Domain Development

[Abhik]

What is Domain Development?
What can I do to 'Develop' my domains before I sell them?
Help and Suggestion appreciated

 

[Peter]

Domain development in a sense is simply developing a website on the domain. How you would go about this simply depends on what area the domain is for.

 

[innovation]

I've asked myself the same question and after some research, have determined that any site, other than a parking lander, would be considered developing. Monetizing the site would be another question. I recently launched my first development attempt, and it is still raw, but I picked a domain that I am confident I can build on as it is in a niche that I love, see my sig below. Some might consider it an affiliate site, but by continually adding unique content and backlinks through article submissions and other methods of internet marketing, I have started building a footprint, small that it may be. The key is to plant a seed, which hopefully is a strong generic domain, and then carefully water and tend to it. Over time, I am confident that my plant will grow, and when it does, it will bear fruit and eventually a fully developed commerce site. Point being, "development" is not as big a word as most people think. With the open source tools available today, anyone with initiative could develop a revenue generating website.

 

[onewordonly]

Yes development is all about planting a seed and watching it grow into something bigger. The more care and attention you give the website then the more it will be of value.

 

[emac]

I've asked myself the same question and after some research, have determined that any site, other than a parking lander, would be considered developing. Monetizing the site would be another question. I recently launched my first development attempt, and it is still raw, but I picked a domain that I am confident I can build on as it is in a niche that I love, see my sig below. Some might consider it an affiliate site, but by continually adding unique content and backlinks through article submissions and other methods of internet marketing, I have started building a footprint, small that it may be. The key is to plant a seed, which hopefully is a strong generic domain, and then carefully water and tend to it. Over time, I am confident that my plant will grow, and when it does, it will bear fruit and eventually a fully developed commerce site. Point being, "development" is not as big a word as most people think. With the open source tools available today, anyone with initiative could develop a revenue generating website.

AGREE,THANKS

 

[krx]

I haven't searched but surely there are links here to where you can get the basic rundown on "development" ~ what it means, various types of developed sites, how to get started, etc. Development 101 or Development for Dummies or just your basic development tutorial. Anyone know where to find something like that?

 

[Ross]

Development can turn a $0 domain into a $100 domain in less than a month if you know what you are doing. (SEO, design, coding) all that can turn you $7 investment into a 1000% ROI. Of course it takes time and money but once you get the hang of it you can do it quickly and easily. Its like staging a house when you sell it. Show what kind of potential the domain can have. Makes a quicker and higher sale.

 

[Peter]

I haven't searched but surely there are links here to where you can get the basic rundown on "development" ~ what it means, various types of developed sites, how to get started, etc. Development 101 or Development for Dummies or just your basic development tutorial. Anyone know where to find something like that?

in a sense you can;t write a tutorial on how to develop a domain name. You would develop for example a banking related domain differently that you would a music domain.

You have to consider what type of content is relevant and good for the subject matter of the domain.

Also things like thinking about revenue differ. Some industries would do best with adsense others may do better using affiliate networks.

 

[Coopey]

Peter- your name's gone all red! That's confusing...

I haven't searched but surely there are links here to where you can get the basic rundown on "development" ~ what it means, various types of developed sites, how to get started, etc. Development 101 or Development for Dummies or just your basic development tutorial. Anyone know where to find something like that?

in a sense you can;t write a tutorial on how to develop a domain name. You would develop for example a banking related domain differently that you would a music domain.

You have to consider what type of content is relevant and good for the subject matter of the domain.

Also things like thinking about revenue differ. Some industries would do best with adsense others may do better using affiliate networks.

As Peter says, what you need to do will probably depend on what category of name you have.

I'm going to assume, that to begin with you're going to be creating static information pages (the difficult stuff will come later).

Generally you're going to need-
-some webspace to host the pages on
-something to design the pages with
-content for the pages
(plus optional coffee)

I'm not sure what your budget is, but I'd recommend a paid hosting provider over a free one as the free ones often put adverts over your pages. I can't recommend a host- what you will need depends on your budget and ambitions, it may be best to ask for opinions before selecting one (if you've not one already that is)- NP has a Hosting Discussion section: http://www.namepros.com/web-hosting-discussion/

Software-wise
For a beginner, a WYSIWYG application may be your best bet, such as Dreamweaver or its free alternative NVU, or if the looks of these really baffle you try NetObject Fusion/Fusion Essentials which is a very basic drag-and-drop type of design. You can develop webpages in NotePad (in fact, I used to) but you'll have to learn HTML- the suggested programmes do the HTML for you- you just provide the content.

If you wish to have your own graphics (e.g. self-designed logo), then a graphics programme will be required- PhotoShop is often recommended but expensive, Fireworks is my favourite, GIMP is a free alternative, or you could use good old fashioned MS Paint- but you'll be hard-pressed to create anything professional-looking with that!
If you find the idea of graphics daunting you could always use online resources such as: this site which generates 'web 2.0' style logos, or SXC.hu where you can download graphics and photographs for use on web pages (make sure you read license before using any photos though!).

If you really want to cut corners, designwise, you can download a pre-made website template (I don't use these personally, but a Google search threw up FreeWebTemplates.com which looks as good an example as any). You download the template, then open up in Dreamweaver or NVU and 'shoe horn' your content in.

More important than the design is the content. This entirely depends on the name and type of category. At the very least, you can copy-and-paste from Wikipedia.
Here is an example of the most basic development you can do:
click me
I opened DreamWeaver, created a new basic HTML page, put a table on it, copied the content straight from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten_carbide) onto the left and put an adsense block on the right. I uploaded it to my host, total time taken including logging into Google for the Adsense code was 12/13 minutes (it's actually taken longer to write this post).
It looks naff, (it's only an example) but at the very least there's something to read, and the potential that a visitor could click a relevant ad for carbide tooling earning me about a pound or two in cash. (P.S. CarbideToolsAreAwesome.com is just a made-up name, and is still available).
This is probably the most minimal type of 'development' possible, this won't really increase the value of your domain (much) but it may start earning some ad revenue where a parked page might not. The best way to increase site value would be original content (i.e. your own work) or having something a bit more interactive, with users:-

If you're not taking the route of a static information page, as I've assumed, and planned on something more interactive, then the good news is there are hundreds of 'clone' scripts ready for you to download and then (if you've selected a suitable host) upload to your site. An example would be if you're planning a Digg-type site, get a copy of Pligg; or if you're planning a blog, getting a copy of Wordpress. The more popular scripts have themes to change the look of the site, and add-ons (such as Google Ad block to monetise your site) often a case of uploading a few files to a certain place (it's super-easy in Wordpress); then all you have to do is focus on content.

'Development' is the type of activity where the more time you spend doing it, the better you'll get at it. NP has a development forum you can look at for tips: http://www.namepros.com/website-development/
But the best way to learn is to do.