Internet Babel

Yeah, yeah been away a while I know. Too busy trying to earn a crust and not doing the stuff I want to.

Been away for a while and then started visting NamePros and DigitalPoint again. NamePros is as good as ever – almost certainly the best Domainers forum out there, but DigitalPoint has turned into a big steaming pile of shite.

Look at the domains forum there – the ‘WTB’ posts are all the same – “I want to but a cheap PR5 or PR6 domain with lots of traffic”. Get real you stupid losers – people aren’t going to be selling that kindof stuff for reseller prices.

Forget DigitalPoint – stick with NamePros.

I can feel the mojo coming back so expect more frequent posts in future. Sorry for the extended absence.

InternetBabel.

The results of a recent (admittedly small scale but well presented) experiment suggest that an effective way to boost a PPC ad campaign is to acquire relevant on-target generic names to enhance or enforce the ads and get more traffic from them.

The guys at Memorable Domains ran a study which showed that: “All other things being equal (same headline, same ad copy, same bids, same landing page etc.) the ads that used an on-topic generic domain name received up to twice the clicks that ads using a “coined” non-generic domain name did”.

Full details of the experiment and the results obtained can be found in the report at http://www.memorabledomains.co.uk/ppcanalysis.pdf

The results are something that many of us might have guessed at, but it’s nice to see some specific figures to back-up that intuition. Part of the reason could be down an increased ‘trust’ by the visitor in the generic sounding domain name, but the report proposes some more specific reasons, and certainly gives some food for thought.

Read the report – it’s only a few pages long. I hope it will encourage you to do some experimentation of your own with generic names.

Thanks to Memorable Domains for permission to post about this.

I thought I’d let you know about this excellent interview on BruceMarler.com with Domainer Aron Meystedt.

http://brucemarler.com/exclusive-interview-with-xfcom-founder-and-professional-domainer-aron-meystedt/

It’s a informative piece which could provide a bit of inspiration for new and experienced domainers. Many of the points Aron makes relate to areas that have been discussed here before, such as:

• Development vs Parking
• Strategies for getting into domaining
• Decline in PPC
• .com vs CCTLDs

All in all, a nice interview and well worth a read. Thanks to Bruce for publishing it.

Google are rolling out their Adsense for Domains product, initally in North America but soon to be worldwide.

What is Adsense for Domains?

This allows Adsense publishers to carry Adsense adverts on undeveloped, or parked domains – thus opening up another income stream that can be managed via your Google account.

Publishers will be able to add and manage parked domains through their Adsense account, customising (to an extent) the page appearance. The product will apparently allow you to do some analysis of stats on these domains as well. You then just have to point your Domains to Google’s nameservers and your parked Adsense domain will be up and running.

Parking

Previously, people wishing to get some revenue from undeveloped domains have had to use services such as NameDrive, Sedo, WhyPark etc. to park and monetize their domains – unless they wanted to develop and host mini-sites. These parking companies do, of course, take a percentage of all advertising revenue before it is passed on to you.

Initial Thoughts

• I believe that the standard restrictions/Terms will apply with regard to domain names/nature.
• I would imagine that Google may not pass on the ‘full’ Adsense payment when Ads are clicked on a parked domain, but will set the payout somewhere between their normal amount and what you’d get from a Parking company but that’s just a guess.
• Parking with Google almost certainly won’t make any difference to how (or if) Google indexes your domain either. 
• It doesn’t look like there will be any opportunity to mark the domain as ‘For Sale’ or to carry any other affiliate ads on the page. 

I’m not in North America so haven’t seen the product first-hand yet, but I’ll be trying a selection of my undeveloped domains on it as soon as I can – and I’ll be comparing results against what I’ve been getting at NameDrive.

What’s the Impact?

The parking companies are bound to be concerned by this development, as Google extends its reach/dominance even further – but until Google offers a range of templates/skins and keyword customisation options that can compete with what you get at NameDrive for example then they won’t be panicking to much just yet.

Time will tell if it’s going to be a good thing for Publishers. If the idea takes off then Google will almost certainly expand the feature range to make it more flexible for Publishers – but I would guess that many people only use Parking services as a ’holding’ area or use them as a test-bed for domain names to see what kind of type-in traffic they get before developing a proper site or mini-site on them.

Well – Darrin emailed me with a question, wanting to know what to do with 3 domains he owns. I thought this was a good opportunity for me to give him a few quick ideas, and also for anyone out there in Babel-Land to make any other suggestions.

Darrin has three domains, NO money and wants to try and make a go of things. So, I asked for the three domain names and below you’ll find my ‘off the top of me head’ sugestions as to what he could do with them. Bear in mind that he’s pretty new to Website development but wants to learn.

Domain 1: AffiliatedBlog [dot] com:

OK, as far as i’m concerned this is an easy one. It’s not a bad domain name – you could sell it for a few bucks of course, but the best course of action is to actually develop an Affiliate/PPC/MMO related Blog on it. Learn the Blogging trade, add some good content to it and maybe sell it on as a developed Blog after a few months, you’ll get a far better return than just selling the domain. 

It doesn’t have to cost you a packet, use one of the free hosting companies out there (but make sure it’s an ad-free one). I use 000Webhost for some of my static sites that I play with, I’m sure they’d be fine for Blog hosting as well but there’s a heap of free hosters out there.

Find a decent free theme/template and place your Google Adsense and Analytics code on the Blog. Register at BlogPremiere and DigitalPoint, give away a few sidebar ad slots, do some link exchanging and then use the Blog to learn Content development and SEO/SEM techniques. 

Domain 2: KnookAndCranny [dot] com:

This is the weakest of the three. it’s a decent sounding name but the spelling is wrong for most people (“knook and cranny” returns 1,060 Google results, “Nook and cranny” returns 535,000 so that’s bit of a no-contest).

I don’t think it’s worth parking, as that only gives results when you’ve got a type-in name, a typo or something with residual traffic. The domain itself has little value, particularly as it’s regged at Melbourne IT/Yahoo and last time I checked they didn’t do a free push.

Develop it, put a humour, video or news site on there – or perhaps use a free classified script such as Noah’s to get a service going for people clearing houses, trying to get that ‘hard to find’ item etc. again, use a free hoster. Then flip it once it’s got a bit of history.

Domain 3: GambleGive [dot] com:

I could see this doing VERY nicely but it would need some custom development. I think some kind of site where people could gamble/play games online but give a portion of the proceeds to charities would be a great thing, with a heap of potential for being picked up by Social Networking sites and possibly Merchants who you could tie up deals with.

You would probably need to partner up with someone who could help you develop the concept, and it wouldn’t be an instant earner but I reckon the idea’s got legs.

So – all in all I don’t think there are any instant money-makers in these particular domains, but I’d say:

• put something cheap and quick on KnookandCranny and try to flip it
• Build a Blog on AffiliatedBlog, learn some development/SEO techniques and sell it later (if you need some quick cash, sell the domain on DigitalPoint or NamePros)
• Find a partner to develop the GambleGive concept with

Like I said, these are my initial thoughts on the list. I may come up with some others, but I’d also like anyone reading this to shout out if they have ideas and suggestions to help Darrin out.

Cheers
Dave

OK – straight into it. This installment deals with an important issue to be considered when buying domains on Forums (again using DigitalPoint and NamePros as examples) – that of Due Diligence (or Buyer Beware).

Due Diligence:

As with any transaction, it pays to carry out whatever checks you can to ensure that you’re not getting screwed. When purchasing a domain from the Forums the following checks will be useful in helping you decide whether or not to go ahead with that purchase. 

Common sense also applies here – you may not bother making all of these checks if you’re paying $2 for a domain, but you will want to be extra sure if you’re forking over a couple of hundred bucks.

None of these checks are in themselves foolproof, but they will help to re-assure you that the seller is genuine.

• Seller is an established Forum member: This isn’t to say that a new member can’t be trusted (hey, we all start as Peon’s sometime), but it’s a fact that most people feel more comfortable buying off someone who has a bit of history and more than a handful of posts to their name. This is why I recommended (way back in Part 1) that you get yourself registered at DP and NamePros and start participating in the non-sales forums.
• Seller’s Rep: Pretty simple – if they’ve got red marks or a bad rep, this should sound some warning bells.  
• Seller’s Trader score: Trader points are a good indication of a member’s behaviour in previous transactions. By clicking on their Trader rating/score you will be able to see all positive and negative comments left by others who have dealt with this person before.   
• Whois: Don’t just blindly accept that the seller owns the domain or that they have posted the correct details. There are hundreds of standalone ‘Whois’ type tools out there (plus on most of the major Registrar’s home pages) – so there’s really no excuse for you not to spend a few seconds of your time by checking that the domain registrar/expiry/owner details tally with what’s being offered. You might even want to send an email to the domain’s administrative email contact address and get the seller to reply to that email (but don’t expect to be popular if you do this for very low-end sales – you’ll just seem like a pain in the butt).  
• PR & Traffic confirmation: If the seller claims some kind of existing PR or traffic for the domain, you could ask for screenshots of stats or parking figures as proof. The general rule of thumb is that if you claim traffic/revenue you have to be prepared to provide proof. As with whois, use your PR checker of choice to verify any claimed PR.
• Trademark: You might want to verify that you’re not being lumbered with a potential legal problem – names that look to be trademark infringments or ‘dodgy’ typo’s for example.
• Registrar: Check that the registrar that holds the domain allows a free push between accounts (and that you can set up an account with them if you don’t have one). There are a number of registrars who still don’t allow a free ‘push’ and even make the transfer process awkward – you might have to bear this in mind when it comes to the actual cost of your purchase.
• Too Good To Be True: If it looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is. Which probably means that the seller doesn’t even own the domain or that they have stolen it (yes, that is possible). There are always genuine bargains to be had, but looking around on the various Forums will give you a good idea of what a domain might be expected to go for – so if someone is selling pizza.com for $100 you know that they’re either incredibly stupid or a crook. 

(Also – bear in mind that any sensible seller wil be looking at you, as a potential buyer, in the same light and checking history, trader etc).

Assuming that you’ve satisfied yourself (as far as is reasonable) that the seller is genuine then you’ll probably want to proceed with your bid/offer.

Types of Sale

Now, there are all types of sales threads of course, but the bulk of sales that you come across on the forums will fall into one of three main categories:

• Fixed Price
• Make An Offer
• Auction

You will also find (mainly on DP) sales threads that are nothing more than links to a SEDO listing or a SitePoint auction for the domain. Unless it’s a domain you REALLY want I would tend to steer clear of those.

Part 5 will be along in a couple of days (I had plenty of time to think during my enforced layoff) and will cover the three major types of sale, then the mechanics of buying/selling and transferring your domain…

Thanks
Dave 

Hi guys,

Finally up and running again (well, hobbling anyway). Battered and Bruised but ready to roll again.

You’ll be pleased to know that my time convalescing didn’t go to waste. I went through all my Aksimet spam and as a result I’ve:

• obtained a couple of Masters Degrees
• restocked on my pharmaceuticals
• improved my sex-life, and
• seen some very ‘educational’ videos

Fully refreshed, I’m ready to start posting again so will be getting some fresh stuff on-line this week.

In the meantime, I also had a chance to review the comments posted in September. Not as many as I would have liked but that’s the way it goes…Jim (as always) made a couple of interesting points – I don’t always agree with him but got a lot of respect for what he does. Melvin and Carl also made some nice contributions (it seems like ‘beabetterblogger.com’ has gone off line though?).

Anyway – John from Coffesh0p was a consistent and intelligent commentator so I’ve decided to to give the hosting and domain prize to him.  John’s agreed to post reports back on his progress with RankFoundry.com  – I know he has a few ideas in store so I’d urge you to support him while he’s trying to build the site.

As Carl mentioned in one of his comments, it’s all about giving people the base material (be it a domain or information or whatever) and then letting them have a go at building something themselves. I’d much rather do that than spoon-feed people, so I look forward to seeing what John can do. Will be in touch with details very soon, John.

Anyway – thanks for bearing with me while I’ve been out of action. I promise that Internet Babel will soon be in full flow again (with the assistance of Whisky & Bourbon).

 Cheers
Dave

As you guys know, I’ve talked before about NamePros and DigitalPoint in relation to picking up Domain names.

Well – browsing NamePros yesterday I came across a ‘for sale’ thread that I thought one of you might be interested in.

This guy is selling a domain AND WordPress Blog. What that means is that if you purchase the Domain name (which still has nearly 12-months left on it) you’ll get the site contents & database as well (you’d then have to find your own Web Hosting and upload the files, DB etc of course).

The domain name itself has good potential (AvailableDaily.com) – the seller has it set up as a ‘special offers’ type Blog but it could just as easily be used as a ‘dropped domain’ service for example. There are a number of posts on there already and it’s got a decent clean theme – with plenty of scope for building on it. It’s only a few weeks old but has a few hundred visits already.

It’s the kind of package that could make a nice base for someone wanting to try out Blogging for the first time or for someone with experience to expand into a new area.

The seller mentioned a BIN (Buy It Now) price of $100 but is open to offers, so you could get a decent deal here. The NamePros thread is given below but please note the following:

• you have to be a NamePros member to view the thread
• it’s your responsibiity to negotiate any sale, perform any checks on domain ownership, arrange payment and site transfer etc.
• i have no connection with the seller (other than asking their permission to post about it here) – I’m posting about it because it might be a good ‘pick up’ for someone.   

http://www.namepros.com/turnkey-websites-for-sale/514727-blog-for-sale.html

Cheers
Dave

OK – so in parts 1 & 2 we covered an introduction and some basics on registering a new domain and finding dropped/expired domains.

In this piece, we’ll be looking at what will be the main stomping ground for most of you – the Forums. In particular I’ll be covering DigitalPoint and NamePros, because they are both popular and they represent different markets. Other popular Forums for buying and selling of Domains and Websites are SitePoint and Acorn Domains, but I won’t specifically address them here.

First things first – Build a Rep:

If you haven’t already done so, register at both Forums, take a good look at the different areas on them, and start posting in the ‘non-trading’ sections…get a bit of ‘post history’ under your belt, try and get some Rep points, as this will all help further down the track. If you have an area of expertise, use it to give some advice to those in need.

DP and NamePros- what’s the difference? 

I use both Forums frequently to buy and sell Domains, but you have to be aware that they have very different approaches to the game, and you have to behave accordingly.

DP is the bigger of the two in terms of users, traffic and posts but it is a LOT less regulated and, as a result, is more prone to spammers, scammers and time-wasters. The mods there are average at best and they will do little to help you out in case of any disputes. Also, they are not as open as they could be with regard to highlighting and stamping out scammers.

Having said all of that, there is a good community there, and there are some great bargains to be had if you trawl the Domains For Sale forum. It’s also a good place to buy and sell links/adverts or content and there are some useful posts in the other sections as well, if you ignore some of the more obviously juvenile/spammy crap.

NamePros is a smaller, tighter community and much better regulated (although obviously not totally free from scams). Their Domains For Sale sections are separated better than DP, and the Domains Wanted Forum is a good place to look for potential buyers.

Be warned that NamePros mods do a pretty good job of keeping on top of Sale/Auction threads and there are rules for all of these that you MUST abide by. It takes a little bit more effort but it’s generally a safer place to deal in.

Look And Learn:

I can’t stress how important it is to take some time looking at the Forums for a while before you do any trading. It is only by doing this that you’ll get a feel for good and bad prices, good traders etc.

Ask anyone who regularly deals in Domains and if they’re honest they will all admit to being stung or being stupid in the early days – I bought a few turkeys myself early on. But then, you can always sell them on to an un-suspecting newbie  

Sifting Out the Rubbish:

As a result of a spending some time looking at the Forums, you should be better positioned to spot and then ignore the trash – and there is a LOT of it. Of course, the trouble is that not many people will be honest enough to say they’re trying to offload a crap domain, so you’ll see some amusing posts trying to put a good spin on names that are blatantly pathetic. Methods used to try and do this include:

• trying to target a domain for a non-existent niche (e.g. “FartingAlbanianParrots.info – ideal name for a domain about Farting Parrots in Albania”
•  ”Dictionary word .com” – Yes, well “Assuetude” is a dictionary word but I can’t see much type-in traffic for it. Just cos it’s a dictionary word doesn’t mean it’s got any pull.
• “Web 2.0″ name – “Flxgl.org” – Woopy-Doo…   
• Typo’s – watch out for these.
• Likewise for TradeMarked names – maybe the current owner has realised they can’t use the name without being sued, so they want to offload it. Don’t complain after you’ve bought – do some research into any names you have the slightest doubt about.
• Good old-fashioned Bull – Just because the seller says it’s a good name doesn’t mean it is. They are quite happy to bandy around words like “Premium”, “Valuable” and the like – but step back and think before you buy.

Plus of course you will get the clowns who are deluded enough to believe that they’re crappy domain is worth a fortune…it isn’t.  You will see some truly ridiculous prices being asked for – on the other hand, you will also see some absolute bargains (I’ve picked up 20 $1 Domains in the past 3 weeks).

Note For Sellers:

The advice I’ve given to looking around the Forums applies just as much if you want to SELL a domain. You need to come up with a realistic price, and decide where you want to sell it, and the method you want to use (Fixed Price, Auction etc).  and READ THE RULES.

Admin:

Most sales on both Forums are conducted via PayPal (although Escrow services are popular for higher value sales). So, as I said earlier, if you want to trade on these forums you will need PayPal. You will also need an account at the major registrars in order to acccept/give account pushes.

Etiquette:

Don’t mess people around. You WILL get landed with negative trader points and possibly bad reputation, and that is not the way to start your career in Domain speculating.

You will come across a number of sales (particularly on DP) where the seller turns out to be a waste of space and ignores all attempts to contact them even if your bid has won the domain. If you’ve abided by the Sale rules and given them fair opportunity to respond then you could slap them with some bad trader points but my advice (to begin with at least) would be to forget about it and move on (but make a note of their name so you know not to deal with them again).

It costs nothing to be courteous in sales threads, and as always, flaming/spamming someone’s sales thread will only end in sadness. Karma is a great consolation so hold your tongue.

Coming up next…the mechanics of conducting a sale on the Forums – bidding, accepting bids, processes for payment and transfer of Domains etc.

Thanks

Dave

Just a very quick update to let you know about some offers on Domain Registration:

GoDaddy – They currently have a Voucher code where you can register a .com (or .net/.org I think) for just 99c ($1.19 with the ICANN fee). That’s a pretty awesome offer. Just specify discount code ‘test99′ when checking out. I have no idea how long this will last, and I think it’s only valid for 1 domain per customer. You’d be daft to miss it though.

Namecheap – Another great offer from these guys. Get free SSL when registering or transferring a domain – http://www.namecheap.com/learn/ssl-certificates/free-positive-ssl-certificates.asp

Name.com – Just a heads up that their $5.99 registration offer is coming to an end in about a week. Update: name.com are (for now) letting you use coupon code ‘XUP599′ to continue getting $5.99 registrations.

Domaining/Webmaster news – DP being sued?

You may have heard about Shawn and DigitalPoint being one of a number of parties named in a lawsuit from EBay accused of Cookie-Stuffing. I guess this could affect DigitalPoint Forums down the track – as of yet there doesn’t seem to be any allegation that DP users have been caught up/affected but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, seems like business as usual at DP. Legal type details of the case can be found at Justia.com

Thanks guys
Dave