strategy Developing your domain names

[heavend]

Good evening boys and girls,

It's great that everyone seem to have their favorite name they want / wish to develop in theory, some day. I have heard this over and over again in this business - that some day when there is time and when the situation is just right, and when the moon is blue - we all would develop our domains into great sites, which then would raise their values and can be sold for 100 X over. I have been guilty of this myself - as for the past 15 years I always had ideas about development, but never got anything solid of the ground.

In reality, 99.999% are registering the names and sitting on them hoping to magically get to 100 X their investment without lifting a finger. Some will be successful at just that (or lucky), but most would fail and will have to either drop their names or sell below the original purchase. This is fine, as we know in any business most would fail and hard work would separate those who achieve some mediocre success from those who really make it big.

Maybe someone would like to share the actual tools to be used to start developing. Since we all in the same boat (kind of), we may as well share some of the resources.

I understand it takes a long time and huge commitment - so my main question is

What are the fastest way to get into developing domains into websites? (outside of becoming web developer professionally or hiring pros)

I have seen a bunch of crappy websites (amazon and other affiliates, etc) being sold for a few dollars on ebay. Never really gave them a try, but was wondering if other people had success with them? My issue with amazon is - your buyer will come to you only once. Say, he will even find a product he wants, then would add it to the basket, then will see amazon checkout, and will never come to you again. (no reason to come to you if he can go directly to amazon) Maybe someone had a different experience with those and can recommend something specific?

I also have been using free html software, anyone can download and use - like NVU, for example. I like it for something simple, like informational pages, but anything which has to do with databases, shopping baskets, products for sale and we are back to either affiliate sites or professionals. Is there something in between?

I apologize in advance, if this has been discussed in the previous blogs, as I am fairy new to this community.

All best,
Alex

 

[namerav]

Thanks...recollected my thoughts to develop few domains within a month.

 

[mhdoc]

With DigitalOcean.com and ServerPilot.io you can spin up WordPress sites in under a minute for $5/month. WP isn't as easy to use as some would have you believe but there are tons of free tutorials on getting started with it. I think even some one or two page sites describing how the domain could be used would be better than doing nothing.

 

[heavend]

Thank you very much. I will definitely check them both out.
Just a few questions:
Is it $5/month/domain or do you get some sort of membership and can develop a few for one price?
Also are resulting pages attached permanently to those sites, or can they be moved around anywhere and you control the context 100%? In other words, are you stuck paying $5/month forever, or can you pay for a few months, develop something and leave them?

 

[mhdoc]

Its just a hosting service. The $5 gets you a 20 gig SSD drive that you can put as many sites on as you want. Each WordPress install (domain) will take about 20 megs plus whatever space you need for your content, images, etc. I haven't really loaded one up, but 30-40 small sites should work. If you don't pay the hosting expires and they go away. If you sell one you delete it and have room for another.

 

[Yousaf Saeed]

Nice thread... Just adding one more consideration
Setting up a wordpress site with Ready Made template is just a 5 minute work and to customize it as per your needs it may take another five minute. But the main question is how you can get its Content on autopilot with good quality SEO so you site starts to rank...
Content here means Quality Content

This second part is not so easy as i developed few sites but after posting 60 Articles on each i got tired and then left them ... Is there any possible way to get automatic Unique Quality content ?
Replies highly appreciated.

 

[SirDrago]

Its just a hosting service. The $5 gets you a 20 gig SSD drive that you can put as many sites on as you want. Each WordPress install (domain) will take about 20 megs plus whatever space you need for your content, images, etc. I haven't really loaded one up, but 30-40 small sites should work. If you don't pay the hosting expires and they go away. If you sell one you delete it and have room for another.

You don't have to install a new WordPress installation with every domain that you add. Search on YouTube for "WordPress multi site" installation. A quick 5 minute edit and your done.
One install and multiple domains.

 

[affable]

@heavend Great post!

I think that most people here probably only buy domains to turn around and flip for a profit without thinking about developing most of them. One main reason being that it takes time to develop a domain into a fully functional website. That takes time away from sales of domains.

However, once you have built several, it does get easier and faster to do. The thing is basically finding the time to learn how to build a website and then doing it should be looked at as an investment for future profit gains.

I think that domain investors who are interested in the increased profits that a fully developed website can bring should do it as their time permits, but they should stay committed and complete the task. Once they learn how to build and develop a website, the next will get easier and so on.

Starting out by building and developing a website using WordPress for example, can make the learning curve a bit easier due to the amount of information and resources that are available on the web.

A good starting point for a domainer might be to take a name that they haven't been able to sell and develop it into a website using it as a learning tool. Then once the website is done, test out trying to sell the domain with the website and it's content and see what kind of profits can be had.

I have to admit that every time I am looking for a domain to buy or register, the first thought that pops into my head is what the domain can be developed into and how much potential that developed website might have.

A lot of times I buy or reg a name that I intend to sell, only later to decide to keep it and develop it. Perhaps not keeping a lot of my good inventory for development might help me make some sales a little faster, even if the profits are less.

 

[heavend]

thank you, @affable I will definitely try WordPress as a starting point.

A very nice question by @Yousaf Saeed - " Is there any possible way to get automatic Unique Quality content ?" -

People who are experts at WordPress out there -
is there an easy way to have weekly updates (or twice a month) or do you have to make it your full time job. The main concern here, is most of us are doing something else to earn a living, and domaining while very exciting and interesting is still a side business. I can commit two - maybe three hours after work / day but that is already pushing it... so if I have to spend most of the time updating the context, it would be really difficult and as @Yousaf Saeed mentioned - "got tired and then left them"

 

[Yousaf Saeed]

@heavend Its not just about "Quality Content"
Its About:

1. Quality Content [Content which Google Loves to Eat]
2. Link Building
3. Keyword Research
4. Writing Guest Posts including your site links for other popular blogs

So all this stuff you have to do alone ... But it consume times...
If we could get some advice from WP experts to get automatic Adsense safe content on auto pilot then it'll cut down time consumption ...

 

[5dots]

IMO there are way too many great and free resources out there already. Impossible to compete if not willing to invest one or two hours a day and that over years.

And even if you are willing to spend time on development, it's still very difficult to come up with new and truly interesting content which will ultimately attract "readers".

Think about all the big corporations out there trying to entertain there "fans" on a daily basis. They spend millions for that. But how many likes do they get? How many interacting readers? Is that why their domain is worth millions?

The only way to really develop a page is to think about whether you have a very special skill/knowledge. Then share all that information on your page. A real niche page which will eventually become influential. The money will follow.
Once that's achieved, are you still willing to sell?

Another point to consider, most end-users have their own plans with a domain. They don't want to take over an existing business.

Sum up: Only develop in case you are very serious about it. Otherwise let be and focus on selling that names.

 

[mhdoc]

5dots makes a lot of good points. I have one of those "very special skills niche sites" and he is correct, I am not interested in selling it.

I do wonder if more folks tried to develop a couple of little sites if they wouldn't have a better idea of what kind of domains might actually sell to an end user.

 

[ksusha64]

Good evening boys and girls,

It's great that everyone seem to have their favorite name they want / wish to develop in theory, some day. I have heard this over and over again in this business - that some day when there is time and when the situation is just right, and when the moon is blue - we all would develop our domains into great sites, which then would raise their values and can be sold for 100 X over. I have been guilty of this myself - as for the past 15 years I always had ideas about development, but never got anything solid of the ground.

In reality, 99.999% are registering the names and sitting on them hoping to magically get to 100 X their investment without lifting a finger. Some will be successful at just that (or lucky), but most would fail and will have to either drop their names or sell below the original purchase. This is fine, as we know in any business most would fail and hard work would separate those who achieve some mediocre success from those who really make it big.

Maybe someone would like to share the actual tools to be used to start developing. Since we all in the same boat (kind of), we may as well share some of the resources.

I understand it takes a long time and huge commitment - so my main question is

What are the fastest way to get into developing domains into websites? (outside of becoming web developer professionally or hiring pros)

I have seen a bunch of crappy websites (amazon and other affiliates, etc) being sold for a few dollars on ebay. Never really gave them a try, but was wondering if other people had success with them? My issue with amazon is - your buyer will come to you only once. Say, he will even find a product he wants, then would add it to the basket, then will see amazon checkout, and will never come to you again. (no reason to come to you if he can go directly to amazon) Maybe someone had a different experience with those and can recommend something specific?

I also have been using free html software, anyone can download and use - like NVU, for example. I like it for something simple, like informational pages, but anything which has to do with databases, shopping baskets, products for sale and we are back to either affiliate sites or professionals. Is there something in between?

I apologize in advance, if this has been discussed in the previous blogs, as I am fairy new to this community.

All best,
Alex

Great article!

 

[affable]

thank you, @affable I will definitely try WordPress as a starting point.

You are very welcome my friend. Best of luck and if you have any questions feel free to ask and i'll try to help out if I can.

Cheers.

 

[heavend]

@5dots Thank you. I agree, the development has to be taken very seriously and 2-3 hours/ day is about what one should consider normal, specially upfront.

The thing is, you are talking about some special area, where you have some unique knowledge. While it is great, if one exist, but then you are right - you are NEVER going to sell, since why would you? At this point the value of the website would be 100 X more then it's name. If you do have this unique knowledge about something, you may want to consider doing this professionally, and spend even more time on it, specially if it brings-in some dividends. While I really admire this kind of initiative, I am not talking or asking about this kind of development here. We are in the business of selling domain names here, not unique ideas.

To illustrate my point and question, I will use one of my domain names: CarsDirectory.com. Now, I am original owner of the domain and I have registered it back in 2001. Back then I had some ideas, but things have never started off the ground due to lack of knowledge, time and funds. Now, by itself this domain name have produced a couple of offers, which never really lead to anything serious and probably produced some PPCs, back in the day when it was possible to get some $ for it. I would estimate I am about $50-$60 in red for this particular domain over the years. The exact figure doesn't really matter.

In reality, this is the kind of domain, which is waiting to be developed, and once developed it hopefully would go up in the ranks and would be sold to the end user (possibly some dealership, auto-show, maybe rental place, etc)

The point is that without this initial development stage, that End user sale may never come and I ended up wasting all this $$ renewing the domain all these years.

In other words, this is not about creating a unique websites for your own personal use - call it knowledge / or niche. This is more for practical application to our business side of things. The materials used do not have to be unique, they have to be interesting enough for people to come back, they have to be changing / updating, and they hopefully will generate some interest and some link / profit to keep the website paying for itself until it is sold to someone who actually is in the business of whatever it is you are developing.

My original business plan, back in the day involved purchasing a lot of different domain names all across the industry, so I can then develop sites and link them all together by categories. Nothing really changed, even with this so called new era of Chinese bubble ...

 

[garptrader]

I believe it is worthwhile to learn something about website development as that is ultimately what domain names are intended for. If there is no reason an end user would have to buy your domain then selling it will be rather difficult. However, there is a huge difference between launching a website and getting it to rank in the top few spots of Google for a competitive search term. That is a much more involved process. Development consumes a lot of time and from my experience was not the effort involved - only the novelty of being able to say I launched some websites - some which ranked OK and Bing. Google AdSense clickthrough rates run around 1% and the clicks don't pay that well. I recall in a year plus with Commission Junction I had 750 thousand affiliate ad pageviews and did not make one penny in affiliate revenue. I decided to remove the affiliate banners and stop giving them free leads.

 

[heavend]

wow, thank you @garptrader - this sounds horrible. Yo what you are saying is - it's not even worth it in your opinion to rely on some adSense links at least for some basic cover - like $10/ month server fees?

 

[SirDrago]

I recall in a year plus with Commission Junction I had 750 thousand affiliate ad pageviews and did not make one penny in affiliate revenue.

There is something seriously wrong here!
You needed to dig a little deeper.

 

[affable]

I believe it is worthwhile to learn something about website development as that is ultimately what domain names are intended for. If there is no reason an end user would have to buy your domain then selling it will be rather difficult. However, there is a huge difference between launching a website and getting it to rank in the top few spots of Google for a competitive search term. That is a much more involved process. Development consumes a lot of time and from my experience was not the effort involved - only the novelty of being able to say I launched some websites - some which ranked OK and Bing. Google AdSense clickthrough rates run around 1% and the clicks don't pay that well. I recall in a year plus with Commission Junction I had 750 thousand affiliate ad pageviews and did not make one penny in affiliate revenue. I decided to remove the affiliate banners and stop giving them free leads.

That's an awful lot of page views to not make any commission. If the ads were relevant to the website they were on you should have had some earnings. I wouldn't have waited long as long as you before I tried other methods on monetization with high numbers like you had. Did you contact CJ and ask someone about it? It seems a little fishy. Maybe you actually had sales but they weren't credited to your account for some reason.

I used to be a big believer in CJ until recently having to deal with they support. I could have gotten better support and answers about a couple of things by asking one of those magic 8 ball's!

 

[heavend]

nice 8 ball

 

[TheFifty9Sound]

Building a website is easy. Filling it with content is hard.

 

[SirDrago]

Maybe you actually had sales but they weren't credited to your account for some reason.

That or the wrong info was entered. Bottom line is with that many page views he should've gotten paid.

 

[affable]

That or the wrong info was entered. Bottom line is with that many page views he should've gotten paid.

That's very true. All I know is that my patience wouldn't have lasted long if I had that many page views and I didn't get paid. That's way too long with way too many views to not make anything.

 

[korganian]

I believe it is worthwhile to learn something about website development as that is ultimately what domain names are intended for. If there is no reason an end user would have to buy your domain then selling it will be rather difficult. However, there is a huge difference between launching a website and getting it to rank in the top few spots of Google for a competitive search term. That is a much more involved process. Development consumes a lot of time and from my experience was not the effort involved - only the novelty of being able to say I launched some websites - some which ranked OK and Bing. Google AdSense clickthrough rates run around 1% and the clicks don't pay that well. I recall in a year plus with Commission Junction I had 750 thousand affiliate ad pageviews and did not make one penny in affiliate revenue. I decided to remove the affiliate banners and stop giving them free leads.

I had the same terrible experience with commission junction as you did.

 

[TRY]

The following are 2 examples of sites I am working on. The first is a WordPress theme, the second i used a drag-and-drop website builder.
Still have a long way as I just started to put it together.
Chicagolandpages.com
ChicagolandLawyers.com