Need some advice from some experienced domainers!

[JeffPratt]

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I am new in the domain buying market. How do a lot of you find out how many google searches your name gets a day?

Any suggestions on how to buy names? Length versus readability, etc.

What I have been doing is just going to google trends and finding what keywords are being searched and trying to buy off of that.
For instance I noticed Ford is a highly searched term and looked up some names and noticed that: fordwarehouse.com is available. It seems very generic and too long to me to be profitable?

So if I should be kicking myself in the butt for not getting it or someone else grabbing it oh well.

Am I on the right track?

Any advice on how to purchase these would be appreciated.

 

[mitok]

Be well informed about this business before start, that is the key.

You can see exact monthly search for each keyword or phrase at Google AdWords Keyword Tool. Be sure to check "exact" search.

And welcome to NP and domaining

 

[Kate]

What I have been doing is just going to google trends and finding what keywords are being searched and trying to buy off of that.
For instance I noticed Ford is a highly searched term and looked up some names and noticed that: fordwarehouse.com is available. It seems very generic and too long to me to be profitable?

Ford is a trademark name, so Ford domains will probably be TM violations and worthless.

You need to take the reasoning further:

• what kind of site could realistically be put on that domain
• why would someone want to buy the domain from you (if your intention is to sell domains)
• by the way, how come that domain is still available if it's so great, it's not likely somebody is going to pay huge money for a domain that was available for $10.

Keywords are important but people seem to have a fixation with search volume. The value of a domain name goes well beyond that.

Suggestion: look at what sells, and understand why. No need to reinvent the wheel, just watch :gl:

 

[JeffPratt]

Thanks,

Where would I look at what sells? And how could I search "search volume"

I did buy a name that may be valuable in the future. I bought exploresochi.com, thinking about the 2014 Winter Olympics will be there. Do you mean stuff like that, think head? Like this cloud thing, when that was announced everyname under the sun was gone.

 

[Kate]

Where would I look at what sells?

Sales reports from Sedo, Afternic, DNJ etc...

I did buy a name that may be valuable in the future. I bought exploresochi.com, thinking about the 2014 Winter Olympics will be there. Do you mean stuff like that, think head?

Personally I don't like time sensitive domains, or domains that have a limited shelf life. The window of opportunity when it comes to selling or developing is narrow. Anyway, it's best not to register domains that you wouldn't develop.

Like this cloud thing, when that was announced everyname under the sun was gone.

99% of the cloud domains owned by domainers are worthless.
Don't follow the herd.

 

[wo]

Anyway, it's best not to register domains that you wouldn't develop.

I have to agree. I happen to broker for a company, so I deal with all kinds of names. But for the domains I'm paying for out of my own pocket, I usually only dive in if I can see myself developing the domain soon or sometime in the near future. Still I have about 100 or 200 domains that I bought because I felt they're good for reselling to an end user.

99% of the cloud domains owned by domainers are worthless.
Don't follow the herd.

Have to agree again on this one. What's happening is typical domain speculation: people with no technical background registering <anything>cloud because of media hype around the cloud. They don't know much about the cloud so don't realize that the domain doesn't make sense for a product. But those doing this kind of speculation have very deep pockets so it doesn't matter to them that the domains are sitting.

 

[JeffPratt]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[NetOctave]

1) Google Keywords tools for finding the number of search for a keyword -
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Remember to check only the "Exact" for the match type.

2) If you are just starting, check http://auctions.godaddy.com and see the names with more bids. It will give you a fairly good idea on what names are in demand.

And more important is, have more patience. The names you registered today need not sell tomorrow. It might take a year, or even more..

 

[baseballworld]

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I am new in the domain buying market. How do a lot of you find out how many google searches your name gets a day?

Any suggestions on how to buy names? Length versus readability, etc.

What I have been doing is just going to google trends and finding what keywords are being searched and trying to buy off of that.
For instance I noticed Ford is a highly searched term and looked up some names and noticed that: fordwarehouse.com is available. It seems very generic and too long to me to be profitable?

So if I should be kicking myself in the butt for not getting it or someone else grabbing it oh well.

Am I on the right track?

Any advice on how to purchase these would be appreciated.

One thing I will have to add to this very nice list everyone has given you already is if you are thinking of buying an available domain. Do not post the name on a forum telling everyone so. There are always people out there that will register it before you get any advice on the available name.