discuss What happens when you point 1000+ domains to an online store?

[MapleDots]

What happens when you point 1000+ domains to an online store?

I had a situation arise in the past little while that have made me rethink of what I'm doing with my domains. Having over 1000 domains pointing idly at my landers, parked pages, or for sale pages really does not make me any money. Parking is for the pits and sales will happen regardless of where the domain points. Buyers will still find me if they really want the domain.

As most of you know by now, I run a number of businesses and some of them are successful online stores. This gave me an idea and I thought, what would happen to sales if I pointed 1000+ domains to one of my online stores?

To start with I have to say it's a pretty popular store and is fast approaching 2 million in annual sales.
Secondly one has to keep in mind that my domains are 80% .ca which are targeted to my home market.

So what happened after a little bit of experimentation?

Sales have shot through the roof, we cannot keep up with sending packages. In the first week alone we had almost a 40% increase in sales. If that is all I get from this experiment then it will translate to an $800,000 increase in sales by the end of one year. That is assuming the increase is static at 40%, I expect it to climb exponentially over the next year.

So ask me about parking again?

The best money maker I have found for my domains is to put them into actual use. Funny thing about that phrase, I was actually threatened by someone that one of my domains was not in use for commerce so I had no legitimate claim to it.

HeHe, what a good idea that was.... use it in commerce, who would have thought

PS. It also helps that I own a number of Canadian Cities in .com as well and they seem to drive quite a bit of traffic to the store.

The domains just forward to my online store so anyone wanting the domain sees it is in use but will also realize it can be purchased because it's only used as a forwarder. It's kind of a win win situation with the ultimate in parking revenue.

I should get threatened with a UDRP more often, it gives me great ideas


PS. ALL MEMBERS I POLITELY ASK YOU TO NOT POST ANY OF MY DOMAIN NAMES IN THIS TOPIC.

 

[Bernard Wright]

@MapleDots Why am I getting a security warning when I visit your site(s)?

 

[Brands.International]

That is only because you don't have the cash to spare, a significant company will figure out pretty fast that the domain is for sale. Money always talks, make an offer with cash in hand and you would be surprised what you can do.

I bought a two and three letter .ca and both owners said they would never sell..... that is until I put cold hard cash in their hands.

You are making some wilder assumptions about my "cash" here imo .. but it is ok, you will never figure it out from data which are publicly available, because I am not stupid to share this information publicly on domaining forum

Regarding putting "cold cash in their hands" - of course, if you overpay for some domain name, you will almost always get it .. the question you have to ask is, whether you have made good business for yourself (probably not in most cases, under those conditions).

I have to admit - I have not figured out yet your motives to publicly emphasize that you (might) have significant financial funds available, this is pretty unique approach - maybe it helps you in a way that people are sending you domain names, and you do bargain purchases from time to time? I am little perplexed by that, as except that explanation, I do not see any other advantages to share this type of financial information here (if true), I only see tons of potential disadvantages

 

[WatchDogue]

You have brought up for large scale commercial use one of my favorite reasons for domain name purchases, for their use as re-directs to one of our websites.

Although the number of domains we re-direct pales in comparison to your army of 1000, we have had success in delivering traffic from the re-directs for 20* years.

That is a brilliant functional and profitable use of the 1000 names and appreciate your sales increase info re the success of your re-directs.

 

[MapleDots]

@MapleDots Why am I getting a security warning when I visit your site(s)?

Some had https running and the forwards don't use those so you have to clear your cache or surf there via private browsing. That will not happen to anyone who has not gone there before and you are probably getting it because the url was remembered and starts https.

 

[Bernard Wright]

Some had https running and the forwards don't use those so you have to clear your cache or surf there via private browsing. That will not happen to anyone who has not gone there before and you are probably getting it because the url was remembered and starts https.

Thanks! Will do.

 

[MapleDots]

You are making some wilder assumptions about my "cash" here imo .. but it is ok, you will never figure it out from data which are publicly available, because I am not stupid to share this information publicly on domaining forum

Regarding putting "cold cash in their hands" - of course, if you overpay for some domain name, you will almost always get it .. the question you have to ask is, whether you have made good business for yourself (probably not in most cases, under those conditions).

I have to admit - I have not figured out yet your motives to publicly emphasize that you (might) have significant financial funds available, this is pretty unique approach - maybe it helps you in a way that people are sending you domain names, and you do bargain purchases from time to time? I am little perplexed by that, as except that explanation, I do not see any other advantages to share this type of financial information here (if true), I only see tons of potential disadvantages

1. I was not assuming, you mentioned it to me before regarding struggling with renewal fees. I am not implying anything about your situation and if I offended you I apologize.

2. I often overpay for single word domains, I follow the Rick Schwartz motto that real estate like that will go up in value.

3. I published sales in this post not profits, company sales are not a secret and I'm quite proud of them. Companies publish sales figures because shoppers love dealing with successful companies.

4. I will pony up the cash for a nice domain and the fact that people know it allows me to have the nice base of one word domains I currently have. My last two domains were bought that way, the domainers knew I had the cash to pay and that is why they contacted me.

5. The fact that you are a little perplexed just means you do not see the other side of the picture yet. Why do people with money buy big houses and fancy cars? Believe it or not it actually helps their careers.... just ask Rick Schwartz why he shows videos of his beach house. The more successful he is the more he gets for his domains, he has a proven track record.

 

[poweredbyme]

It is a 20+ years old info, not a new thing.
Some domains with type-in traffic have been always redirected to other sites.
Those domains are sold for high prices. This is a known fact.
Type-in traffic is the best as it converts better than cpc/cpm ads. This is a known fact for 20+ years almost since the first domain was registered.

I try understand what is new in this thread? OP has redirected some domains to his website and got positive results? Is it possible to expect negative result from extra type-in traffic?

 

[Super-Annuation]

I've been doing this for 6 months now and been domaining almost 10. Some traffic stem from the domain community, so it's just a personal marketplace / life hack.

Links within the site are down until next week.

Also, I had a few enquiries after my actual marketplace domain name, pretty funny. Not sure if that's traffic grabbing. Asking a price today from a recent enquiry about the actual marketplace domain name and etc.

Just make sure you publish the site with like a new, news source or something, so that it validates itself to Google after redirecting.

 

[oldtimer]

It is a 20+ years old info, not a new thing.
Some domains with type-in traffic have been always redirected to other sites.

Some people also make minisites for the domains that don't have natural type-in traffic and link them to their main website, but you have to make sure that your minisites are of high quality so that they rank high and pull traffic from the search engines to your main site. IMO

 

[Recons.Com]

Congrats!

If you want to be really scientific about it, track your users to see which domain brought you how many buyers for how much revenue...

Eventually, your domains might separate into 3 categories: a) they bring too much to make sense to sell, so you either take them off market or wait for ridiculously large offers; b) they bring enough, so you just keep forwarding and are indifferent if they sell; c) they don't contribute so they maybe better off at a lander.

 

[hal]

@MapleDots Interesting experiment. What does your store sell?

 

[MapleDots]

@MapleDots Interesting experiment. What does your store sell?

I'll keep that off the forum, the topic is more about the effects of putting parked domains to use than trying to promote my site.

 

[DN_Hunter]

Interesting approach and thank you for sharing your results.

so the question becomes, how much would you pay someone to forward about ,1500 domain names to your store (about 10,000 visits per month)? Because if 1,000 names gained $800K revenue, Perhaps another 1,500 domain names forwarded would give you an additional sales boost? Is that worth paying someone? These are hypothetical questions...

 

[MapleDots]

Interesting approach and thank you for sharing your results.

so the question becomes, how much would you pay someone to forward about ,1500 domain names to your store (about 10,000 visits per month)? Because if 1,000 names gained $800K revenue, Perhaps another 1,500 domain names forwarded would give you an additional sales boost? Is that worth paying someone? These are hypothetical questions...

That would not work for me because I am in the Canadian market and I targeted the domains to that with mostly .ca domains and regional .com's, ie city names etc.

So you see my scenario is a little bit unique and I don't think standard generic domains would work for me because there is no use directing traffic from the USA when I don't sell to there.

What you are proposing would only work for an ecommerce store that has international shipping.

 

[MapleDots]

I will ask everyone again to please refrain from posting my domains or the name of my online store here in topic.

I'm just clarifying that I do not want this conversation to become about my store, that is off topic.

The topic is about pointing 1000+ domains to an ecommerce site, please respect that.

If I was not clear about posting my store name or domain addresses let it be clear now.

I'll keep that off the forum, the topic is more about the effects of putting parked domains to use than trying to promote my site.

Thank you so much for that

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think the most interesting question, assuming that there are domain names that make sense to use for the redirection, is how it scales with different numbers of domains used.

To make sure this is not about MapleDots store, let's say I am globally selling unique vacation experiences. Now there are many types of domains that might make sense (geo, those with vacation, trip, experiences, etc.) and so on.

Let's say I do a little experiment and 20 pointed increase sales / leads by 10%.
That does not necessarily mean that 40 pointed would increase by 20%, it might be more or less.The direct traffic, someone taken there and inquires, probably does scale linearly, but the Google search related boost is more complex, and is almost certainly not proportional. Anyway, just wondering out loud here.

Does anyone know if there is an existing 'market' where someone with domains with decent type-in scores can offer to post to legitimate related businesses for some rental rate? I am not talking the parking companies, but a service where you point specifically just to one company that you know.

Thanks again for the thread, @MapleDots. I disagree with those who say this is old news with nothing new. I think what, in my mind is newsworthy here, is the sudden uptick in sales. 40% is pretty dramatic. Now I think we should keep in mind the regional nature of the domains (mainly) and business operation and also the short term results (maybe something not thought of has also resulted in some of the uptick, and although happened the same time the links did not result in the 40% increase).

Bob

 

[MapleDots]

People who just happen to land on one your domains click through all this, register, login, and then actually buy something at your online store [name of online store redacted by request]? These must be determined people.

I don't want to talk about my store.

You get to it, it shows a welcome page, you click on shop now and you get to all the product groups. It clearly says you have to login for pricing so that is no secret.

So again. it's not about my store, lets keep it on topic. I do not have to justify my store, the sales speak for themselves. I have talked extensively with @Vito about my store and he knows how my sales and business motto work. He is a very experienced member and he will probably tell you its a pretty decent setup.

 

[frank-germany]

It is a 20+ years old info, not a new thing.
Some domains with type-in traffic have been always redirected to other sites.
Those domains are sold for high prices. This is a known fact.
Type-in traffic is the best as it converts better than cpc/cpm ads. This is a known fact for 20+ years almost since the first domain was registered.

I try understand what is new in this thread? OP has redirected some domains to his website and got positive results? Is it possible to expect negative result from extra type-in traffic?

Hey you clever guy..
why didn't you post it in the first place?

 

[frank-germany]

I will ask everyone again to please refrain from posting my domains or the name of my online store here in topic.

I'm just clarifying that I do not want this conversation to become about my store, that is off topic.

The topic is about pointing 1000+ domains to an ecommerce site, please respect that.

If I was not clear about posting my store name or domain addresses let it be clear now.



Thank you so much for that

thank you for the info and reminder @MapleDots

I have done that a lot for 3rd party affiliate income
but that has become more difficult lately
as "they" mostly don't allow that no more
( adult offers don't care )


thanks for heads up

 

[Furquan]

The idea is so good as it's sounds, but I don't think it's going to work.

My own experience, I simply close the tab when I see a domain name trying to redirect me on another website.

 

[Furquan]

You will bring lots of traffic but none will worth of it because your traffic will not be count as targeted traffic. I had run a little online store in my early day I knew that targeted traffic always something which every online store owner want. They are easy to convert into sale.

Assume you own Toronto dot ca, someone simply typed in URL bar to get information about Toronto but he landed on a store which is selling some stuff. What he do?

He simply close the tab
He browse some products then close it
He simply close the tab before redirect.

@MapleDots you are not alone in this earth who thought it

Google's 'expired domain traffic' you will see tones of results. You can purchase one and see yourself. It's just a waste of time.

 

[nafti]

What a great topic. I had never thought of just doing that with some of my names. I just need a good online store now! Haha

@MapleDots, between NamePros , your businesses and family life, when do you have time to sleep? I barely have time to read your posts l

 

[oldtimer]

I will ask everyone again to please refrain from posting my domains or the name of my online store here in topic.

I'm just clarifying that I do not want this conversation to become about my store, that is off topic.

The topic is about pointing 1000+ domains to an ecommerce site, please respect that.

If I was not clear about posting my store name or domain addresses let it be clear now.



Thank you so much for that

If you don't feel comfortable disclosing how much traffic your portfolio generates (as I had asked earlier) then perhaps it might be a good idea to have this thread closed and open another thread for discussing redirected traffic in general without using your store or portfolio as an example. IMO

 

[frank-germany]

If you don't feel comfortable disclosing how much traffic your portfolio generates (as I had asked earlier) then perhaps it might be a good idea to have this thread closed and open another thread for discussing redirected traffic in general without using your store or portfolio as an example. IMO

or you just do
what he asks for

 

[oldtimer]

or you just do
what he asks for

We are not talking about the store as requested,

but the kind of domains you have and the amount of traffic that they generate is an important metric to have for this discussion, so as I said a new thread to discuss directed traffic in general might not be a bad idea, although I like to see what OP has to say about this. IMO