150 Domain tips

[IconPacks]

Hi guys,

Thought it would be interesting to create a thread where everyone contributes a few tips to make a Top 150 domain tips list. Just general snippets of advice/knowledge that might prove useful to other domainers/developers out there. If we get over 150 tips I'll update the thread title.
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Rules
- only 1 sentence per tip.
- must relate to domain names (buying/selling/development etc...)
- tips not facts, so can be opinions.
- no duplicates.

I'll start, with 5 from me.
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1) Create brandable domains by replacing the first letter(s) of a common word.

2) Don't start work developing an idea around a domain that you don't yet own thinking you can grab it when you're ready!

3) Don't use hyphens in the domain if you can help it.

4) Does the domain look good in upper and lower case?

5) Say the domain out loud before registering it, is it easily pronounceable over the phone?

 

[randomo]

78) When considering a registrar, find out whether you can cancel (& get a refund for) domains within a few days after you register them. Some, but not all, registrars offer this option.

 

[RegFee]

76?)Stear clear of ebay unless you have a solid name.

79) Don't steer clear of eBay, just price your names correctly.
80) Don't get greedy when responding to Sedo.com offers unless you really know what you are doing.
81) Don't post ANYTHING on Namepros unless you've read about FLUMP
82) If your name gets listed on GreatDomains.com, you cannot sell it anywhere else for 6 months.
83) If your name isn't accept by GreatDomains.com, don't complain to them, just post about it here.

 

[YesBrilliant]

84) Be very careful to not buy low value IDN domain names, from people who previously registered them, when you may think that you were getting a very nice and valuable one, specially .COMs.

 

[briman1970]

My next tips are somewhat in opposition of these two... (#67 on the thread) Use Whois name protection to hide your contact details from the world, otherwise it's available as public info. (#70 on the thread) When you are expecting domains to drop, check their availability at more than one registrar. While some show a domain as still taken, others may be showing it as available!

85) If your reason for registering a particular domain is to sell it, then make sure your who-is info is accurate and up to date, so buyers can contact you quickly and easily.

86) Check domains with DN Analyzer. If a name shows as taken, go to whois.net and confirm that it actually is. Using several registrars to check for available names will result in the name being stolen by a registrar, a taster or a squatter.

 

[RJ]

87) Be diligent in renewing your domains. Don't procrastinate. If possible, consolidate your names to one registrar to make them easier to keep track of.

88) Avoid current event domains. Today's news is next year's junk domain.

89) Learn the basics about trademarks, contract law, and the UDRP process.

 

[B33R]

90) Your domain is worth whatever someone's willing to pay, NOT what someone else says it's worth.

91) Appraisals are an educated guide price, often a total guess, NOT a final price.

 

[estibot.com]

Great, great thread! Rep added to OP

92) Don't hold on to your whole portfolio in hopes of getting high $$$$$$ for each name, renewing hundreds of names per year at high expense. Instead, hold on to some gems, sell the rest for lower prices, move the goods

93) When you sell 10 names for $50 each, instead of using that $500 for regging 50 inferior names, consider buying a single high quality dotcom for $500

94) Make sure you take into account the expenses of regging, renewing, broker fees, software purchases, transfer costs, whois privacy costs etc when planning your budget. If you don't, you might end up losing money in the long run even if you do make some sales

 

[Fleege]

These are more related to the domain business - since most of the best pure domaining tips were gone... GREAT Thread btw.

95) take domian parking seriously. It's set it and forget it but most people fail to set it.

96) Repark your bottom 20% - some names just do better elsewhere but give them time.

97) List your names everywhere.

98) get a good portfolio site.

99) promote your portfolio site with viral marketing and free sites

100) consider free private label storefronts for some of your names.

101) brand your name give it a tshirt or something

 

[gazzip]

102) Don't assume that just because you own the .com that the owners of the equivalent .co.uk - .de - .fr etc will definetly want it or be willing to pay you big bucks for it.

103) Remember that end users/Business owners do not necessarily think in the same way as a Domainer does.


.

 

[YesBrilliant]

88) Avoid current event domains. Today's news is next year's junk domain.

Please allow me to disagree.

Current event domains ARE good to register because if the event is significant (terror attacks, elections, celebrity scandals...) the amount of traffic is also significant and absolutelly worth the registration fee, even though, certainly, the traffic shall die in a couple of months.

You just have to park the domain, and never develop it. Then you just let it drop.

But you got your - nice - profit when you had it!

 

[1901gt]

104) Invest in .info! They will become big in the near future!

 

[RJ]

105) Domain name conference events are a great place to learn more about the insides of the domain industry and network with other domain owners and businesses. DomainFest: www.domainfest.com Domain Roundtable: www.domainroundtable.com TRAFFIC: www.targetedtraffic.com

 

[IconPacks]

106) Check for the readability of a domain (e.g coollinks isn't as easy to read as coolsites) Also check if the first word could be perceived as overrunning into the second - e.g. gamershell (gamers hell? gamer shell?).

107) Try and avoid domains with negative connotations. (e.g. SlowPay, DownHost etc...)

108) If you can't get the noun (e.g fish), look for the plural (fishes), or other word combinations; fished, fishing, fisher, fishy etc...

 

[IconPacks]

Come on guys, more tips! Read over what we have, and then think up a few more unique ones... we can hit 150

109) For beginners; don't be fooled into thinking you have to register your domains with your web host, it's advisable to keep your domains and your hosting separate.

110) Use a Thesaurus to help come up with additional words.

111) If you are developing a number of domains on your own reseller hosting account, it is usually a good idea to add whois protection to your nameserver domain. (n1.xxxxxx.com)

112) Watch out for alternative spellings UK/US (e.g. ise vs. ize)

 

[Web Master]

This valuable thread should be Stickied!

 

[End User King]

RULE NO. 113

Whenever I solicit an end-user with a similar domain, I
always use their domain name without ext in the subject line,
I always get a response this way...." How Much? ", " No Thanks! ".

Example, I own NewLaptops(.net), I contact the owner of the .org, info, even com
and I place in the subject line NewLaptops or New Laptops.

I dont know why the boost in response, but I attribute it to the end
user thinking maybe their domain has expired, is in violation of Trademarks,
or is an offer to " buy their domain ".


Nurca (Calvin)

 

[bliss]

114) Most forum thread domain sale topics that start with "Some Great Domain Names", "Sweet Names", "etc". Often are the opposite.

115) Use a RSS reader to pull different popular forum domain sales areas into one easy to read place.


//So close to 150..

 

[Jackie]

116) Avoid registering unnecessary Top Level Domain names. Often, a subdomain of a domain name you already own makes much more sense. For example, if you needed a distinct section of Press Releases for Example Company. If you already own example.com, why register examplepress.com when you can easily create a subdomain like press.example.com for this purpose. Remember the domain name system is hierarchical, and you can create in theory an unlimited amount of X.yourdomain.com subdomains without registration fees. This will definitely save you money in registration and renewal fees, and if you are thinking of just letting the examplepress.com domain drop when you don't need it anymore, somebody could pick up that domain and put undesirable content there, possibly damaging your reputation. If you had created a press.example.com subdomain, then all you would have to do is keep up with the renewal of your example.com domain.

117) If you are evaluating the search results of a multi word/part domain, searching for the exact phrase will give you more realistic figures. If you are evaluating the search performance of "carwash.com", then you would search the phrase "car wash" (including the quotes) rather than without the quotes. With the quotes, the search engine searches for the entire phrase within webpages (yielding a more accurate indicator). Without, the search engine searches for either of the words "car" and "wash" in webpages (yielding an inflated amounts of results). This should be standard behavior among major search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Now, why stop at 150 tips in this useful thread? Onward and upward I say!

 

[End User King]

My next tips are somewhat in opposition of these two... (#67 on the thread) Use Whois name protection to hide your contact details from the world, otherwise it's available as public info. (#70 on the thread) When you are expecting domains to drop, check their availability at more than one registrar. While some show a domain as still taken, others may be showing it as available!

85) If your reason for registering a particular domain is to sell it, then make sure your who-is info is accurate and up to date, so buyers can contact you quickly and easily.

86) Check domains with DN Analyzer. If a name shows as taken, go to whois.net and confirm that it actually is. Using several registrars to check for available names will result in the name being stolen by a registrar, a taster or a squatter.

I'm sorry, but Dn Analyzer seems to be a parked page. Not cool :hehe:

 

[IconPacks]

118) When registering a domain with a number in it (number5.com) see if you can grab similar sounding domains as well (numberfive.com) and possibly num5.com and numfive.com.

119) Try and register domains made up of common phrases or saying (youneverknow.com, whydidyoudoit.com, giveitago.com).