I Went Crazy Buying Domain Names Can You Advise?

[LilBlackDress]

Hi All,

I am new here and have a few questions for the Pros. I have a few websites in place and want to start a few more. So this week I bought a couple domain names. They are pretty generic (am I allowed to share a domain name here?) but deal with hot topics that are commonly searched.

However, I bought a few to many to develop all at once so have been looking into CashParking. I had a few questions.....

~ Since none of these names have been previously used (nor are they typos), can they generate any traffic in cash parking?

~ Does google penalize a site for being in cash parking and then being developled into a real site?

~ Is writing a content article at a site and then including a link to a cash parking site not allowed? I am unclear what links are allowed going to and from cash parked sites.


Thanks so much!

 

[Tribulatio]

Hello,

And welcome to the forum!

I am not very experienced, but I had some similar questions some time ago, so allow me to share with you what I learnt.

No, if you have cash parking, you cannot create a link to that page - of course, preexisting links to the website will stay, but you cannot create new links while the domain is parked with services such as Parked, Namedrive, etc.

When I read what you describe in your post, my feeling is that WhyPark could be a perfect solution for all those domains, especially if you have an Adsense account, or are willing to wait for the new WhyPark (own) adfeed to come (hopefully) in January (?). Why Park costs only $100 for a lifetime, allows you to park up to 100 domains, to have content generated (obviously not original one, although you can add articles of your own if you want) - and it means CONTENT on your website, and not just ads. Moreover - and this is a main reason - you can create as many links as you want, and thus promote your website, create traffic, etc.

Anyway, I have been testing several solutions and, beside creating a few minisites, I have parked a number of domain names with Namedrive and put nearly 150 of them on my WP account - especially if you have clear keyword, you can produce relevant content (though not original).

Visit the very active WhyPark thread on this forum, and decide for yourself if this might be the right solution for you. IMO, it would meet your requirements.

Good luck and best wishes.

 

[LilBlackDress]

Thanks.
Is it worth parking generic names that were never in use like or does the name need to have links in place going to it.

 

[Tribulatio]

If it is really generic, and .com, you might get some traffic. You might put some of those names for parking with NameDrive, where it is easier to get accepted than with some other parking companies, and see the stats then. If you do not have any traffic after a few days, it would mean little hope of getting type-in traffic.

The beauty of WhyPark is that you can create links - also links across your parked websites with content - for instance, at the bottom of the page, you create a few links to related websites of yours. And you put links to a few selected domains in your signature on this and other forums. Very soon, your websites will thus get indexed by search engines. Much better to do that than to pay for inclusion in paid directories, and as efficient, I would say (unless you get listed in DMOZ, but this cannot be achieved for all sites, and certainly not sites with autogenerated content).

Provided you know some other domainers having domains in similar niches, you can also exchange a few links on your respective websites, in order to create traffic. Explore this forum, you will find a lot of information shared by other domainers.

I must look like a WhyPark advertiser: I am not, I own no shares in that company, but it is a quite reasonable way of parking site with content and with the possibility to create traffic. Of course, if your NameDrive test shows to you that there IS traffic anyway, then you can go for a cash parking option - but do not create links once your name is parked, this would go against the TOS of most parking service.

Good luck!

 

[LilBlackDress]

Thank you again!

So would someone have to directly type in the name of my parked site (if it was parked at a place like NameDrive) because it would not be indexed???
For example one site I have is workathomemomcenter.com....
No one is likely to type that in, but the name does come up in searches. So if I parked that domain would it come up in a search at all or no?

I did look at WhyPark earlier, but I did not feel like they were content rich sites...it looked more like ad sites (though better than many)
I was thinking I could probably do that myself and park it...?

I do have places to put links as I am a writer for a content site...so many places to put links, so I am not excluding WhyPark. Do you know anyone makng dollars with it to make it worth the investment?

 

[Tribulatio]

One big difference you need to be aware of - super aware IMO.

You can't advertise a traditionally "parked" domain, you can't hyperlink to it, you can't have "other" ads on it, you can't arbitrage to a "parked" domain, etc. Those are all against TOS at most (if not all) companies.

But a website, no matter how thin, thick, ugly, classy, etc. is a different matter and all the things you can't do to a "traditional parked domain", you can do to a "website". You also have to pay for monthly hosting/bandwidth, get 3rd party ad providers or affiliate programs to monetize your website, you still have to build your website (or pay to have it built), and you have to provide some type of content.

L2

I fully agree with L2's comments. There is a real difference with WP sites. Not only they provide more than ads, they provide content too, but you can also add some articles of your own if you want, you can insert not only Adsense, but also affiliate links - and you can create backlinks. I have created a few domains only with WP content, and created traffic (not high traffic, but some traffic) with backlinks. If you follow L2's exemple and create a huge number of backlinks, then you will get real traffic.

And anyway: even if you want to sell a name (and I assume you want), isn't it better - with or without traffic - to have it online with content than just with ads which nobody will see, because nobody knows the domain exists?

Now regarding your question:

So would someone have to directly type in the name of my parked site (if it was parked at a place like NameDrive) because it would not be indexed???
For example one site I have is workathomemomcenter.com....
No one is likely to type that in, but the name does come up in searches. So if I parked that domain would it come up in a search at all or no?

Yes! Someone would need exactly to type that name directly in order to land to your domain - quite possible if you have a domain such as hotel.com - quite unlikely (and frankly, even more than unlikely!) with workathomemomcenter.com. If you just park it, it will never come in any search engine (unless it has been at some point an active domain, then there might be residual traffic: for instance, I recently bought - for $6... - a previously existing domain name, parked it with Namedrive, and it makes a few cents a day due to residual traffic.

This why both L2 and myself advise to choose the WhyPark solution: IMO, it might be the starting point for a solution to your problem. I do not suggest it because I am WP-addicted, but because it seems to be the most promising solution for you.

Anyway, once again, I encourage you to explore this forum, there is a wealth of knowledge in order to make the best decision. Best wishes!

 

[Bucaneiro]

LilBlackDress, if you're interested in developing your domains, instead of parking them, but you don't have the time to do it, the best option would be a domain development system. As some members mentioned, WhyPark is a good solution, but they also forgot to mention ParkingRevolution.com. You should take the tour to know more about the service, as well some examples. DotSauce has a pretty good article about our product, too.

 

[Tribulatio]

I agree that ParkingRevolution's websites look attractive, and I would be tempted to try them, but while WP costs $100 once and for all, PR costs $15 per month - this might be well-invested money... provided you get traffic providing at least as much as $15, and preferably more, in revenue per month. Since your domain names apparently have no traffic at all, the real issue is to build traffic. And I agree that PR allows you to do it too. Maybe you could try it for a month, and see what the results are, and switch to WP if the results are not convincing.
Do you have an Adsense account? If you do not, and do not have an operational website in order to apply for one, then WP would anyway be the solution, especially once the new adfeed comes.

But, once again, while being quite sure that WP is exactly what you seem to need,if you have an Adsense account, I do not want to dissuade you from trying PR: I must admit that I like the layout and content on PR's sample websites. I might actually myself try to post a few sites there for a month, and test it (I understand that they currently have a Christmas special with 15% reduction).

Keep us informed after your have tested and made your decision - it will be interesting to hear how you feel in - let's say - three months.

Good luck anyway!

 

[godinu]

another thing you may want to try with a couple of em is google's new parking program. it's best to spread things out and see what does well, where. Since these are new domains with no links, google parking may be a good option (I have not personally tried it, as it is brand new.)

 

[Tribulatio]

Good idea - provided you live in the US, it is not yet open for those of us living outside of the United States, insofar I understand.

 

[LilBlackDress]

Hi all, Thanks for the tips. I decided to develop the sites myself. Thanks so much for saving me time trying to park them which from reading your posts I realize would not have worked with these names.

 

[copper]

How many domains do you have?
If it's less than 100, just develop it yourself.
You mentioned you are a writer? Great!
Use your talent on your sites.
Using many free wordpress templates, you can
create 1 or 2 mini sites per day.
Google likes wordpress sites.
With unique contents, Google will index your sites within days.

 

[Nodws]

hire a developer *wink* *wink* :lol:

 

[EnnisP]

Firstly, let me say thanks to Lilblackdress for asking the questions. I'm also new, so new I haven't figured out how to ask a question yet.

And thanks for the info on WhyPark and the others sites mentioned. I actually researched WP and really liked the idea but was reluctant to put down the 100 clams, especially before I know exactly what is happening.

But, to extend this meeting a little further...does anyone know where I can get easily customizable templates (for a dummy)? I have a hosting contract which allows me to develop as many sites as I want but my only previous experience is with Blogger (an account I still have and really enjoy). I don't have to tell you how big the learning curve is between using Blogger and self developing sites. My biggest problem right now is template management. Most of the templates on offer are WordPress and they are nice but I can't figure our how to manipulate them (but having fun trying).

Any good suggestions?

 

[wphillips]

30 Minute Optimized Website

I had a similar experience buying names and trying to park and optimize my newly bought names. I found software that you can build an optimized a site after the first one in about thirty minutes per site. You start to get results immediately after publishing and basically you are going directly to the advertiser's for your commissions. I had about 100 page views the first day without being submitted to the search engines. Now I can put any domain name on the web without parking which take just as long. I hope this will solve your problem of being stuck with the names.

 

[LilBlackDress]

Copper when you say develop 1 or 2 mini sites per day..do you mean develop several dot coms a day or do you mean develop pages for ONE dot com. Not sure what you mean by mini sites.

Ennis I hunted for free wordpress templates and it was a challenge..mainly because I am developing a series of websites for women and am using colors to represent each interest! So I had to find a template that would work for All of them. Also I found ones that were not widgetized or had funky headers etc. Not to mention got several computer viruses from surfing at these theme websites. I am not a pro and needed something simple to use. I spent many hours looking and several more trying ones out only to find something wouldnt work.

Anyway I did figure it out and about 5 of these websites are set as far as ads, appearance etc goes and now I am adding content ..the easy part

 

[johname]

Copper when you say develop 1 or 2 mini sites per day..do you mean develop several dot coms a day or do you mean develop pages for ONE dot com. Not sure what you mean by mini sites.

mini site = 1 domain name

Anyway I did figure it out and about 5 of these websites are set as far as ads, appearance etc goes and now I am adding content ..the easy part

i like to have the content done before i upload the adsense code

 

[EnnisP]

What I am hoping to find is something between a static template (free) and hiring someone to develop the whole thing. I figure if I can work with the design a little I can eventually learn a lot.

For example, I chose the default wordpress theme for my first site and played with it to see if I could change the graphic on the header (had a nice pic to install). So far no luck, although it has been a hoot trying. If anyone knows of sites that offer guidance on template manipulation please let me know.

The idea of a parking company that offers developed web pages is great but it doesn't allow me to learn much about customizing the site. I may do that for now (to raise the value of the name) but want to learn more about managing the arrangement of the pages.

I started out very very green but have learned a lot and looking forward to grasping more.

Bill, I appreciate the info on the development program but I don't want to spend the money right now. I am sure there must be sites on the web that can walk me through some of the stages without a large outlay.

 

[ssamriga]

I've run numerous (30 maybe) tests and campaigns that show me if I have a indexed domain, and I "park" it at any traditional parking company, it will be deindexed in short time.

that's not always true.
I just checked a few (around 10) domains I have parked for over a year and most were indexed by Google...

 

[copper]

Copper when you say develop 1 or 2 mini sites per day..do you mean develop several dot coms a day or do you mean develop pages for ONE dot com. Not sure what you mean by mini sites.

Mini site means web site that have just few pages.
one mini site = one domain name

What I am hoping to find is something between a static template (free) and hiring someone to develop the whole thing. I figure if I can work with the design a little I can eventually learn a lot.

For example, I chose the default wordpress theme for my first site and played with it to see if I could change the graphic on the header (had a nice pic to install). So far no luck, although it has been a hoot trying. If anyone knows of sites that offer guidance on template manipulation please let me know.

The idea of a parking company that offers developed web pages is great but it doesn't allow me to learn much about customizing the site. I may do that for now (to raise the value of the name) but want to learn more about managing the arrangement of the pages.

I started out very very green but have learned a lot and looking forward to grasping more.

Bill, I appreciate the info on the development program but I don't want to spend the money right now. I am sure there must be sites on the web that can walk me through some of the stages without a large outlay.

You may want to take a look at this:
http://www.artisteer.com/