about how Google AdSense closed down his account over minisite content, I had an obvious question: why did Rick pay TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars for 10 minisites?

The term “minisite” was coined as an obvious bait for the domain community, sometime in the past year and a half. It indicates a quick and dirty development of a web site, often with no graphical user interface, with no custom images and with content of dubious quality. Creation of such “mass developed” minisites is aimed at those with a very small budget that want “something” to go live, in order to monetize it via the placement of AdSense ads or ads from other networks.

There are several such firms that provide development of small web sites, catering to the “minisite” domain gang. Quality of work varies – however, a minisite is a minisite and it does not really qualify as true web development.

With parking revenue dwindling, panicking domainers often opt for the cheapest alternative, not considering long-term results and consequences of pushing out badly executed content. The alternative option would entail the following elements:

• A proper business plan
• A budget
• A development expert
• Time

However, all these elements can be addressed, as long as there is proper focus on what one is trying to achieve.

If the need is for short-term cashflow, minisites *might* work – until Google pulls the plug as in Rick’s case. If the need is for long-term revenue from the development of web sites that actually provide content and add value to the Internet community, the answer is simple: full-fledged web development.

So get your paper pads and pens out and start outlining your next project. Big or small, it does not matter. What matters, is quality of work and control over its execution. So hire a true web development professional. Mass developed mini-sites stand no chance.

Revenue is severely down across the domain parking industry, as PPC companies slowly but surely pass the “benefits” of trickle-down economics to the domainers.

Meanwhile, the main advertising providers, Google and Yahoo post record revenue while they’re reducing ad revenue paid to domain holders. Time to develop your domains.

Click on the image below and enjoy your Friday!

I read a very informative and full of substance blog post today, from fellow domainer and web developer, Tia Wood. It offers a concise analysis of a strategy often overlooked by domainers, who opt to park their domains: Lead capture.

Tia explains what the two basic categories of lead capture, incoming and outgoing, are about. Remarkably, it appears that PPC companies are acting simply as middle men to large advertising feeds, such as Google and Yahoo, without taking advantage of the sheer amount of traffic that passes daily through these channels.

Imagine that you went to a fish-rich bay with a huge fishing net that has holes sized for large fish: you’d let the majority of the fish pass through. In a similar manner, your daily traffic passing through the parking pages offered by PPC companies has little chances of being captured – either for analysis or for generating sales leads.

I have found that the simple insertion of a contact link at parked pages, e.g. at a domain parked via Parked.com can both capture and generate leads: you can track visits, clicks and offer a contact form for further inquiries from non-domainer visitors.

But read on, at Tia’s blog.

It’s no secret that when things go wrong with Sedo – or any other service-oriented company – I tend to run my mouth a bit; out of frustration about the things that go wrong. But I’m also the one that praises them when things go right, or when wronged things get fixed pretty painlessly.

In light of this “brand new me” – since it’s a brand new year, 2009 – I decided to post a few tips that have worked for me, when it comes down to ironing things out with Sedo-related issues.

• Respond to each notification email by explaining exactly what you did at that step. E.g. “Domain xxxxx.com was pushed to the Sedo account, abc123, with GoDaddy.” This way there is a tracking record in the transaction agent’s mailbox and yours.
• If you’re the buyer, pay for the domain you won immediately after. If you are the seller, push the domain immediately after you’re asked to do so – don’t put things off! This way, you’ve done your part and you encourage and prompt the other party – and Sedo – to act accordingly.
• Keep a personal, friendly relationship with the Sedo personnel and the agent that handles your transaction. Personalize all communications by signing your emails with your full contact info.
• Call Sedo’s offices on the phone as needed, to ensure a transaction’s status is updated the same day. E.g. if you paid for or pushed a domain, give them a call at the closest location to you. Your agent might be in Germany or the UK but if you are in the US call the US office; they have the ability to sync transactions.
• Give them credit when credit is due; they are people that have jobs like everybody else. This seems to be the most neglected issue on the list.
• For the most part, avoid PMing them on forums, especially for support matters, although they seem to offer this type of feature. Use their support/ticket system, email or phone to resolve matters, in order of importance.

My next blog post will be about a large domain sale that Sedo assisted me with – don’t miss out!