New Rick Latona T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Auction Cheatsheet — DomainTweeter

New Rick Latona T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Auction Cheatsheet

October 19, 2010

Thought it would be useful to make a new domain auction ‘cheatsheet’ for today’s 4:00PM live auction – taking into account reserve prices and using one of my favorite metrics (search demand x CPC) to find keyword .com names which may have more potential to monetize than others.

Once again, due to number of domains involved, I used Estibot to gather search demand and CPC instead of performing individual searches using Google’s keyword tool. I’ve also included links to the auction inventory and to other domainers’ auction picks.

Of course there is much more to selecting good names than analyzing search volume and CPC, but these metrics can be a very useful starting point.

Top Keyword .COM domains (sorted by search volume x CPC)

Domain	Volume x CPC	Avg Search Vol.	Avg Cpc	Reserve		Range
domain-names.com	$7,654,400.00	460,000	$16.64	20,001	–	100,000
FruitBaskets.com	$371,850.00	92,500	$4.02	100,000	+
WebsiteDesigners.com	$280,936.25	41,375	$6.79	7,001	–	20,000
PopUpBlocker.com	$270,393.75	61,875	$4.37	7,001	–	20,000
Physical.com	$269,500.00	137,500	$1.96	20,001	–	100,000
CD.com	$224,812.50	206,250	$1.09	100,000	+
Actresses.com	$131,687.50	376,250	$0.35	20,001	–	100,000
UnderConstruction.com	$56,270.00	41,375	$1.36	7,001	–	20,000
Depressants.com	$51,727.50	15,125	$3.42	1,501	–	7,000
shock.com	$42,018.75	50,625	$0.83	100,000	+
ParkHomes.com	$39,930.00	15,125	$2.64	20,001	–	100,000
SoundBars.com	$37,237.50	41,375	$0.90	7,001	–	20,000
KingBeds.com	$37,056.25	15,125	$2.45	400	–	1,500
Athlete.com	$32,858.75	33,875	$0.97	100,000	+
Require.com	$30,155.00	18,500	$1.63	7,001	–	20,000
ForeclosureRefinance.com	$30,030.00	1,625	$18.48	7,001	–	20,000
SEM.com	$28,027.50	27,750	$1.01	100,000	+
Coed.com	$20,362.50	22,625	$0.90	20,001	–	100,000
Usury.com	$18,685.00	18,500	$1.01	1,501	–	7,000
FloridaFishing.com	$18,480.00	8,250	$2.24	20,001	–	100,000
Wildcard.com	$16,537.50	6,750	$2.45	100,000	+
SecretaryofDefense.com	$15,881.25	15,125	$1.05	400	–	1,500
Hematologist.com	$15,592.50	12,375	$1.26	20,001	–	100,000
Alligators.com	$13,162.50	50,625	$0.26	20,001	–	100,000
BalHarbour.com	$12,868.75	3,625	$3.55	20,001	–	100,000
CamerasOnline.com	$12,375.00	5,500	$2.25	20,001	–	100,000
SalesAgents.com	$11,880.00	4,500	$2.64	20,001	–	100,000
CommercialPainting.com	$10,222.50	3,625	$2.82	1,501	–	7,000
WifiAccess.com	$9,243.75	3,625	$2.55	7,001	–	20,000
CorporateAmerica.com	$8,736.25	3,625	$2.41	7,001	–	20,000
Taxidermist.com	$8,505.00	6,750	$1.26	7,001	–	20,000
SlaveTrade.com	$7,411.25	15,125	$0.49	1,501	–	7,000
DataReader.com	$7,370.00	5,500	$1.34	400	–	1,500
ChargingStations.com	$5,197.50	6,750	$0.77	7,001	–	20,000
Tuxes.com	$4,860.00	4,500	$1.08	20,001	–	100,000
Grandkids.com	$4,386.25	3,625	$1.21	7,001	–	20,000
DiscountShops.com	$2,580.00	2,000	$1.29	1,501	–	7,000
IHP.com	$2,010.00	3,000	$0.67	7,001	–	20,000
MandarinOranges.com	$1,830.00	3,000	$0.61	1,501	–	7,000
SpanishHistory.com	$1,560.00	3,000	$0.52	7,001	–	20,000
CabinCruiser.com	$1,316.25	1,625	$0.81	20,001	–	100,000
MovieIndustry.com	$1,275.00	1,250	$1.02	7,001	–	20,000
MotorsForSale.com	$1,200.00	1,250	$0.96	20,001	–	100,000
Lychees.com	$1,160.00	2,000	$0.58	1,501	–	7,000
IRAMutualFund.com	$1,045.80	90	$11.62	400	–	1,500

Useful TRAFFIC Auction Links

Rick’s blog post today with live inventory list and posted phone number for phone bidding (615-944-3501)
Link to Online Auction Catalog
DomainNameNews.com will be liveblogging the auction here.
TRAFFIC South Beach Schedule

Other domainer blogger’s auction picks

DomainConsultant: Names We Like
TheDomains.com: Our Picks From The Rick Latona TRAFFIC Auction
Morgan Linton: My CCTLD Picks from the TRAFFIC Miami Auction
DomainShane.com: Tuesday’s Daily Domain Drops and Auctions
ElliotsBlog.com: My Picks for Today’s Traffic Auction in Miami

Original TRAFFIC auction cheatsheet (includes demand and CPC for .co domains)

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Dan 10.19.10 at 2:47 pm: nice auction stats.. Thanks!

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What to do when you receive a domain inquiry (Domain inquiry review checklist) — DomainTweeter

What to do when you receive a domain inquiry (Domain inquiry review checklist)

August 3, 2010

I concentrate on exact match keyword names (mostly .com) and get a good number of unsolicited domain inquiries – both from domainers and end users. Wanted to share the checklist I use to help determine the potential value of a name before responding to legitimate looking inquiries.

1. Check to see if other extensions registered

The first thing I do is use Valuate.com or Estibot to see at a glance if other extensions have been registered. I then see if the extensions have live sites and try to determine if the owners are domainers or end users.

2. Look at current Adwords advertisers for the keyword.

3. Try to determine the identity of the person contacting me.
I’ll write a detailed post on this shortly, but for starters I Google the person’s name, e-mail address, phone number and sometimes hostname or IP address. I then compare this info to my notes from step #1 and #2 and see if I find a match.

4. Check parking/adsense stats
If the name is currently parked, I review the traffic and earning figures for the last year. I also run a separate report for the last 30 days to see if there has been a current spike in interest.

5. Check Google keyword tool / Google Trends
Demand and cost per click can change, so I always like to take a fresh look at the current search demand and CPC for keywords which make up the name.

6. Do a Google news search for the keywords to see if there are any new developments making the domain more valuable.

7. Check for comparable domain sales
There are a number of different tools out there – I like Namebio.

8. Check current search engine rankings

This can be very useful for negotiation and may be the reason an end user is interested in purchasing the domain.

Did I miss anything? Feel free to post a comment with any tips you would like to share…

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

Leonard Britt 08.03.10 at 1:10 pm: Nice summary – you might want to also check what the prices are of comparable keyword domains in other extensions just to make sure your prices expectations are reasonable compared to the alternatives. If you own the .COM and the .Net is available, you might consider securing the .Net if you are seeking a high $XXX or higher price.
Francois 08.03.10 at 1:11 pm: Yes, the mot important. You respond.
Mike 08.03.10 at 1:56 pm: I do as much as possible to make sure its not some other domainer. I do not sell to other domainers, only end-users.
admin 08.03.10 at 2:29 pm: @Leonard – Good point, especially when dealing with another domainer or when the name is likely to be used for SEO purposes. From personal experience, I haven’t seen many end users go for an alternate extension after making contact for a .com – if the sale doesn’t go through they sometimes go for a longer name or confusing abbreviation, typically still .com.

@Francois – LOL! I do tend to be guilty of over-researching on occasion

@Mike – For me it depends on the name (and when/how much I acquired it for), but I know many share your thoughts. Don’t even get me started on blind $60 Sedo offers…
MIke Sullivan 08.03.10 at 3:43 pm: Great checklist. I typically have a sale price in mind for each of my names… at least a bottom, minimum I am willing to accept. I then rethink the details if an offer comes in. Not sure why @Mike would refuse to sell to another domainer, unless you think that you would be getting a low ball offer. But if the right offer came in, why would it matter who it was from?
admin 08.03.10 at 4:35 pm: @MikeSullivan – Thanks Mike. I agree, a good offer is a good offer. But it can be time consuming getting to that point.

Let’s say I have a name I think is worth $3500 to an end user. An initial offer of $250 from an end user can often be brought up to the $xxxx level with good negotiation and some education as to the benefits. Not likely if the low offer is from a domainer looking to flip or resell. Domainer/developers probably fall into a middle category since they can often afford to pay mid-range prices and recoup their investment by increasing traffic to the site with good SEO and content.

After dealing with hundreds of low-ball offers, I can see where Mike’s frustration comes in. Personally, if I get a low offer from a fellow domainer on one of my more premium ‘end user’ type names, I usually just tell them I’m looking for end user pricing and don’t get into specific negotiations. On names which are well suited for domainer/developers (e.g. guide and comparison type names), I prefer dealing with domainers as it is a better fit and the transfer process usually goes faster.
Kitvy 08.03.10 at 5:51 pm: Thanks for the tips.

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Using Smartshops to Create Free Minisites — DomainTweeter

Using Smartshops to Create Free Minisites

March 9, 2010

Just opened an account with SmartName last week and have been experimenting with their SmartShops offering. It’s too soon to see revenue or search engine rankings, but so far I’m impressed with the quality of the storefronts it creates.

SmartShops looks to be particularly suited for exact match product domains (both .com and alternative extensions). The main benefit of SmartShops is that it automatically creates good looking ecommerce minisites that look more like ‘real’ sites than traditional parking or Adsense filled mini site pages. Here is an example of a site I created today in less than five minutes…

I like the fact that there are no Adsense ads, so it doesn’t look like a standard parking page. Smartname monetizes the sites using Shopping.com and pays per click (not action). This means that if your domain is highly targeted, you should be able to earn income when visitors browse your site, regardless of whether they make the final purchase online.

As you can see above, my test site allows visitors to browse by price or brand name and hopefully will be viewed as a useful resource by anyone typing in home deep fryers.

Smartshops also offers some great customization options, including the ability to…

upload custom header graphics and text
upload a custom banner on top of all pages (good for linking back to a portfoilio page)
display a contact page or have domain sales handled directly by a BuyDomains broker (your choice)
enter conversion tracking urls and custom tracking pixels
add social networking buttons (e.g. delicious, digg, stumbleupon, twitter, etc.)
enter search engine verification codes for Google, Bing and Yahoo

With a little work it should be possible to customize Smartname storefronts so that they are useful and attractive enough to be favorably viewed by non-domainers and linked to by related sites. If this is possible, these ’sites’ are far more likely to achieve search engine traction and good rankings for their exact match keywords.

Next step will be to customize a few of these sites and do some basic link promotion. Hope to blog about my results later this week.

Thanks to Bruce Marler for putting me in touch with the SmartName crowd and encouraging me to try out the service.

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

TeenDomainer 03.09.10 at 11:33 pm: Just got my account too and I really like the look of the shops now we will wait and see how they do with SEO
admin 03.09.10 at 11:59 pm: Same here – should be interesting. Bruce is ahead of me by a few weeks with SmartName and has been seeing good results.
Rob L. 03.10.10 at 1:12 am: I realize you’re just getting setup with SN but wondering what happens if a visitor completes an action. Are you paid for both the click and the action?
Bruce Marler 03.10.10 at 1:42 am: Yeah, I can say looking at several of my product sites many that had 0 or little revenue have seen solid revenue that makes it work doing.

We actually are putting around 60 to 80 names over to Ecomm sites right now that are all exact match names for products and I look forward to seeing the results from that.
Aaron Bennett 03.10.10 at 2:57 am: These pages look great, and seem to have just the right customization options. Looking forward to seeing how a few of my parked generics do (waiting for approval).
Johan 03.10.10 at 3:02 am: I also got an SN account just yesterday, and have setup a few “shops”. Will be interesting to see the results.
IrishDomainer 03.10.10 at 12:28 pm: There is no revenue from shop purchases! Just keep that in mind. Shopping.com are getting free leeds!

iD
admin 11.05.10 at 11:57 am: Thanks Chris – I’ve been using them for a while and have been very pleased with them. Not sure if you have seen it, but this post gives some good tips on customizing individual Smartshops to increase clickthrough and customer confidence.

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Analyzing Snapnames Mardi Gras Extended Auction by Pagerank/Valuate.com appraisals — DomainTweeter

Analyzing Snapnames Mardi Gras Extended Auction by Pagerank/Valuate.com appraisals

February 15, 2010

Snapnames showcase auction ends tomorrow at 3:15PM EST. There are currently 24 domains with bids, but as usual expect most of the heavy bidding to occur in the last hour. There have already been several good posts about tomorrow’s auction (TheDomains,TeenDomainer), so I thought I would take a different approach and sort the dataset I analyzed using Valuate.com/Estibot.

9 Domains with PageRank 3 or Higher*

DomainStats.com – PR6
Marshall.com – PR5
Coast.net – PR5
HomeSchooling.com – PR4
Joker.org – PR
APW.com – PR4
MYBP – PR3
Jacob.com – PR3
HFC.net – PR3

* Using PageRank data from Estibot. If bidding, be sure to doublecheck to make sure PR is genuine. Also wanted to note I’m receiving Google security messages for the first two domains mentioned.

Domains with bids lower than their Valuate.com appraisals

woodshutters.com 10,000 current bid 63,000 valuate appraisal
swf.net 2800 12000
weak.net 2100 5400
ppc.info 1271 3500
3x.org 1000 6100
t4.org 1000 1600
ilovenyc.com 775 920
redlips.com 625 6500
ticketplus.com 380 1300
crispyduck.com 350 1900
forextradingtool.com 325 23000
cuteboy.com 325 7800
badloans.org 325 1800
hotjobs.in 300 3000
advise.in 240 3000

No reserve domains with Valuate appraisals of $1000 or greater

Domain	Valuate appraisal
shortsleeveshirts.com	28000
forextradingtool.com	23000
associatesdegree.co.uk	18000
flannelshirts.co.uk	7700
stretchmarkremoval.co.uk	7200
exerciseplans.com	7000
samedayloan.net	6900
movethis.com	5200
onlinemastersdegrees.net	4000
kingbeds.net	3000
selftanner.co.uk	2500
49r.net	2300
l50.net	2200
clinch.org	2000
crispyduck.com	1900
smallrug.com	1900
badloans.org	1800
electricbicycles.de	1800
londonrentalcar.co.uk	1800
dchr.com	1600
dieselfuelfilter.com	1600
motorcyclefinancing.org	1400
nylimoservice.com	1400
tennisshops.com	1400
ticketplus.com	1300
dmox.com	1300
straplessgowns.com	1300
40yearloans.com	1200
freshwaterpearlbracelet.com	1200
nvoc.com	1200
foldupbeds.com	1100
athleticwalkingshoes.com	1000

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

jorge 02.16.10 at 12:00 am: Nice analysis. I ran those domain names through another tool of mine, and came up with some search stats which may be useful:

http://hotnamelist.com/snap02-15-2010.html

Based on that you might consider:
jacob.com
homeschooling.com
ppc.info

– Jorge
mx sales 02.16.10 at 2:20 am: just to note you left off the number on the PR for joker.org
mx sales 02.16.10 at 3:47 am: also returned to say that pooping.net now has a $300 bid and a valuate appraisal at $3600

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25 Exact match domains available for hand-registration — DomainTweeter

25 Exact match domains available for hand-registration

November 28, 2012

Had some extra time today and wanted to post an assortment of exact match generic keyword domains which are currently available for hand registration (as of 4:45PM today). Mostly .com domains, although I did include a few other extensions if I thought they might be of interest.

PortableTradeshowBooth.com ($12 CPC, .net and .org taken)
ExpensePrograms.com
PortableMetalDetectors.com
WireStorageRack.com
BargainVacations.org
EscrowSoftware.net ($29 CPC)
TVMounts.biz
HomeSchoolingTextbooks.com
WholesaleCellphones.net
HomeEquityApplication.com ($23 CPC)
UndercounterCanOpeners.com (.org taken)
TimeExpenseSoftware.com
MovingRelocationServices.com
ZeroGravityMassageChair.com (1,600 monthly searches, .net registered)
PillarCandles.net
PhoneTeleconferencing.com ($13 CPC, .net taken)
DigitalHangingScales.com
HighspeedLaserPrinters.com ($10 CPC)
ReconditionedGymEquipment.com
MigratingDatabases.com
OnlineBabysittingClasses.com
VersionTracking.com
LargeBinders.com
WireStorageRack.com

If you would like to receive free available domain lists before I post them on-line, sign up here for my free domain update newsletter.

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Danny Welsh 11.29.12 at 6:17 am: I’m not 100% sure how I found this blog or who the author is. But I’m grateful you put me on to two great buys at hand registration price! Someone bought a bunch of them before me, too. My top choice would have been HomeEquityApplication.com. But I’m pretty stoked about the two I snagged. — Danny Welsh

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Review of April’s Minisite Domains — DomainTweeter

Review of April’s Minisite Domains

May 1, 2009

I’ve been doing a running experiment for the past few months. Each day I’ve highlighted one good available domain and written about why I like it. I pick mini site quality keyword domains – ones which can easily be monetized.

Here’s what 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 keyword tool, 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 keyword domains 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 posted in April…

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

AluminumPicnicTables.com (390 searches / $1.88 CPC)
AutomotiveNavigationSystem.com (350 searches / $1.98 CPC)
EnzymeTablets.com (170 searches / $1.84 CPC)
LCDWallBrackets.com (1200 searches/ $1.97 CPC)
OakBunkbeds.com (350 searches / $1.12 CPC)
PCAntivirusSoftware.com (590 searches / $4.24 CPC)
PeppermintCapsules.com (280 searches / .83 CPC)
RemoteOffsiteBackup.com (590 searches / $14.92 CPC)
RemoteSoftwareInstallation.com (1200 searches / $2.77 CPC)
VehicleLaptopMount.com (880 searches / $3.06 CPC)

Details

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. All of the names posted were registered within minutes so here are a few tips to help improve your chances…

Subscribe here to receive advance e-mail notification of available names.
Follow me at @DomainTweeter.
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.

Update 5/1/09: I’m going to try mixing it up a little for the next week or two. Some days I may not post a domain, other days I’ll try to highlight a few different names and do a more detailed writeup of possible minisite concepts or end user sales possibilities.

I’m also going to start emailing some names exclusively to my mailing list subscribers and tweeting others just for my Twitter followers.

{ 0 comments… add one now }

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Last minute picks for Swapfest-Miami Auction — DomainTweeter

Last minute picks for Swapfest-Miami Auction

October 20, 2010

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

{ 0 comments… add one now }

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Review of Last Month’s Minisite Domains — DomainTweeter

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…

ComposingSoftware.com (1500 searches / .66 CPC)
CorporateIdentityManagement.com (155 searches /$4.47 CPC)
ElectronicFaxServices.com (540 searches / $7.45 CPC)
InfraredRepeaters.com (1800 searches / .60 CPC)
JewelryRacks.com (820 searches / .88 CPC)
MBACertificate.com (820 searches / $5.19 CPC)
POSKeyboards.com (1000 searches / $2.19 CPC)
VintageSweatshirts.com (440 searches / .67 CPC)

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.

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

Bruce Marler 04.06.09 at 9:03 am: Your service is great, thanks for providing the great names that you do! Took advantage myself:)
admin 04.07.09 at 7:00 am: Thanks Bruce. And congratulations on getting yesterday’s name – looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
Stephen Douglas 04.08.09 at 4:41 am: Nice article, and some very thorough research in getting keywords and CPC info connected to your domains.

You may want to consider that spending too much time on lesser value domains (such as getting all the current CPC/search stats together, finding relevant keywords) can be counter-productive to your bottom line. Yes, I just said that! How much is an hour of your time worth?

If you say $25 an hour, then for every hour you spend working on any domain development, you have to add that to your “cost” for your ROI. Sometimes you just have to put the domains into a nice inexpensive service (such as WhyPark.com) and spend $99 for 100 of your domains to get some relevant content on them and bring them to the possibility of SE indexing. Once you get the SE indexing, then your enduser sales is a nice path to follow for potential profits. Not every domain you own needs to have the special detailed attention in order to make a good ROI.

NOTE: I work for WhyPark.com, but I’m also a domain consultant. I see you have some domaining blogs there to the right, but my blog http://www.successclick.com isn’t in there! I don’t think I have your blog on my site, so if you want to do a link exchange, I think your blog is worthy of making it to my list of favs. You can contact me at successclick ___at___gmail.com to talk further.

Nice article, keep up the good work!

Stephen Douglas
admin 04.08.09 at 11:32 am: Thanks Stephen. I can usually get a rough idea if a domain is worth registering in just a few minutes using basic keyword tools and performing a Google search. I agree that not all domains require full blown development (or even a minisite) – especially where end-user resale is involved.

I enjoy reading your blog and liked your last post regarding domain appraisals. Just sent you an e-mail about the blogroll.
ohio civil engineer 04.08.09 at 11:55 am: Another great service in my list of bookmarks. I’m going to have to get a twitter now too =)

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Micropost: 3 available minisite domains available for hand registration — DomainTweeter

Micropost: 3 available minisite domains available for hand registration

May 15, 2009

Wanted to post the following three exact match .com keyword domains suitable for minisite development, affiliate or SEO use. All are currently available for registration as of 11:30AM EST.

I’ve checked demand and CPC for each domain using Google’s external keyword tool. Since each domain is an exact match keyword domain whose keywords have Adwords advertisers, they can be easily monetized with Adsense/affiliate programs or possibly resold to an end user.

If you’ve been interested in trying out a minisite service like Devhub or Whypark, these might be good candidates….

1. SwivelTVMounts.com

$8.79 CPC with 320 exact match Google searches last month. Here’s an example of the types of products you could feature in a minisite. Would also be a good domain for these types of end users.

2. HospitalBedTable.com

Exact match product name has $1.59 CPC with 720 exact match Google searches last month. Singular version receives about twice as many searches as plural and is well suited for a mini site. Here are some product examples.

3. WoodPokerTables.com

$2.13 Cost per click (CPC) with 590 exact match Google searches last month. Plural version can be used for a minisite or end user sale. Here are some product examples.

That’s it for today. If you are interested in receiving future available minisite domains…

Subscribe here to receive advance e-mail notification of available names.
Follow me at @DomainTweeter.
Since many names I post receive 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.

Update: I’m going to try mixing it up a little for the next week or two. Some days I may not post a domain, other days I’ll try to highlight a few different names and do a more detailed writeup of possible minisite concepts or end user sales possibilities.

I’m also going to start emailing some names exclusively to my mailing list subscribers and tweeting others just for my Twitter followers.

Related post: Review of April’s Minisite Domains

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

admin 05.15.09 at 7:52 am: 11:50AM Update – all 3 names have been registered.

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weekly niche report — DomainTweeter

Posts tagged as:

weekly niche report

Dog Boarding – Weekly Niche Report

September 22, 2010

multifunctionprinters — DomainTweeter

multifunctionprinters

March 2, 2010

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Compiling a list of exact match .com keyword domains. — DomainTweeter

Compiling a list of exact match .com keyword domains.

November 20, 2010

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.

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

TeenDomainer 11.20.10 at 5:38 pm: I would love a copy
Elise 11.21.10 at 2:53 am: So would I.
Peter 11.22.10 at 3:57 am: Me too.
Kevin 11.22.10 at 8:29 pm: Me three
Domain Hammer 12.10.10 at 10:08 am: send me a copy too.
Lisa 12.18.10 at 9:19 pm: I would love a copy of your list of exact match .com keyword domains.

Thank you!

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Smartname Review Part II – Customizing Smartshops — DomainTweeter

Smartname Review Part II – Customizing Smartshops

March 10, 2010

In yesterday’s post, I discussed my recent experience using SmartName’s SmartShops to create free e-commerce minisites and gave an example of a minisite I created in less than five minutes, HomeDeepFryers.com.

Home Deep Fryers

Today I spent a few more minutes and improved the look of the site by adding a custom graphic header. Here’s how…

1. Creating the header. I’m good at a lot of things, but unfortunately graphic design isn’t one of them. Although I own Photoshop, I used a much simpler program called XHeaderPro to create the header. This program is specifically designed to create headers and comes with thousands of sample templates. I couldn’t find one specifically for Home Fryers, but choose one with a picture of fried food and added the domain and a slogan…

2. Matching the header size with SmartName’s e-commerce template.

After a bit of trial and error, I determined that 1000 x 95 pixels worked best for me. I saved the header in .jpg format and selected a medium compression setting that would look good but still load quickly.

3. I then logged into my SmartName account and edited the Header & Footer section of my HomeDeepFryers.com e-commerce site.

Here’s the updated site with the new header…

Summary

It took about ten minutes to create and upload the header, but I think the time was worth it. From a visitor standpoint, people are more likely to browse and shop from a ‘real’ site than a parked page and custom graphics do a lot to establish confidence and trust in a site.

In my next post in this series, I’ll look at adding custom tabs to my Smartshops site to improve the user experience and attract additional search engine traffic.

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Leonard Britt 03.10.10 at 11:54 pm: You raise a valid point about customization. I’ve seen a bit of traffic from (many alt TLD) domains in the Smartname platform which wasn’t there previously in parking. However, perhaps since I didn’t spend much time with the setup, the traffic hasn’t converted well. I suppose I should review those with the highest traffic and spend a little time optimizing/customizing the setup.
admin 03.11.10 at 3:32 pm: Thanks Leonard. Since I just started using the service, it’s too soon for me to have a good read on conversion rates, but if the site looks good (custom header, professional ad free layout, etc.) and the products are razor targeted to the exact domain keywords, I’m hoping conversion rates will be much higher than Adsense type minisites.
Arseny 03.12.10 at 4:48 am: Great post!

What I also did with one of the domains that I’ve parked with SmartName – added more categories. So it’s more than just a “Home” categorie.

I’ve googled for the keyword and found more google suggestion at the end of the search engine result pages.

Here’s the example – http://www.Luggage.mx
admin 03.12.10 at 11:17 am: @Arseny – Great tip and nice domain. Actually did this yesterday on my example site and am writing a blog post with a walk through on the best way to add relevant, highly searched tabs. Hope to post it later today.
Rob Lafaye 05.12.10 at 5:54 pm: SmartName looks nice but from what I understand the Instant Shops are only PPC . There is no PPA, affiliate commissions or lead generation revenue being shared which means the shops are worthless except to add visual appeal to “your domain” that is being leveraged to present merchants with customers and they’ll give you the same thing that you were getting with traditional parking.

In reality, all of these so called product portals are not worth anything if you have to put it on the platform in the first place.

In other words, if you don’t have the money to open your own “pink-scarves.com” store then how do you think you’ll make money on the a platform like Epik or SmartName.

Buyer beware!
admin 05.13.10 at 1:18 pm: @Rob – I’d also like to see an option of having affiliate commissions vs. PPC – not sure if it would pay more or less, but would be nice to have the choice. As to determining the worth of these types of services, I look for three things…

1. If the domain is already getting traffic (e.g. type-ins), can it increase the revenue per visitor? Done right, good looking storefronts can instill more user confidence than parked pages and encourage visitors to spend time clicking on more products.

2. Can the service generate new traffic to a domain by letting me create sites which are indexed by major search engines? I’ll be writing a blog post about this in the future, but in my initial tests of Smartshops, I’m receiving a steady stream of search engine referrals each day that I wouldn’t have had before.

3. Will the service help me increase the marketability of the site when approaching end users? This one is in the eye of the beholder, but having an ‘active’ site can be an advantage when negotiating a final price and also helps to demonstrate the value of the name.

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Domaining Black Friday – Part I — DomainTweeter

Domaining Black Friday – Part I

November 24, 2011

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.

{ 0 comments… add one now }

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Using parked domains to sell to end users — DomainTweeter

Using parked domains to sell to end users

August 6, 2010

Spending a few minutes choosing the right parking provider and customizing a good parking page can add additional credibility to your domain and increase your chances of selling to an end user.

Why I start by parking most domains

Right after I register a domain, I spend 2 minutes repointing the nameservers to one of several different parking companies I use (Parked.com, Smartname, Fabulous and Whypark). The main reason I park names is to judge existing traffic and to give type-in visitors the ability to contact me if they are interested in the name. Many names do pay for themselves via parking, but this is secondary as I am primarily interested in end user sales. I am also not expecting search engine rankings, as this typically requires unique content and a good number of incoming links and is usually best achieved through using a standard hosting account (vs. a parking service).

Example of a name I acquired today

Today I acquired a new domain name in a niche that I hadn’t heard of before. The name is an exact match for a service which advertisers are currently paying an average of $6.50 CPC. Search demand is modest, but the name seems ideal for reselling to an end user or perhaps developing into a directory of companies who offer this service.

The domain is CFDModeling.com, which is short for Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling. One of the common applications of CFD Modeling is to analyze data centers for power consumption and heat load and to determine the best ways to organize and cool data centers. Here’s one example of a company which offers this service. The term has over 50,000 exact matches with many different businesses advertising and there have been a number of books written on the subject.

Customization

The parking services I use have good auto-customization feaatures and in many cases, the default parking page will suffice for most names. Unfortunately, in this case (CFD Modeling), the default pages were not appropriate – probably because the keyword phrase is highly specialized and also contains the word ‘modeling’.

Here is an example of the default page when I parked the page with Parked.com…

Not exactly relevant, so I logged in to Parked.com’s dashboard and changed keyword targeting from ‘CFD Modeling’ to ‘Computational Fluid Dynamics’. This resulted in the following page, which was slightly more targeted, but still not relevant….

I decided it might be worth a try to try a different parking service. I choose Whypark and did a quick search to see if they had any articles relating to CFD Modeling. They did, so I added the domain to my account and spent about two minutes customizing the page….

I selected a picture of a data center
I disabled showing of Google Adsense ads
I inserted a text link stating the name was for sale

I then updated the nameservers to point the name to Whypark and waited a few minutes for the DNS info to propagate. Here’s what the parked page now looks like….

Conclusion

The whole process took me about 10 minutes, and I now have a page that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to show to an end user when I begin marketing the name. In the meantime, anyone who types in the name will see a targeted site and have an easy way to contact me to advertise or buy the name.

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Mike Sullivan 08.06.10 at 10:58 pm: Great point. If someone comes to your site and sees something totally unexpected and irrelevant, they will click off your page instantly. But a little tweaking goes a long way and can increase your chance (and value) for resale.
Chris 10.19.10 at 10:51 am: Excellent tutorial on parked domains. I have some domains parked with sedo and google – I had them all parked at sedo but wasnt getting any existing traffic. I decided to switch over to google – which has helped somewhat. but am still trying to optimize parking. I am going to look at the parking companies you mentioned and possibly switch over to them. Would you recommend any service verse the other?
thanks

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