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You Should Make Landing Pages for your Domains

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Link to original Medium article.

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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.

1*9aKS9gPr5hyFG0TqhYH6LA.jpeg

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?

1*FFf_RyiKdD8n5v-bBDh3sg.png

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.

1*XLdNijaPcAgkwg7TDPinLg.png

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.

1*XivM1d8mQYZde2TWGTgxPQ.png

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!
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
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?


Indeed, a Landing page is contingency, like house insurance - one should never buy or leave home without it :)
 
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And yes some users know they will get a better deal by cutting out the marketplace and make an offer on your landing page.

Sometimes this may be the case, but endusers should not count on it:

- Expressing interest, or starting negotiations, may well result an unexpected outcome of an increased fixed price. Especially if the seller is well funded and is not looking for urgent sale. Some sellers do this routinely and frequently (I heard this technology is used by hugedomains), some sellers may increase prices from time to time, based on number and quality of inquiries received, or just after the 1st inquiry. So the best thing an enduser can do is just to buy the domain name using the marketplace if the price is affordable for them

- MANY domainers are using marketplaces and brokers to outsource daily routine (myself included). If I have a domain listed on some marketplace with fixed BIN - then it makes zero sense to contact me directy trying to pay less. Some buyers are trying to explain that they want to save on marketplace commissions. This would not work. I _want_ the domain to be sold on a marketplace, as I do not have time and resources to set own customer support, merhcant accounts, phone lines, etc. etc. Want to buy directly? You may, but this price will be higher, not lower.
And, as soon as I set all the own infrastructure - I may start selling directly, but the prices will be - again - increased, as maintaining own sales and support infrastructure is a costly thing.

On another issues discussed in this thread, it appears that many parking companies (and, possibly, providers of landing pages) are missing one important feature. How the forsale domain is shown in search engines results? I googled for somedomain.com and/or "somdomain.com" with quotes on different domains (hosted with different providers). OMG. Sometimes, yes, it is "somaindomain.com is for sale". Fine. With other providers, it is "somedomain.com connects you with providers of home loans for nearly 10 years" or similar. Sometimes, it is "loading java, please wait" text in search engine output description. Yes, many endusers are using search engines even to reach the website they already know about, by typing in exact website address in SE bar and following the 1st result which normally is the website in question. And, naturally, they see the description provided in SE output.
So, making own-hosted landing pages makes sense also to make sure that even minimal SE optimization will be applied.
 
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Sometimes this may be the case, but endusers should not count on it:

I googled for somedomain.com and/or "somdomain.com" with quotes on different domains (hosted with different providers). OMG. Sometimes, yes, it is "somaindomain.com is for sale". Fine. With other providers, it is "somedomain.com connects you with providers of home loans for nearly 10 years" or similar. Sometimes, it is "loading java, please wait" text in search engine output description. Yes, many endusers are using search engines even to reach the website they already know about, by typing in exact website address in SE bar and following the 1st result which normally is the website in question. And, naturally, they see the description provided in SE output.
So, making own-hosted landing pages makes sense also to make sure that even minimal SE optimization will be applied.

another good point to control the presentation of your domain not yet mentioned. its your name no one will promote it better than you. all around a great discussion.
 
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have a great story that just happened today...Ill mention the domain once the escrow is complete. And it will be posted in namebio once approved.

this guy calls the number listed on the for sale landing page leaves a message. (another pro to having your own sales page vs a marketplace page) I feel from the info I have this was a direct type in to the domain.

he states his name I look up area code which is Canada.
Before I return the call I want to be armed with info so I pull up the toughdomains panel and see when I bought it 2013 and for how much around $160
Since it was parked with our system I can see how much traffic it gets not much and that its 5 years old. (dont think age or traffic mattered one bit in this sale but age helps me personally see how much lower from ask I may want to come down)

I return his call he says "Im calling for my boss" we dance around the obvious for a few seconds and then I ask him how much are you looking to offer for this name? He immediately states the min bid price on the lander which is $700 I look at the buy it now and I quote the buy now price of 3k.
He reacts to the price and says
"Wow! Thats alot...well ok I have all I need to know."

and he quickly hangs up the phone. I sit back and wondered if I should call him back and lower the ask a bit but I actually really like this name its a short .com and easy to remember. If he likes as much as me he will at least come back with a counter.

I wake up this morning and I have an email from escrow saying the buyer (same name who called me accepted the price for 3k and the terms of the offer) I accept the trasnaction and select which account I want escrow to pay.

I can see the email in escrow so I look up the company and it says he is the CEO so I guess he wasnt calling for his boss...He was the Boss!
I would say from the details of this sale the lander helped in the following ways

1. provided a number to call and speak to me an easy way to reach me
2. set an expectation of the price with min offer $700 (if min offer is set our form wont let you submit below the min offer)
3. offered a clear buy price with a way for anyone to purchase the name at anytime. This creates a sense of urgency when you narrowed your choice of names. The domain was set to buy now and when a buyer sees that anyone can buy the name at any time for that price it must have motivated him to click buy now.

you can offer all these influencing factors on any lander page and you dont have to use any of the services promoted in this thread. but simply consider if these factors helped speed up this sale the contact number, price range and quick buy option will work again for another buyer.

Could I have made the sale without the lander? probably but it certainly helped close the deal. (and close the deal while i was sleeping with zero back and forth on email or price)
I didnt have to think last minute what i wanted for the name.
I already added a price and min to the offer page that I was happy with and wasnt ambushed by a new offer or wondering how he came up with his offer price.

Every deal is different but in this case I feel the lander helped me establish and solidify the asking price and streamline the sales process.
 
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I myself use Uni and Epik BIN & inquiry/make offer landers and don't see much benefit in making my own (except for more detailed stats). The time spent on managing those landers, price changes and what not is something to consider IMO. And with Uni landers you can automate a bunch of things with auto-responds. Not to mention you can direct your leads to a professional brokerage team if you so wish.
 
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I'll remove all my domains from parking.
All my domains, previously parked and now moved to development presents an high (bad) EFL (External Follow Links) parameter.
All those external follow links are parking Ads.
I've switched to NameSilo market place, they offer a FREE landing / contact page.
Here you are an example:
http://www.scary.club
http://www.toys.one
No links, no Ads, no bad SEO parameters, no money to pay!
 
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I'll remove all my domains from parking.
All my domains, previously parked and now moved to development presents an high (bad) EFL (External Follow Links) parameter.
All those external follow links are parking Ads.
I've switched to NameSilo market place, they offer a FREE landing / contact page.
Here you are an example:
http://www.scary.club
http://www.toys.one
No links, no Ads, no bad SEO parameters, no money to pay!

Nice clean pages. Do the names have to be registered at NameSilo or can domains from other registrars be sold there too?
 
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this thread has inspired me to running a landing page contest soon. stay tuned for more info. it would rate all the different aspects of a lander.
I'll remove all my domains from parking.
All my domains, previously parked and now moved to development presents an high (bad) EFL (External Follow Links) parameter.
All those external follow links are parking Ads.
I've switched to NameSilo market place, they offer a FREE landing / contact page.
Here you are an example:
http://www.scary.club
http://www.toys.one
No links, no Ads, no bad SEO parameters, no money to pay!

Can you add a logo to the sales page? do they support IDN? do they provide other payment methods other than NS escrow? do they offer contact info like phone or email?
 
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Nice clean pages. Do the names have to be registered at NameSilo or can domains from other registrars be sold there too?

Only domains registered at NS.


this thread has inspired me to running a landing page contest soon. stay tuned for more info. it would rate all the different aspects of a lander.


Can you add a logo to the sales page? do they support IDN? do they provide other payment methods other than NS escrow? do they offer contact info like phone or email?

You can create a custom background with your logo. Only logo is not possible, you can upload your image background.
About payments method, buyer can contact you via contact form and then close the deals with your preferred escrow system.
You can insert your custom text and you can place your email or phone # on it.
 
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I have some evidence to what the OP might be talking about this. I am new at this but I have close to 3000 domains split across registrars. On GoDaddy, I tried their parking pages and most of my .coms are on Godaddy. Not a single inquiry.

On Uniregistry, none of them are parked, and I am getting regular inquiries, even though I have a whopping 3 searches for my domains on Uniregsitry and consist mainly of new extensions. People are searching for them somewhere else and typing them in, but the professional looking Uni landing page and direct contact and sales offer form makes it easier for people to ask, even if they have to go through the extra hoop Uniregistry makes you go through to contact.

In terms of traffic it's about the same between my GoDaddy names and my Uniregistry names, yet 0 inquiries from GoDaddy in 3 months and the traffic on my more popular names for the offer page in the auction is far lower than for the parked pages. Not to mention no clicks so it really is not worth keeping there. That means not a lot of people are taking the extra step to get to the auction landing page. Now it could be because most are just domain investors searching for the same thing and are just curious to see if there is a site there and don't care to really buy, but still, 0 inquiries on GoDaddy compared to Uni is enough of a reason for me to agree with the OP and definitely plan on changing this set up soon. Among those views there may have been some real customers who simply preferred to go with something similar because they got turned off by the ads or didn't know the domains are really for sale.

The ugly GoDaddy parking pages have a lot to do with this. And same for adblockers. I can't see anything on parked pages, including the "for sale" links or banners at the top when using adblockers. Just blank pages. Impossible for someone to even contact you unless you have a site or they go to who.is.

My only question is where can I find a good place to start with putting up a website and landers? I would definitely need an easy way to continue to monitor traffic per domain.
 
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Only domains registered at NS.




You can create a custom background with your logo. Only logo is not possible, you can upload your image background.
About payments method, buyer can contact you via contact form and then close the deals with your preferred escrow system.
You can insert your custom text and you can place your email or phone # on it.

One thing about putting up your email or phone number the way you described is that it's relatively easy for a bot to scrape that information from your website and spam you with unnecessary emails or phone calls. Having a dedicated form without any mention of your phone number and email address is a superior method to preventing unwanted spam.
 
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One thing about putting up your email or phone number the way you described is that it's relatively easy for a bot to scrape that information from your website and spam you with unnecessary emails or phone calls. Having a dedicated form without any mention of your phone number and email address is a superior method to preventing unwanted spam.
you can use a vanity number like kall8 for phone but I disagree I think having a phone on the form is important...most people like to call esp for larger amounts.
 
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you can use a vanity number like kall8 for phone but I disagree I think having a phone on the form is important...most people like to call esp for larger amounts.

I'm sorry, I was unclear in my previous post. I meant that having a form for the buyer's phone number, instead of having the owner's phone number displayed is superior. I think we both agree that having a way to contact the buyer via phone is important.
 
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I'm sorry, I was unclear in my previous post. I meant that having a form for the buyer's phone number, instead of having the owner's phone number displayed is superior. I think we both agree that having a way to contact the buyer via phone is important.
you need both older buyers want to call you younger buyers want to email or chat or skype even younger want discord...
 
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you need both older buyers want to call you younger buyers want to email or chat or skype even younger want discord...

I am not sure I understand what you mean by "both."

My only point was that having a form input for phone number so buyers can put their own phone number in to contact you is superior to having your own phone number displayed so buyers can call you at that number. Even with vanity numbers, nobody likes having to deal with scams/spams that putting your phone number out in the public internet will no doubt invite.

I'll provide pictures so there is no further confusion.

Buyer's phone number inside the contact form. (Good - no chance for bots to scrape your phone number and spam/scam you)
bsF8CN3.png


Owner's phone number inside the description. (Bad - bots can scrape your website and sell your contact information to scammers/spammers). This is the solution that @mpls suggested as a work-around to having no phone numbers inside the forms used by NameSilo.
9X04X65.png


Hope this clarifies everything :xf.smile:
 
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I am not sure I understand what you mean by "both."

My only point was that having a form input for phone number so buyers can put their own phone number in to contact you is superior to having your own phone number displayed so buyers can call you at that number. Even with vanity numbers, nobody likes having to deal with scams/spams that putting your phone number out in the public internet will no doubt invite.

I'll provide pictures so there is no further confusion.

Buyer's phone number inside the contact form. (Good - no chance for bots to scrape your phone number and spam/scam you)
bsF8CN3.png


Owner's phone number inside the description. (Bad - bots can scrape your website and sell your contact information to scammers/spammers). This is the solution that @mpls suggested as a work-around to having no phone numbers inside the forms used by NameSilo.
9X04X65.png


Hope this clarifies everything :xf.smile:

Not sure I agree with this. offering a phone number on the form increases contact %. you are more likely to get a contact if someone can call you. (esp with older buyers) ...I understand what you say about bots scrapping the phone but as I stated before you can use a vanity number for $5 and forward that vanity number to your real phone so bots can scrap your vanity number all day. when you get too much spam cancel the vanity number and get a new one. So I think having phone is really important....this 3k sale in fact was generated by a phone call from a form on our system....(the buyer called the phone # listed on the offer form and did not even use the offer form)
https://namebio.com/adstash.com
buyer did use the form to check out the domain through escrow...

So seller phone number on form = Good

regarding phone number in contact form...asking for phone actually decreases response rate of the form.
you can see more info in this article there are many tests that demo this but this what came up in google.
https://vtldesign.com/web-strategy/conversion-rate-optimization/phone-number-form-field-case-study/
but so many customers wanted to ask for buyer phone that we offer both forms with and without phone....so asking for phone on form to me is not good for conversions and anonymity

So asking for buyer phone number on form = bad

We often A/B test our forms to see which ones generate the most offers then release the winners to our members. I do understand the argument if a buyer really wants your name he will give you his number or a fake number but if a buyer wants to remain anaymous with no fphone # and that will result in a sale then I say thats the way to go...

In the end you need to provide all these options in the offer form so the domain seller can decide for themself what works best.
 
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