You Should Make Landing Pages for your Domains

[DomaHub]

Link to original Medium article.

--

First of all, what is a landing page? The term has many meanings on the internet, but for domaining purposes it simply means:

A site for your domain name where visitors can make sales inquiries.

Sounds simple enough, but what’s so special about it? Is this an alternative to listing on secondary marketplaces (e.g. Sedo, Flippa, etc.)? Is it better than traditional parking?

Okay, okay — you’re skeptical. Let me help break it down for you.

Parking Revenue is Declining…
For the end-user at least. Look at this 2015 survey result from popular domain news source domainnamewire.

Credit to Andrew Allemann (www.domainnamewire.com)​

Yes, domain parking revenue used to be very lucrative for many domainers in the early days of the internet. Yes, it was a simple and easy way to make money from your domains. But, in today’s reality, parking tends to only bring in a couple of bucks a month.

There could be a few possible reasons for this such as fewer people typing in URL’s to unknown websites, people becoming less likely to click on advertising links, parking companies not giving you a fair share of the revenue, etc.

Regardless, parking revenue is on the decline for many domainers (and basically nonexistent for many others...). So where should you put your domains now?

Marketplaces Don’t Cover All Your Bases
There are dozens of domain name marketplaces where you can list and sell your domains to other people. Some marketplaces allow you to redirect your domain to its respective listing page. Or they may provide free and/or paid parking options while your domain is currently being listed. And some marketplaces provide neither.

You probably have a number of domains listed on marketplaces. You’re relying on the people who peruse these marketplaces to eventually find your domain and then purchase it.

But what about the people outside of these marketplaces? How will direct visitors know your domain is for sale — especially if your domain only shows parked ads or shows nothing at all?

Don’t Alienate Your Visitors
There are going to be a number of people who visit your website directly (i.e. by typing in the domain into their browser). Some of these people are going to be interested in buying it. How can we best persuade them to make an offer on the spot? Or at the very least, let them know the domain is for sale?

A typical Uniregistry parked domain. (with satire)​

The above image is an example of a typical parked domain’s site provided by Uniregistry. A single banner at the top that states the domain is for sale and provides a phone number. Clicking the banner directs you to another marketplace where you can submit an offer (quite redundant). The rest of the site is all advertisements.

If a potential buyer were to stumble onto this domain, would they know what to do? No, chances are they’ll bounce because the site looks like typical spam and you lose out on a potential sale opportunity or lead.

Let’s try to help visitors avoid seeing this little guy.​

Even worse, you have nothing on your domain and the user sees some kind of browser error or blank page.

AdBlock Is On the Rise
The number of users who use some form of adblock (software to detect and avoid ads on a page) is increasing. Let’s face it. Not many people like being targeted for advertisements.

Source — 2017 Adblock Rep​

When people arrive at your site and see advertisements or they see nothing because of adblock, they are more likely to just leave the page immediately.

Dedicated Landing Pages Bridge the Gap
Landing pages ensure that your visitors will see something better than just ads or errors when they land on your domain. Good landing pages will also make it immediately obvious to the visitor that your domain is for sale. An even better one has a visible price tag (buy-it-now price or minimum offer price) and a simple contact form to get in touch.

This way, visitors won’t get confused by strange advertisements and redirects, errors or blank pages, and they’ll have a easy way of contacting you.

But that’s not all! Landing page services and platforms also provide a variety of different stats and visuals you can show on your page. These things help visitors understand the domain better, potentially increasing the likelihood of a sale. Additionally, many of these services provide portfolio management and help you get set up across all of your domains in a short amount of time.

Don’t want to lose out on potential marketplace sales? Don’t worry, you can have a dedicated landing page and still list your domain on other marketplaces. This way, you can maximize your reach and alienate as few visitors as possible.

Conclusion and Follow-up
Our next post will cover the things that make a good landing page as well as things to avoid when creating one!

 

[toughdomains]

domains simply listed in order they are entered and may never be sorted otherwise

unireg and epik both allow full sorting of all domains....if you are looking for simple domain managment.

 

[biggie]

@biggie yes if you looking for NO customization like adding a logo, no commission fees, domain age, IDN support, escrow.com payment options, different templates, a fast page load, a short optimized form that increases responses, cookie compliance, other domains by seller or anything else that would make your lander not look like a page from 1993 then your all set.
You are right, there are a lot of lander services out there but the examples you provided are very limited. The options out there now are amazing and getting better.

for a cost or a fee, i'm sure there are more options

but for free, where i don't have to spend no, mo, money....

is where, i like to be

now guys and gals, let's look at the pitch that's coming......

[We also run our images off Amazon web services to speed up the load time a bit more.

we, who?

note this is another member trying to sell, yet another type of "pick and shovel", in same thread.
they kinda in competition for those extra dollars you got collecting dust in your pocket.

one non intuitive comment (at least to me) we get from our members is once they create a store they get less low ball offers.

Whatever the case its an interesting insight we got back.

parking companies has zero interest in selling your name in the end a good name sold is less revenue for them.

There is a ton of psychology in selling a name for the max price. ...

let's see how the psychology of selling your service works.

first, create a store, then you get less lowball offers

now, is the "store" the hook?

also, assuming if they have any interest, or where parking companies interest are, is a false assumption.

in many cases, a domain sold that was parked and earning revenue, may remained parked by the new owner, indefinitely or until they decide to develop

this is evident in many D2D sales of parked names and evident in domains wanted threads of buyers seeking traffic names.

additionally, services like sedo, gobaddy and others who get commission on these sales, would definitely have an interest.

note to readers: don't just accept what you're being fed. question it and make sure it makes sense, before you spend cents

we already created a feed page it was our first service we offered...
we called it instant domain development.
.

part of the pitch

I think after hearing feedback from hundreds of our members

in the end you need a product that can be completly customized in as many aspects as possible.

ahh... membership numbers

so, in contrast to OP's subtle pitch, this member is more aggressive.


now ain't mad at either of them or anyone else for trying to make money, cuz that's what "we" all here for, right?

just want you to to see differences in your options and how "they" come at you.

choose, what's best for you, don't be told.


now let's see who else has "picks and shovels" to sell here

Good Luck!

imo....

 

[DomaHub]

@doma Hub, really helpful post but i would appreciate if you can also guide us to create landing page step by step

Check your inbox

 

[DomaHub]

I think @Willox Perez and @biggie said it best in an earlier post--I will quote them below.

A very important decision I had to make was keeping the domains parked and earning some type of money towards renewals or have a nice looking landing page to obtain more leads and this way increase my sales.

Since I didn't know what to choose I decided to just test it for 3 month with landing pages over at Uniregistry and I did see an increase in inbound leads which lead to more people to follow up with in order to close more sales. When I saw this I decided to stay with it and so far so good. I noticed Bodis had some nice landing pages as well that I thought about trying out since I liked how they kept track of the traffic stats vs with Uni.

For someone faced with making the same decision I simply say if the parking income you are earning is significant stay with it but if that is not the case give landing pages a shot and see how it goes for you.

- Will

i think what @Willox Perez says above, illustrates the point i was trying to emphasize.

not matter what the popular opinion is, in this thread,
the common sense route for those still earning parking income, is to stay with it.

if you're not making any money from ppc, then do what you gotta do, to keep you going.


Good Luck!

imo...

To sum up, if you are making money from parked domains (like I assume Biggie is) then stick with that. Otherwise, if you are not satisfied with the revenue from parked domains, then it may be time to explore other options, whether that's a sales page, Wordpress site, etc.

It's also important to know, not everyone has a large enough domain portfolio to earn something decent from parked revenue.

 

[DomaHub]

for a cost or a fee, i'm sure there are more options

but for free, where i don't have to spend no, mo, money....

is where, i like to be

Also just as a side note--DomaHub has a free option. You are more than welcome to try our landing pages Biggie

 

[namelancer]

one non intuitive comment (at least to me) we get from our members is once they create a store they get less low ball offers. Im not sure if this is due to the parked pages suggests you will sell lower or dont care enough about the name or if you invested in a store the bottom feeders are less likely to think you will sell your one word .com for $500.
Whatever the case its an interesting insight we got back.

The store might harbor a contradiction in terms, posing as a self-negating, value-stripping phenomenon.. In the words of another experienced domainer whose insight should weigh rather heavily under the years of trial-and-error with landing pages, as a downside, when, under certain circumstances (we wont define the conditions for the sake of brevity of our discussion ), the buyer arrives at a domain store rather than a sought-after individual landing page, it leads to lower conversions.
The moral of a story - all verifiable insights should come from data and nothing but data to stay be above the threshold of anecdotal evidence

 

[toughdomains]

wait for it....wait for it....

The store might harbor a contradiction in terms, posing as a self-negating, value-stripping phenomenon.. In the words of another experienced domainer whose insight should weigh rather heavily under the years of trial-and-error with landing pages, as a downside, when, under certain circumstances (we wont define the conditions for the sake of brevity of our discussion ), the buyer arrives at a domain store rather than a sought-after individual landing page, it leads to lower conversions.
The moral of a story - all verifiable insights should come from data and nothing but data to stay be above the threshold of anecdotal evidence

well put...one can never know the intention behind a buyer without being inside the mind of that buyer. its all conjecture

 

[Corey]

An example of my sales landing pages

www.etnapp.com.au

Cheers
Corey

 

[Adnan Shaikh]

@Corey check ur inbox

 

[Corey]

GOIN.com.au

Cheers
Corey

 

[poweredbyme]

How frequently people buy domains that they visit? You don't know? Yeah it's difficult to know. But you can ask this to yourself: how many domains did you buy based on landing page? Zero? Less than 10%? You will answer the question you want to know. I never bought domain based on landing page. Even I rarely visit the domains before I buy Domain means website with no content. Landing page has no effect to expert buyers as they usually buy domains from domain marketplaces or via direct contact to the owner. Newbies aren't expected to buy high priced domains. Newbie means a person who doesn't know what he is doing. A newbie is a person who is trying-testing something unknown with little money to risk. If your domains are priced less than $50 each, your main market is newbies then go for a good landing page to sell domains to newbies. But yet you will need a domain with very high traffic.

Landing page of a domain should be a parking page to make some revenue until it's sold. Parking revenue will help paying renewal fees until the domain sold. Renewal fee is usually underestimated but it's critically important to prevent your business going bankruptcy due to renewal fees.

As to decreasing parking revenue and increasing usage of adblocks, it's irrelevant to the need for a landing page. Furthermore, if ad revenue is decreasing (I am not saying ad revenues aren't decreasing), revenue will decrease after the domain is purchased and developed. Because the almost same advertisers will buy the same ads via same online advertisement companies on a particular domain. Thanks to the keyword targeting mechanism. Therefore the cpm before and after content (developed and undeveloped domain) will not change dramatically. I mean low ad revenue is a general problem of internet, is not only a problem of parking. Low ad revenue will lower the prices of domains and websites, so will lower the number of domain sales. But this is a different topic to discuss. My point is landing page is a waste of time if you don't target newbies to sell low priced domains with high traffic.

 

[maxtorz]

Why not use Efty or Undeveloped? and not waste a ton of time into developing landingpages?
Efty is my favorite for many reasons.

 

[namelancer]

Landing Pages are targeted at a type-in traffic (following observation on parking platforms of their performance) with a hope of encountering, among those who go through the lengths of writing a full domain name into a browser, either a lonely random visitor or a healthy percentage of elusive would-be buyers going on and about internet,exploring different domains out of curiosity, or for developmental or investment purposes, as well as the presumed, primary group of people seeking to find a content in the first place.

Alternating between diverse options, one should keep in mind that for every type-in there are at least hundred searches performed through a search engine (the exact number could be even higher), so there comes a point when developing a highly visited domain may be a more profitable proposition than ordinary parking (where high visit count doesn't not translate into high parking revenue).

Where does it leave landing pages ? Well, they are suited to segments within a very defined niche market populated with stats subject to the law of moderation, where the visitor count can't be too low, or else no one would find them by type-ins (unless they are linked to a well-visited domain shop or another high-traffic domain), nor can it be too high due to existence of better monetization alternatives in the form of parking and or development.

Based on anticipated demographics of visitors, the price range of a domain generally sold through parking pages could be expected to fall within what is known as the impulse-buy range by a novice shopper, representing an end user, among others (other demographics), and being somewhere in the 700 - 2500 usd spectrum.

Granted, a professional domain investor isn't going to be swayed by hefty graphics of an ultra modern-looking landing page, nor do we expect them to fall into purchasing complacency out of being star-struck by a blinding mixture of aesthetics and glamor dulling their common sense. None of this is expected to happen, because landing pages aren't created to be seen by their eyes only.

 

[biggie]

good post @namelancer

imo...

 

[cooljub]

Landing Pages are targeted at a type-in traffic (following observation on parking platforms of their performance) with a hope of encountering, among those who go through the lengths of writing a full domain name into a browser, either a lonely random visitor or a healthy percentage of elusive would-be buyers going on and about internet,exploring different domains out of curiosity, or for developmental or investment purposes, as well as the presumed, primary group of people seeking to find a content in the first place.

Alternating between diverse options, one should keep in mind that for every type-in there are at least hundred searches performed through a search engine (the exact number could be even higher), so there comes a point when developing a highly visited domain may be a more profitable proposition than ordinary parking (where high visit count doesn't not translate into high parking revenue).

Where does it leave landing pages ? Well, they are suited to segments within a very defined niche market populated with stats subject to the law of moderation, where the visitor count can't be too low, or else no one would find them by type-ins (unless they are linked to a well-visited domain shop or another high-traffic domain), nor can it be too high due to existence of better monetization alternatives in the form of parking and or development.

Based on anticipated demographics of visitors, the price range of a domain generally sold through parking pages could be expected to fall within what is known as the impulse-buy range by a novice shopper, representing an end user, among others (other demographics), and being somewhere in the 700 - 2500 usd spectrum.

Granted, a professional domain investor isn't going to be swayed by hefty graphics of an ultra modern-looking landing page, nor do we expect them to fall into purchasing complacency out of being star-struck by a blinding mixture of aesthetics and glamor dulling their common sense. None of this is expected to happen, because landing pages aren't created to be seen by their eyes only.

Phew!! Give me a while to let that soak in

 

[tonyk2000]

As to decreasing parking revenue and increasing usage of adblocks, it's irrelevant to the need for a landing page

I noticed that SEDO-powered parking pages with forsale banners, if visited with adblock enabled (at least with my "strict" adblock config) are 100% empty. They are blank. No "for sale" sign. Nothing.
Parking pages of other providers at least show "for sale" banners (but without PPC ads or "related links") with adblock enabled.

This is of course the case now, and may be changed in future - as both parking companies and adblocks perform code changes from time to time

 

[DomaHub]

I noticed that SEDO-powered parking pages with forsale banners, if visited with adblock enabled (at least with my "strict" adblock config) are 100% empty. They are blank. No "for sale" sign. Nothing.
Parking pages of other providers at least show "for sale" banners (but without PPC ads or "related links") with adblock enabled.

This is of course the case now, and may be changed in future - as both parking companies and adblocks perform code changes from time to time

Very good point, thanks @tonyk2000

 

[toughdomains]

Landing Pages are targeted at a type-in traffic (following observation on parking platforms of their performance) with a hope of encountering, among those who go through the lengths of writing a full domain name into a browser, either a lonely random visitor or a healthy percentage of elusive would-be buyers going on and about internet,exploring different domains out of curiosity, or for developmental or investment purposes, as well as the presumed, primary group of people seeking to find a content in the first place.

Alternating between diverse options, one should keep in mind that for every type-in there are at least hundred searches performed through a search engine (the exact number could be even higher), so there comes a point when developing a highly visited domain may be a more profitable proposition than ordinary parking (where high visit count doesn't not translate into high parking revenue).

Where does it leave landing pages ? Well, they are suited to segments within a very defined niche market populated with stats subject to the law of moderation, where the visitor count can't be too low, or else no one would find them by type-ins (unless they are linked to a well-visited domain shop or another high-traffic domain), nor can it be too high due to existence of better monetization alternatives in the form of parking and or development.

Based on anticipated demographics of visitors, the price range of a domain generally sold through parking pages could be expected to fall within what is known as the impulse-buy range by a novice shopper, representing an end user, among others (other demographics), and being somewhere in the 700 - 2500 usd spectrum.

Granted, a professional domain investor isn't going to be swayed by hefty graphics of an ultra modern-looking landing page, nor do we expect them to fall into purchasing complacency out of being star-struck by a blinding mixture of aesthetics and glamor dulling their common sense. None of this is expected to happen, because landing pages aren't created to be seen by their eyes only.

some great points if you have an intention to buy a name then all this holds 100% true.
But I have to admit. with all the new services out there and reviewing hundred or so personal stores I do come across a few names that I would have not bought unless I saw it listed out. the impulse buy. and typically domainers buy in categories (they buy 5 or 10 or 100 crypto names) so if you cant get or afford the name you want there may be a plan B name that you see at a great value. I have been swayed once or twice by the language and presentation of a name it helped me visualize the possibility of the name.

its very similar to staging in real estate. Most buyers need a push to pony up the for the asking price and you never know what that final push may be. So better to have it presented well in hopes to hit that harp string that makes them realize this is the name I want and nothing else. If landing pages didnt work then why would companies like sedo, afternic and godaddy invest so much time and money in desiging and redesigning a lander? hugedomains fabulous and even mike mann all have them. Brand bucket built an entire biz on adding a logo and presenation and their sales are in the hundreds of thousands.

I never used a landing page until last few years and my offer volume (on ~300 names) has gone from 3 or 4 offers a year to 3 or 4 offers a month with landers.

You could argue that people buy the house they want that fits the lifestyle of the family but if that were true there would not be an entire biz built around staging a home for the ideal layout to make the home look better.
https://www.google.com/search?q=rea...1.69i57j0l5.5395j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

since @biggie loves us so much I know he wont mind me using him as an example.
but who would you rather purchase from
http://www.urlpick.com/
or
http://www.namerockstar.com/

 

[Adnan Shaikh]

Can i just make landing page for my domain using free WordPress rather than paying monthly fee for just getting templates on efty and others?

 

[DomaHub]

Can i just make landing page for my domain using free WordPress rather than paying monthly fee for just getting templates on efty and others?

You definitely can! There are plenty of resources online that can help you with getting that set up. Good luck!

 

[toughdomains]

Can i just make landing page for my domain using free WordPress rather than paying monthly fee for just getting templates on efty and others?

there are a ton of options out there. yes you can make a free website using wordpress and plugins. but if you want to connect a domain to the free yourblog.wordpress.com it still cost something. you can also purchase hosting and design your own landing page. you can get free hosting that is supported with ads and build your own pages.
you can also do none of these and use the free parking landers. there are a ton of options.

However systems like ours and efty provide many more options than a wordpress plugin. payment options, logo options, language currency support, templates, emoji support idn support and these systems are free or free trial. There is no way when we started making landing pages we could have foreseen all the requests needed by people using the forms. you add logos to the page and people want larger logos, you offer domain data like age and traffic and alexa and some love it and others say they want a simple form with no domain data. you offer escrow and people scream for payoneer...paypal was so 2014....why dont you offer bitcoin...bitcoin was so 2016 why dont you offer bitcoin gold...
.I dont think landers will ever stop evolving...
its just one more option which 3 or 4 years ago didnt exist. options are always good.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Why not use Efty or Undeveloped? and not waste a ton of time into developing landingpages?
Efty is my favorite for many reasons.

I agree entirely. Efty makes it easy to set up and change landing pages, even for a large number of domain names. You can add a custom logo if you want, and select an appropriate background. I like the paragraph plus bullet note appearance, and the design of Make An Offer. I still keep a regular website too (because I had it first), but if starting from scratch would probably only use Efty.

Contrary to the view expressed earlier, I think landing pages ARE important. I was surprised by the earlier response that someone said they never check landing pages before buying. I always check out if there is a landing page, not just for the domain I am considering but the same name with other endings and similar names, before deciding if a name is a good investment.

Happy domaining!

Bob

 

[toughdomains]

I agree entirely. Efty makes it easy to set up and change landing pages, even for a large number of domain names. You can add a custom logo if you want, and select an appropriate background. I like the paragraph plus bullet note appearance, and the design of Make An Offer. I still keep a regular website too (because I had it first), but if starting from scratch would probably only use Efty.

Contrary to the view expressed earlier, I think landing pages ARE important. I was surprised by the earlier response that someone said they never check landing pages before buying. I always check out if there is a landing page, not just for the domain I am considering but the same name with other endings and similar names, before deciding if a name is a good investment.

Happy domaining!

Bob

agree 100% to some its important and to others it doesnt matter one bit.

why exclude all the buyers like @MetBob just because its not how you personally consider a purchase? best chances of selling will appeal to all buyers and a landing page wont turn anyone off other than a low baller.

 

[Adnan Shaikh]

I am new to domain flipping and my question might sound silly, Its been 20 days since i purchased a couple domains and put it on godaddy auction and i do not have a single offer yet, if i purchase a domain and create a landing page how effective it would be? Or do you'll suggest i use flippa auctions for selling my domains?

 

[toughdomains]

I am new to domain flipping and my question might sound silly, Its been 20 days since i purchased a couple domains and put it on godaddy auction and i do not have a single offer yet, if i purchase a domain and create a landing page how effective it would be? Or do you'll suggest i use flippa auctions for selling my domains?

The following is how I think about domain sales it will not apply to all.

Landing pages have little to no influence with godaddy and most marketplaces. And that should be the way it is. Marketplaces are designed to provide the domain exposure to buyers and promotion you need to sell a name.

Landing pages are part of an overall strategy to promote your domain portfolio.
I see domainers even here promoting links to auctions and marketplace links.

Why spend time resources and traffic promoting marketplaces when they should be doing that for you? That is why marketplaces are charging you a % of the sale because they connect you to buyers.
You will lose all that traffic and exposure once the listing ends.

I would suggest spending those resources, money and effort to promote your own domain store to bring attention to your own names for the long haul.

Most domain stores allow you to redirect your domain to an auction or marketplace link. After the listing is over you can remove the redirect but your marketing efforts remain with your stores domain. not the marketplace link.

So my suggestion is
-have both a good store a good landing page,
-park the names that bring in good rev (most stores including ours allow you to park and list your names at the same time)
-list your names on all marketplaces.
- promote your best names on namebio, here and other featured placements.
-Combine that with outbound email
and you have the overall strategy.

Once you have a buyer the landing page should help you close the deal. There you can adjust the price to set price closer to the ask of the buyer. Set trusted payment options like escrow.

I usually set my domains in my store to make an offer. If a buyer comes to me with $700 offer I switch to my asking price of lets say $1495 and send him a link to the landing page. There the buyer can focus on that name but also review related names.
Tossing a logo up there and having a reasonable price that anyone can buy and being able to adjust based on your negotiation has worked well for me. Landing page is just one important tool in the many parts of the overall strategy to sell your names.It should be powerful, graceful and flexible to help you close the deal. And yes some users know they will get a better deal by cutting out the marketplace and make an offer on your landing page. This works esp well when promotion is done through brokers.

In my expereince godaddy buyers look for name quality (for cheap) and perhaps use the traffic info they have. I have over 300 names on godaddy and only about 15 of them get offers..they are mostly one word or amazing two word names..(castingdirector.com) other 280 got zero offers in 6 months. its a volume and quality game with godaddy. if you look at namebio you will see some amazing sales prices ( just today ostatic.com sold for $25,000 USD) but im not getting those buyers.