Mini-Sites Reviews please

[discovernow]

I have not gone in this direction really yet, except for 1 name at AEIOU and some at Whypark.com However, after reading DNJournal.com cover story for March, I was curious what experience people have had at the following companies below and how would you rate them overall from best to worst:

AEIOU.com



WannaDevelop.com

DevHub.com



Why Park.com

SiteGraduate.com



Tinbu.com



Thanks, Jim

 

[discovernow]

Thanks for your great info. I am really pulling for Whypark.com, I have 200 invested in them but only have I think 10 sites up with them. So far, I have notice about 3 of them have been indexed and traffic has increased real well on those in the last 2 months.

Thanks, Jim

 

[dtagr]

Just in the process of putting one up with aeiou. It's bottom in sig. My first impression is that it's quite expensive. Won't really know much for 90 days or so.

I'll be investigating whypark and devhub this week and next.

The only thing that I am certain of is that parking doesn't seem to work for me.

 

[randomo]

Thanks for your great info. I am really pulling for Whypark.com, I have 200 invested in them but only have I think 10 sites up with them. So far, I have notice about 3 of them have been indexed and traffic has increased real well on those in the last 2 months.

How well is the new traffic converting? (Also, can you give us the URLs for any of your WhyPark sites?) Thanks.

 

[elias75]

try also Noomle, I got 4 names there developed as mini sites.... all got indexed pretty quick, they offer brilliant support and you get better revenue from adsense than traditional parking clicks.... check the Miami, Finance, MP3 & Faith No More sites at my sig
Highly recommended!!

 

[Blitz]

L2, Thanks for the post. Gets me motivated to do more!

 

[dtagr]

I'm really kind of surprised many haven't figured this out yet - whether to develop, or park.

The answer lies "between the lines" and is in the middle of both. Quoting Parked.com Donny from his DN Journal interview - he also mentions it. From the interview: "We have seen people who have domains parked with us that don’t generate any hits or revenue move their domains to some of these content/mini-site companies and then usually a few months later the domains are back with us, but now they have traffic and now they are making money. So the mini-site/content companies do help domains get traffic."

And from another DN Journal interview with Whypark's Stephen Douglas. "WhyPark's business model is one that isn't meant or intended to compete with "traditional" PPC companies. Our focus is on developing out those domains that wouldn’t otherwise make revenue through parking. In terms of direct monetization, I’d say that parking performs better in the short-term on a revenue per visitor basis. You’re getting a visitor to the site and offering them only paid options to leave, or back out of the site. However, you always need fresh visitors since you won’t get repeat traffic or build new traffic through new incoming links, referrals, etc."

I've employed this strategy for the last year and a half and those two articles are the first I've seen from any of the "power hitters" even mentioning it.

I've said it many times before in the Whypark thread.

Reg it, develop it cost effectively ($1 a domain), then park it. Rinse and repeat.

It works very well (very well). Curious to see who the knucklehead's gonna' be that says they just invented the plan and tries to sell it to Domainers for $199.95.

Here's an example - hand regged a few weeks ago - www.4GTelepresence.com, sent the DNS to Whypark and it showed up in Google 40 hours later (do a search for "4G Telepresence" minus quotes). I'll keep developing it for a few more months, then I'll shut it down (development) and send it to Parked.com and collect some loot.

If ya' wanna' throw a dog a bone because I just did your homework for ya' - you can always use one of the Whypark logos (referral) on my site, lol.

L2

I pulled some numbers. Here's actual examples (expanding on my post).

• 12/16/2008 GoDaddy hand reg of 3GTelepresence.com (note, no link - currently parked) = $7.55.
  
  Sent to Whypark and developed = $1.
  
  Stopped development, DNS sent to Parked.com, Total revenue = $1,199.21 to date (DOES NOT include Adsense revenue while at WP, just Parked.com revenue).

• Here's another. 03/11/2008 GoDaddy hand reg of TelepresenceReport.com (note, no link - currently parked) = $7.05 (before price increase).
  
  Sent to Whypark and developed = $1 (after a half-assed attempt at Joomla).
  
  Stopped development, DNS sent to NameDrive.com, Total revenue = $1,338.58 to date (DOES NOT include Adsense revenue while at WP, just NameDrive revenue).

You think Domaining is past its peak and is on the way down? Nawwww, it just changed man, ya' got to roll with the changes.

L2

I appreciate the posts you have made in this thread. I can honestly say that today is the day that I have learned the most about domaining in my 4 months or so.

It seems obvious now. Develop,monetize,park. When the traffic runs out - redevelop,monetize,park. Rinse and repeat as you say. :tu:

Just for the masses, devhub is offering space for up to 10 websites that you develop yourself at no charge. I have started octomom dot ca and factsaboutcomets dot com with them (nameservers haven't resolved yet) . I will investigate whypark towards the end of the month.

Thanks L2. :great:

 

[ArtfulWebSites]

Thanks For the GREAT Information!

Thanks for the kind words....

And just so you don't fall into a trap by thinking you just send it to WP, Noomle, DevHub or wherever and walk away. While you are developing the site, a MAJOR part of the "complete picture" is to get backlinks, interlink, pick up bookmarks, Stumbles, Delicious, trades, swaps, etc. You have to do some work to get it "out there" to the masses. I personally like to get a site up to around 5,000 backlinks in Yahoo before I stop and shift gears.

Good luck,

L2

L2,

Thanks so much for sharing that GREAT information.

In the 2 examples you gave (3GTelepresence.com and TelepresenceReport.com) in an earlier post, approximately when were the dates that you moved them from WhyPark to Parked? In other words, what period of time did the $x,xxx earnings cover at Parked?

I was totally blown away by those huge earnings at Parked for such "odd" and very narrow niche domain names. That original post made it sound like there was not much work required to achieve those great earnings results.

I am glad you made this more recent post to clarify the promotional efforts you put in to build up the web presence and domain traffic of those domains while at WhyPark. Do you think similar results could be achieved at Noomle, especially now that they provide an RSS feed function?

What tool do you use to determine the number of backlinks in Yahoo?

 

[unholy1]

The information by L2 is valid and it does work.

This info is similar to what was being preached by the Lazy Domainer eBook 2 years back (develop then park)...this time though you won't have to pay $47 to get that info..

 

[jeffoverman]

L2 thanks so much into your insight and was very helpful...

this is interesting...

good fortunes for you! rep added for you!

 

[discovernow]

How well is the new traffic converting? (Also, can you give us the URLs for any of your WhyPark sites?) Thanks.

Nothing fancy but here are some Mini-sites I have with Whypark.com:

Singers.tv, Bed.tv, Espanol.tv, Jew.tv

I put these there to see if they get indexed and the traffic increases which it did. However, 1% click on the ads so it's not a revenue producer. I have about 400 names parked and average click-through rate is about 20%.
I know if I take these names and put them back at parking, revenue will increase 20x, but sites will get de-indexed as well. The key is to find that balance.

Thanks, Jim

I'm really kind of surprised many haven't figured this out yet - whether to develop, or park.

The answer lies "between the lines" and is in the middle of both. Quoting Parked.com Donny from his DN Journal interview - he also mentions it. From the interview: "We have seen people who have domains parked with us that don’t generate any hits or revenue move their domains to some of these content/mini-site companies and then usually a few months later the domains are back with us, but now they have traffic and now they are making money. So the mini-site/content companies do help domains get traffic."

And from another DN Journal interview with Whypark's Stephen Douglas. "WhyPark's business model is one that isn't meant or intended to compete with "traditional" PPC companies. Our focus is on developing out those domains that wouldn’t otherwise make revenue through parking. In terms of direct monetization, I’d say that parking performs better in the short-term on a revenue per visitor basis. You’re getting a visitor to the site and offering them only paid options to leave, or back out of the site. However, you always need fresh visitors since you won’t get repeat traffic or build new traffic through new incoming links, referrals, etc."

I've employed this strategy for the last year and a half and those two articles are the first I've seen from any of the "power hitters" even mentioning it.

I've said it many times before in the Whypark thread.

Reg it, develop it cost effectively ($1 a domain), then park it. Rinse and repeat.

It works very well (very well). Curious to see who the knucklehead's gonna' be that says they just invented the plan and tries to sell it to Domainers for $199.95.

Here's an example - hand regged a few weeks ago - www.4GTelepresence.com, sent the DNS to Whypark and it showed up in Google 40 hours later (do a search for "4G Telepresence" minus quotes). I'll keep developing it for a few more months, then I'll shut it down (development) and send it to Parked.com and collect some loot.

If ya' wanna' throw a dog a bone because I just did your homework for ya' - you can always use one of the Whypark logos (referral) on my site, lol.

L2

I pulled some numbers. Here's actual examples (expanding on my post).

• 12/16/2008 GoDaddy hand reg of 3GTelepresence.com (note, no link - currently parked) = $7.55.
  
  Sent to Whypark and developed = $1.
  
  Stopped development, DNS sent to Parked.com, Total revenue = $1,199.21 to date (DOES NOT include Adsense revenue while at WP, just Parked.com revenue).

• Here's another. 03/11/2008 GoDaddy hand reg of TelepresenceReport.com (note, no link - currently parked) = $7.05 (before price increase).
  
  Sent to Whypark and developed = $1 (after a half-assed attempt at Joomla).
  
  Stopped development, DNS sent to NameDrive.com, Total revenue = $1,338.58 to date (DOES NOT include Adsense revenue while at WP, just NameDrive revenue).

You think Domaining is past its peak and is on the way down? Nawwww, it just changed man, ya' got to roll with the changes.

L2

That is exactly my plan with most of my names. It's all about ROI and you hit it right on. Out of all the posters on Namepros.com you are one of the best!!!

 

[dtagr]

It's been 3 days since I made my 2 sites with devhub and there are name server issues. My registrar's end is fine. Zero response from devhub support and a very kooky support system to begin with. There have been many reports of the same issue on their support forum.

I can't complete a site until I see it live for final tweaking.

I won't be adding any more sites or waste time working on the 2 I already have until the issue is resolved.

BTW L2, I visited the backlink checker you linked and had to hang my head in shame. I got one website up to 540 backlinks and thought my job was done! Ouch!! That was a rude awakening.

Thanks for the motivation.

MapOfTheWorld.ca is built by aeiou.com and in their queue for marketing. The site itself is nothing special, but I will wait until the marketing is done and 90 days of revenue evaluation are over before I pass judgement.

GraffitiCreator.ca will be built by profermics.com in the coming week. I have heard good things about MTajim but will reserve judgement until I can properly evaluate.

Octomom.ca and FactsAboutComets.com are underway with devhub.com but again no end to the name server issue and no response. Price is nice but support is scraping the bottom of the barrel.

 

[BobWhite]

I'm testing DevHub now with a few sites

The key to getting the DNS to resolve is to change the ip address, not the nameservers. I use GoDaddy so this is easy to do.

The 2 sites that I'm trying, have 10 pages indexed each within the first 5-6 days. Working on backlinks now. I'm using my adsense and affliate links for the most part.

Customer support is non-existent from my experience so you need to be able to figure things out, but the email they sent me after adding my sites said to change the ip address and I've had no problem.

 

[dbtbandit67]

L2

what do you think about WhyPark's premium service? do you have any domains that you just leave on WhyPark or is "WhyPark then park" the way to go?

blitz, the cat's out of the bag I guess, lol.

do you feel bad that you revealed your "money-making secret?" well you shouldnt. we're all in this together. people that withhold information remind me of a group of jealous scientists all competing for the noble prize that don't share information together when they all stand to mutually benefit. the human race survives with diversity. withholding information hurts more than helps.

if everyone withheld the amazing discoveries they made independently, science would never advance. believe me, more amazing discoveries than "WhyPark then Park" have been shared lol

you've been doing a great job so far

 

[dtagr]

The key to getting the DNS to resolve is to change the ip address, not the nameservers. I use GoDaddy so this is easy to do.

The 2 sites that I'm trying, have 10 pages indexed each within the first 5-6 days. Working on backlinks now. I'm using my adsense and affliate links for the most part.

Customer support is non-existent from my experience so you need to be able to figure things out, but the email they sent me after adding my sites said to change the ip address and I've had no problem.

I will look into that. Thanks for the tip.

In the meantime I moved factsaboutcomets.com to whypark and have been playing with a dozen sites or so, only 88 more before I upgrade to enhanced...Phew!

I think the devhub sites look better and have more free content. Can't compare performance yet.

Mapoftheworld.ca is still in the marketing queue at aeiou. Not happy about the time taken so far.

Profermics.com did graffiticreator.ca this past week. The website speaks for itself, it's obviously been farmed to a non-english speaking part of the world. No response to my PM so far.

 

[CoolCode]

great idea L2 :wave:

 

[dbtbandit67]

It works.... thanks.

My latest WP site and project, just bought it (amongst others) yesterday....

$7.49 for the domain and a dollar (for life) for the content development and hosting.

www.DraftWireless.com

I can't find a better deal for less than $10.

"Draft-n is replacing 802.11 Wi-Fi Wireless over the next few years.... Only 25% of the phones sold today are draft-n enabled, but that's expected to be 90% by 2012. Most new "wireless" laptops and notebooks already are now draft-n equipped."

Next-gen broadband wireless. Great keyword domain.

L2

do you have any WP-sites that you just leave on WP or is "WP then Park" the primary strategy you're employing?

 

[dbtbandit67]

I keep at least one fourth of my domain portfolio at Whypark at any given time. Of course I'm always rotating, and if I find something solid, I leave it there.

Don't laugh when you see this one - www.HDON.TV

That stays at WP because it makes anywhere from $5 to $25 a day right where it's at. I run a dollar a day advertising campaign to it and it just keeps on producing so I don't touch it (even when I want to update it, I don't).

L2

why would i laugh at that, it's a nice site. nice enough.

on WP which membership level do you have? i'll probably sign up this month.

 

[ArtfulWebSites]

BizRate on WhyPark?

I keep at least one fourth of my domain portfolio at Whypark at any given time. Of course I'm always rotating, and if I find something solid, I leave it there.

Don't laugh when you see this one - www.HDON.TV

That stays at WP because it makes anywhere from $5 to $25 a day right where it's at. I run a dollar a day advertising campaign to it and it just keeps on producing so I don't touch it (even when I want to update it, I don't).

L2

L2,

Really nice sales oriented (no laughing matter) WhyPark site. Are those BizRate links your own affiliate account, or are they provided by WhyPark? How is the page layout generated (solely by WhyPark)?

 

[dbtbandit67]

well, the developed model for the site is better than the domain. no offense lol

 

[xrvel]

I have the $25/mo extra "Managed" account. I would recommend not buying any of the monthly plans initially. Get your feet wet with the base model, then upgrade to the $10 "Enhanced" plan that gives you the hard-coded RSS option on all your domains (and also image hosting) with Whypark once you have the hang of everything.

L2

L2, i still haven't noticed the big pros & cons between whypark and noomle. Can you make a review about both of them?

I have tried both of them but still can't figure out what is the biggest positive side from each of them :lala:

Thanks.

 

[richrf]

Content and Ad Feed.

Whypark provides content. Noomle does not.

Whypark has a 3rd party Ad Feed. Noomle does not.

Noomle is free. Whypark is a dollar a domain for life.

Sorry to be so short on that review but it really boils down to those two things and if you're willing to spend a dollar a domain to get content and an Ad Feed. Some do, some don't, some will, some won't. Some hate mini-sites, some hate parking. Some hate their ex-wife, some hate their newest Mother-in-law, some even hate domainers and website developers.

Since I'm on my soapbox already, now I'll provide a couple opinions.... Take'm or leave'm, they're still my opinions.

Whypark works especially well for me - the only thing missing is a stronger Ad Feed provider IMO.

I am under the belief that domain parking has had its run. I believe it soon to be over. Providers like Google have made it perfectly clear that they have put domain parking at the bottom of the barrel but still consider it an option for type-ins only. Deindexing domains, providing their own platform to catch type-ins (AFD) and killing MFA sites - it's obvious to me they want it gone.

Why?

Google is trying to get the industry (which isn't their job) to consolidate under their statement that they're gonna' make the Internet a "better place". A more "user friendly" Internet, rid of all those pop-ups, domains only and pages with just advertiser lists and they're gonna' provide more "content" websites while cleaning up the rest. It all lends to "user experience". It's their job to clean up their company and search engine databases (their product), it's not their job to police the Internet, but they're gonna' do it anyway.

When AFD came out a few months ago and then when I see GoDaddy enter the mini-site game with their paid Quick Content program last month, I know the end of parking (except for type-ins) is near. Parsons doesn't do shit unless there's money in it and he absolutely, positively had to have Google's blessing to do something like that. He would never have taken on that task without approvals and a long term "OK" from Google.

So what does that tell you when you see 'prolly the biggest partner of Google (GoDaddy) get into the mini-site arena?

It's the future. Straight domain parking (except for type-ins) is gonna' die'.

I hedge my bet with Whypark because they have such potential. I've seen the power of their program. I see the way they've assembled some of the industry leaders lately, and I've seen their product come a long way over the last couple years now. IMO they're are the industry when it comes to providing content and flexible mini-sites.

The only thing missing is a high-paying ad feed. We've seen a couple glimpses of it over time, but it's never stuck for some reason.

When I do the math on Whypark, it doesn't add up. At a buck a domain for life they're never gonna' get rich, let alone take over the world. There has to be more. Alan, a customer of Whypark last year invested 250K into their product. I see Stephen Douglas from SuccessClick on board. I see one of the brightest code and content integrators that ever walked the face of the earth in Craig Rowe calling the shots. These kinds of people don't assemble to have 100,000 domains on a low-paying mini-site platform man. That can be done in a basement by one good programmer.

There has to be more, we just haven't seen it yet.

Until then, I build, play, experiment and dial my sites in.

Just like when I first started buying these "telepresence" domains. People thought I was crazy. Nobody had even heard of the word. Do you know how many times I'd be preaching about "telepresence" and folks would just say "huh" and call me nuts? They couldn't "see" it. Then when Cisco started running their TV commercials, Al Gore started touting its benefits, and I'm in the money - they all came running saying how do I get in on that?

I feel it the same way with Whypark.

They got something nobody's done yet, they just need one more piece of the puzzle and it's off to the races.....

You can't win the lottery unless you bought a ticket.

I bought my ticket (front row and center) and I'm just waiting for them to call my number. Just like telepresence, this will fly. It's moving down the runway at 100 MPH, it's just a matter of time before they develop the lift they need to soar in my opinion.

Or then again, maybe I really am nuts and you can all stone me.

L2

Hi,

Thanks for your informative post.

In your opinion, is there a reason to choose WhyPark over GoDaddy?

I am looking for a temporary solution for my domain links.com. Do you feel either Godaddy or WhyPark are appropriate as a temporary solution as I build out my application?

Thanks for any info or advice that you can provide.

Have a great weekend!

Rich

 

[richrf]

Sure!

Whypark is $1 a domain, GoDaddy is $50 EACH mini-site. Nuff' said.

As for your Links.com - I wouldn't even think of any type of mini-site. That's a premium domain than needs to be completely developed or at least made into a "portal".

I would start with getting a hold of the parking companies and see if they would "co-develop" it with you (at no out of pocket cost to you). Of course they would take their cut for supplying the Ad Feed but that's the cost of doing business.

Good luck, nice domain.

L2

Thanks much for the advice L2.

Namedrive, at one time, provide me with a partially customized site. It worked pretty well for a while until revenues fell off the cliff.

I am working on an application for the site. It will take some time though. So, I was looking for a temporary solution. Thanks for the help.

Rich

 

[richrf]

I'm just thinking out loud but that domain you're holding is a gold mine either by sale or development man.

"Links.com - Powering the Entire Internet"

That's 25 bucks to trademark that slogan in any state. That's a start on branding it.

You've got to do something BIG with that name Bro.

L2

Hi L2,

I would love to power the entire internet. The only competition I can think of is Google - and unlike them, I have deep pockets.

Seriously, I am sure you are experienced with site development, so you know how difficult it is to come up with a new idea that would attract repeat traffic. Some of the ideas I have tried out fizzed out pretty quickly. Others did better but peaked and then began to fade. Web development, like any business, is full of challenges and is more apt to fail than to succeed. The trick is to test out ideas at low cost so capital outlasts the cost of the failures.

Right now, I am working on social networking ideas. The idea is good, but in this case, my developer fizzed out. Building high quality, durable sites is a challenge on the Web because the whole infrastructure is so filled with holes making swiss cheese the most appropriate metaphor - i.e. more holes than real strength. So there are many challenges on top of finding a good idea. But I keep trying.

Thanks a lot for the interest in the name and all of your advice.

Best,
Rich

 

[netmeg]

I still think Golf is a good niche for links.com. Golf is like a religion - or even a cult.