Domain Development?

[BasedBeyond]

Hello guys, I have a couple months experience in the domain business so far and it's been a blast. I haven't made much off domains probably average $xx. People have been telling me I have domains that are worth developing for cheap, then reselling them. The problem is, I have no experience with web development, so I'm really lost on what to do. Do I have to invest a bunch of money on a web developer? Or should I turn the sites into WordPress blogs, then pay $5 on Fiverr to get the sites advertised for traffic? What is the price range?

Please share your experience and give me any tips/advice. I think it's time that I start developing some of these parked domains.

 

[Traveler]

When people in the appraisal section say it might be worth developing, most of the time that is a polite way of saying reg fee. I would ask those that tell you to develop them for cheap, if they have ever done so. Slapping a website on a domain name does not add value. Developing a site that generates traffic/revenue does have value. Throwing up a wordpress blog and paying someone on fiverr for fake traffic won't do the trick. As for paying for a developer, that is a whole can of worms that deserves its own thread and I bet there are more than a few around.

 

[namenetwork]

Personally I find a lot of value and results from domain development, but not for the purpose of say an adsence mini site etc, I do selective development to build a 'sales' page that helps promote the domains marketing potential within a given industry vertical, now also starting to build their SEO presence to again help with the promotion of the domain for end user sale.

 

[BasedBeyond]

Thank you for the kind words of advice Traveler and NameNetwork. Definitely changed my mind on the Fiverr and Wordpress blog ideas. I have another question. I currently own a few short brandable domains that I submitted to BrandBucket. If they were to accepted, do I have to develop those into websites in order to put a $x,xxx price tag on them like the other ones on their site? Or would I hire a graphic designer, place a description and then a price tag on it? Please and thank you in advance.

Jeremy

 

[4pm]

do not invest anything in brandable domains you own. if your domains are good they have value on their own and they would sell because they are good not because you attached logo or one page promo wordpess template to them. chances that new owner has his own logo and whole brand design vision that does not have anything in common with yours.
free logos from brandbucket/namerific/etc is ok, never hurts but does not add value either

on the other hand if your domains are crap they would not have any value dependless how much you paid for the logo or site design

if you are capable of making traffic sites from scratch then it's completely different set of skills you are selling - not domains but your site development expertise. in this case domain name does not mean much, take any crappy .info, build high traffic/CPC site, sell on flippa for 10-24 monthly revs.. why sell a good name and a site in a package? sell separately - get higher ROI

i would not put anything on a brandable domain selling via sedo/namerific/wherever - buyer will probably have no interest in your design/content, you cant predict what your MyBrandable.com is going to be used for unless it's clear keyword name (which i would not call brandable then). moreover having not related content and questionable design on a domain you are planning to buy would raise questions as to what traces in google/arhive.org/srcreenshots.com that leaves, no one wants them showing stupid stuff, even parked page would serve me better if i were your buyer

i wonder why domaining and development even being mentioned next to each other every now and then everywhere on NP and other places. can hardly imagine more remote unrelated things to be doing business in at the same time.. well, sort of..


imho only

 

[SimpleDomaining]

i divide domains into 4 categories.
1 brandables (company - end user, that will make a brand out of it will develop/advertise/make money on it). So buy brandables only if you think this would make a great brand for some startup company, because by default it most likely will not have any traffic and you will not make money just parking it.
2. premium keyword domains (with high numbers of exact google searches) that are really easy to develop and to make money of google or any other ads.
3. used domains with traffic, that is easy to park/redirect somewhere and make money on clicks.
4. available to registration never used domains, that give you a wide space for creativity to develop keeping in mind that in 95% by default will not have any traffic. I may sound strange, but i enjoy working with them the most.

2 ways of easy development.
1. community based development (forums, hangouts) with ads. bigger community - more ad views, more money you make. down side - too much maintenance, spams etc.
2. knowledge based (blog about something) serve ads for clicks, use affiliate programs etc.
down side - must work on it daily for at least an hour to update topics, write new articles, add new affiliate links, etc.

so choices are either spend top dollars buy already developed domains and collect passive income or resell them, OR develop yourself. You will need one hosting and will be able to make lots of mini sites on it (just make sure your hosting have ability to install several databases and addon domains)

hope it helps.