thought it might be helpful to toss out a quick guide along with some tools I’ve found helpful as I’ve stumbled through the domainer/SEOmainer world. I’ve broken it down into what I see as a natural split, that being the Buy Side, Development, Monetization, and Tracking..
Buying Domains
Domain Auction Houses
- Snapnames - auctions expired domain names from Register.com (and a few other smaller registrars.
- TDNAM - acronym stands for Domain Name Aftermarket. Auctions expired domains from GoDaddy.
- Pool - auctions off domains from a bunch of smaller domain registrars
- [UPDATED] NameJet - auctions off expired domains from Network Solutions
Domain Sales Companies
ie. where you can buy domain names which are ‘for sale by owner’
Domain 411 / aka ‘Whois’
ie. if you want to buy a domain directly from someone, you need to figure who actually owns it. Whois services will tell you that.
- Domain Tools - there are a ton of Whois services out there, we like DomainTools the best
Domain Development
Since I develop the majority of domains I acquire, here are some suggested resources I’ve used in the past
- Tubetorial - provides some extremely helpful internet marketing videos free of charge.
- OSWD.org - I use this site so much, I almost feel guilty. They provide free web design templates to “help make the internet a prettier place”
- Wordpress - I’ve tested implementing blogs onto acquired domains, with some success. The blog software I use is Wordpress.
- SEO Book - Aaron Wall’s comprehensive book on the world of search engine optimization.
- Jim Boykin’s Blog - Once you read Aaron’s book, follow it up by reading darn near every post on Jim’s blog.
- HTML Editor - to develop sites, I have to use an HTML editor. Use Dreamweaver if you want to pay for bells & whistles, or Coffee Cup’s HTML Editor / HMTL Kit if you want a free tool - less bells & whistles.
- Logo Creator - I actually created my first 20 website logos using Cool Text’s Free Logo generator, with pretty darn good results. I upgraded about 6 months in, dropping all of $30, to buy Laughingbird Software’s Logo Creator software - which has been *great*.
Domain Monetization
Contextual Ad Platforms
ie. you’re paid for each click or impression
- AdSense - the 900 lb gorilla. Highly recommended. Extremely targeted ads, and fair payouts.
- Yahoo Publisher Network - the newbie. Can compete/win against AdSense in certain niches, but not many. Targeted ads are a problem, mainly cause their advertising base isn’t as large as Google.
- MSN Content Ads beta - has been announced but hasn’t truly rolled out yet
- Kontera - In-Text Contextual advertising provider. I’m not a fan of the ad format, but these guys seem to target the ads better than their competition…which is below
- Vibrant Media - another In-Text Contextual advertising provider
Affiliate Companies
ie. you’re paid for each lead your domain/site generates
These companies will represent a slew of advertiers who’ll pay per lead you send them..
Domain Parking
ie. when a user visits your domain, they’ll be presented with a list of paid links, example here.
(I don’t park many domains, but when I do, I use Sedo)
Selling Domain Names
when you simply want to sell domain names you own.
Domain Tracking
Once you begin collecting domains, you’ll slowly turn into a morphed mathematician, analyzing traffic to determine ways to best monetize your stream of visitors.
Site Side Tracking
ie. tracking you place on your domain/site to analyze visitors
- Google Analytics - Free, but do you want to allow Google access to your site statistics?
- eXTReMe Tracker - Extremely popular tracking system - Basic version is Free
- Site Meter - Basic version is Free, Premium version starts at $6.95 for 25,000 page views
- Mint - $30 per site
3rd Party Assumption Based Traffic Guestimators
ie. tools online you can use to guess what another domains/websites traffic levels are. These are all free to use.
whew.. talk about a brain dump..
This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Tips & Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Great post. I especially like the development resources. Some of them are obvious but I didn’t know about the template site.
[...] a great rundown of basic domain monetization tools from domainersgazette.com - this site is moving it’s way up my [...]
very helpful and much appreciated
hi greetings
>>>> (I don’t park many domains, but when I do, I use Sedo)
.1.
y[why] do u[you] not give your preferrence 2[to] parking ??
??
.2.
y[why] do u[you] prefer sedo when u[you] park ??
??
u’r a sedopro’s member ??
??
ThANKye , 2w
hey 2w..
I’ve found I make much more money when I develop versus parking..it’s that simple.
also, Sedo seems to generate the best CTR for me, as well as a fair EPC..
-peter
nice list that can never be complete - Affiliate Companies: linkshare, performics, etc…
Nice post.
Great list for newbies, and a great reminder for more experienced domainers.
Ray
[...] Reference Guide For New or Experienced Domainers and SEOmainers:This reference guide from Domainer’s Gazette gives links to just about everything from domain auction houses to domain tracking tools. [...]
Hi Peter,
I’ve just released a new SEOmainer tool which you might like.
eMail me for a free review copy.