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Using Pay-Per-Monetization to generate revenue from a domain
This is the first part in a multi-part series dedicated to domain name monetization and revenue models.
For over 3 decades, I have always recommended that domain investors and resellers consider domain name monetization strategies to leverage their assets ability to generate at least a little revenue to pay their own renewals each year while they await the perfect end-user and not put all their eggs in one basket.
In Part 1 of the domain monetization series, we'll look at different ways to leverage pay-per-monetization strategies to give you some ideas to research further in your quest to create new revenue streams with the domains simply sitting in your portfolio, collecting dust and stacking renewal costs every year.
Pay-Per-Monetization Strategies:
- Pay-Per-Click
- Pay-Per-Impression
- Pay-Per-Lead
- Pay-Per-View
Pay-Per-Click Monetization
Pay-per-click (PPC) is an online advertising strategy leveraged by companies to generate sales by paying publishers (website owners) every time one of their advertisement links is “clicked” on.There are a few options you can leverage with Pay-Per-Click to help you generate some revenue:
- 3rd Party Domain Parking
- In-house domain parking
- Hybrid In-House Domain Parking and Sales Lander
Most of you are already familiar with this strategy, as it's the primary way to generate parking revenue when you don't have your own website or know how to develop and host a parking page of your own. It's quick and easy to redirect your domain name to someone else's platform for a percentage of the pay-per-click revenue your domain generates. With this method, you leave money on the table because the parking company gets the lion's share of each click for helping you monetize your domain and then pays you a percentage of each click.
Examples of companies that offer domain parking services:
- Bodis
- Godaddy
- SEDO
- ParkingCrew
- Skenzo
In-house domain parking uses the same principle as 3rd party domain parking, except that you host the parking page on your own server or redirect it to one of your portfolio pages with Pay-Per-Click ads on it. This method puts the click revenue in your pocket instead of just a percentage that you get when using a 3rd party parking service. Additionally, it's common for 3rd party pages to get bumped into the supplemental index, so you lose out on organic search traffic.
The trade-off is that you'll need to either set up or code your own parking page with ads for each domain name individually, or you'll need to redirect each domain name to a different page in your portfolio dedicated and optimized for pay-per-click ads related to your domain asset niche.
Personally, I find it easier to redirect to a dedicated portfolio page. That avoids any maximum site limits with hosting plans and makes it easier to manage in a centralized location.
Examples of some CMS (content management systems) that can be used for a portfolio site with dedicated in-house parking pages might be:
- WordPress
- Joomla
- Drupal
- Magento
- OpenCart
Regardless of which CMS you choose, there will be a slight learning curve, but it's going to be way easier and faster than having to study code (HTML, CSS, PHP, JS, etc.) for months or years to be able to code your own from scratch.
Once you have your CMS picked out, you're going to want to make sure each parking or landing page is optimized for the niche the domain you will be redirecting to is in. That's going to help with your conversion rate.
It's also vital that each page has unique and targeted content about the domain assets niche. I generally suggest that you have a minimum of 500+ words per page to help with indexing. The beauty of in-house parking is that you have the power of unique content backing you, which allows you to benefit from organic search traffic for the keywords and phrases you optimized for.
Note: SEO/SEM is a completely different topic, so I'm not going to get into it in this article. I just wanted to quickly brush on it so you know one of the benefits of in-house versus 3rd party parking or landing (more control over your page content).
Once your pages are ready, you can start redirecting your domain(s).
Next, you'll want to monetize the pages with ads, for which, again, there are several options available.
Some examples of pay-per-Click advertisers:
- CJ (Commission Junction)
- InfoLinks
- Google Adsense
- AdThrive
- SkimLinks
- OutBrain
- Propellers
You can duplicate everything above for this one; the only difference is that in addition to the pay-per-Click ads and links, you'll also have a buy it now or make an offer option on the same page, effectively making it a sales landing.
Most (if not all) CMS platforms have plug-ins or add-ons that allow you to add a buy now or make offer option to your pages. Be sure to research that while selecting the CMS you want to use to ensure it will work for your hybrid portfolio model.
Pay-Per-Impression Monetization
Just like with Pay-Per-Click, the ads will be similar, except that you'll be paid via the number of authentic impressions rather than just by clicks. Pay-per-impression (PPI) generally pays less than pay-per-Click (PPC). So keep that in mind if you choose that method of monetization.The same companies generally provide PPI ads, so use the list above of companies to find the best one(s) for you.
Your CMS pages and content for PPI should follow the same guidelines as with PPC.
Pay-Per-Lead Monetization
This one is implemented just like PPC and PPI into your CMS pages, except that it pays more since you'll essentially be pre-qualifying the leads or getting visitors to fill out applications through your page reference to apply for or buy something. Many PPL (Pay-Per-Lead) campaigns require a form or application to be submitted (in some cases, a purchase or approval must be confirmed).Some examples of a few pay-per-Lead affiliate programs:
- American Express
- Hiscox
- National Debt Relief
- Swagbucks
- Quickbooks
- Liberty Mutual
- 1st Class Medical
- Fetch Pet Insurance
- and many more...
Pay-Per-View
Like with PPL, PPI, and PPC, PPV (pay-per-View) can generate revenue, except with this method, they have to watch something. It's common for most PPV options to be in the form of a video advertisement embedded into a YouTube (or other) video. However, there are also programs that will pay if someone watches an online seminar, educational programs all the way through, or live cam video chat.Some examples of pay-per-View (PPV) affiliate programs:
- YouTube + Google Adsense for Video
- Chaturbate
- Bet365
- Streamate
- William Hill
- MyFreeCams
- G2A
In conclusion:
That concludes Part 1 of the domain monetization series. Stay tuned for other monetization models in future parts of this series.Remember: At the end of the day, what works for one may not work for another, and vice versa.
Be sure to do all your own research before investing in anything in life or building out a brand as a new revenue stream.
Good luck in all your domain adventures!
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