If you have tried to buy a domain name for any venture, you will be only too aware that there are few "good" names left among the most popular top level domains (TLDs) like .com and .co.uk.
Buying a domain name is easy. You just use a domain name service such as the one at Search Engine Friendly Hosting that allows you to search for available domain names.
By the way, I have heard stories of hosting companies going through their logs of domain searches, and cherry picking any good looking names that have not been immediately purchased. So, be careful where you search (you are safe with Search Engine Friendly Hosting!) and if you find a good name that you want and it is available, don't hesitate in buying it. It only costs a few pounds a year to register.
More often than not however, the name is reported as "already registered", meaning that some one has beaten you to it. If you want to find out who, you can do this by using a WHOIS tool like this one, and if you really need or want the name, make them an offer for it. Will King of King of Shaves said he bought "shave.com" for $35 - possibly the best $35 he has spent!
We have been involved in buying and selling domains for clients, sometimes with active web sites associated with them, which increases their value. Selling your domain names is one way to make money, but you will need some pretty great names for people to want to pay for them.
Aside from a great name, other factors that will increase the value of any name are:
- Age - a mature domain can be seen as more credible by search engines.
- Incoming links - if the domain has been in use previously, it might have useful incoming links which again can be valuable for SEO purposes.
- Active web site - if the domain currently has an active web site on it, attracting traffic, and even business leads then clearly it has a value that can be estimated. We sold a web site in the financial sector for a good four figure sum, based on the strength of its traffic, and that it was generating leads.
Expired Domains
Apart from buying new domains, you can also purchase domains that have "expired." This means a domain that has been owned by someone else but has not been renewed.
Expired domains can be very useful. Imagine I found that the domain "gold-direct.co.uk" had recently expired. I can find out with the WHOIS tool when it was first registered, and from Google, or the
Wayback machine what type of site was there previously. I can also get a rough idea as to how many incoming links the site had from
Yahoo Site Explorer.
All these things will inform my decision as to whether the domain is a good investment or not.
Remember! Make sure you know when your domain names expire, and that the registrar you use has the correct contact details for you. There are few things as traumatic as losing your domain name because you forgot to renew it!
So you can make money from trading domain names, but how else might you monetise your domain portfolio?
I have been a fan of the Adsense program since I started using it in 2004, and started to make $100 a day from an information site about the Open Golf tournament happening locally in Troon.
The Adsense system allows you to position Google Adwords adverts on your own sites, and share the per click profits with Google. In our experience, it is the most efficient way to make indirect money from a site.
Recenty they added a program called Adsense for domains. This makes it very easy to set up Adsense adverts on any domain you own, without having to pay for web hosting. This is significant, as it greatly reduces your costs.
Normally to use Adsense on any domain, you need to register the domain (£3 ish) and then get simple web hosting (£25 ish from
Search Engine Friendly Hosting ) - a total of £28. But with Adsense for Domains, your costs are only £3, making it much easier to make a profit from a domain.
All you need to do is to change some DNS settings for your domain. It's an easy job to do, and then your domain will automatically serve up a page of adverts, links and a search box, optimised by the Google boffins for maximum returns! Here is what a domain looks like with Adsense for Domains on it...
http://www.gold-direct.co.uk/
Good domains can be useful money making assets, and a reasonable investment. Good luck in developing your portfolio.
