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poll When renewing, what do you usually consider?

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When renewing, what do you usually consider?

  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.
  • Previous year traffic

    19 
    votes
    27.1%
  • Previous year offers

    28 
    votes
    40.0%
  • Popularity of the keywords

    36 
    votes
    51.4%
  • Sound of the name

    18 
    votes
    25.7%
  • Aftermarket liquidity

    16 
    votes
    22.9%
  • Extension

    28 
    votes
    40.0%
  • Renewal fee

    30 
    votes
    42.9%
  • Chances of selling this year

    19 
    votes
    27.1%
  • Potential sale price

    23 
    votes
    32.9%
  • Others (Pls comment)

    votes
    5.7%
  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.

Impact
1,877
What all factors do you usually consider when renewing a domain name for the next year?
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
All, especially the extension type, search volume, pronunciation and the corresponding number of end users.
 
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I mostly use my landing page analytics to see if people have been clicking on the buttons and then investigate if I had traffic coming because they specifically are coming to the domain to make an offer or if it comes from referral traffic from previous owners. Other than that, I just go with my gut and how confident I am that I will eventually sell the name.
 
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I mostly use my landing page analytics to see if people have been clicking on the buttons and then investigate if I had traffic coming because they specifically are coming to the domain to make an offer or if it comes from referral traffic from previous owners. Other than that, I just go with my gut and how confident I am that I will eventually sell the name.
Where do you create the landing pages from? How long does it take? Plus do you also add Google Analytics on top of the page?
 
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Where do you create the landing pages from? How long does it take? Plus do you also add Google Analytics on top of the page?

The template I use was posted in this thread: Best lander to make sales - Sedo,Dan,Afternic Buy Now, Afternic Enquiry page. I'd hyperlink it, but I can't post links yet.

It doesn't take long since most of my landing pages are copy-paste save for a few exceptions. And I have all of them using GA with filters along with Google Tag Manager using a few recipes such as timer and link clicks.

If you don't want to host your own landing pages but want the same type of setup, you can use EPIK's landing pages as well. They are the most customizable ones I've used thus far.
 
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I am renewing around 50-60 names daily on average. It would be waste of time to go over each deciding to renew or not. Even with 2 minutes per each that would be about 2 hours daily. Instead, for 95% of those I trust myself in the past that did proper work when buying as a long term hold. And few that I am not sure about what I was thinking, I might do quick recheck. Overall, I drop only around 1% of names.
 
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I think it all comes down to the reason you bought it in the first place. When I started seriously domaining I found myself dropping about 80% of my names annually. Each year it became less, even though I was buying more names every year. A good name you believe in can sit in your portfolio for years with little traffic and no offers, but you know it is valuable and at some point there should be a buyer. Sometimes after 3 or 4 years I will drop a name, but only because there are more little reasons I trust it less to sell. I'm probably around 5-10% dropped yearly at this point.

Buying good names is a combination of a skill and an art. I even have some three-word names that I know are worth thousands, but may take years to get the right buyer. Those same names never old or outdated, its just a matter of time before a buyer grabs it.

Building a solid portfolio that you believe in is like having something like gold or antiques or something tangible that you know will be valuable for a long time. Not every name will sell, but your portfolio as a whole will make you money.
 
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I consider Previous years offers, if any. After that, just simply if the name is solid enough to warrant spending more on renewals. You don't want renewals being more than what it sells for lol. Lastly i check how relevant it is atm.
 
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I am renewing around 50-60 names daily on average. It would be waste of time to go over each deciding to renew or not. Even with 2 minutes per each that would be about 2 hours daily. Instead, for 95% of those I trust myself in the past that did proper work when buying as a long term hold. And few that I am not sure about what I was thinking, I might do quick recheck. Overall, I drop only around 1% of names.
Only drop 1% of 15k domains in portfolio?
O_o
 
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Only drop 1% of 15k domains in portfolio?
O_o

My work time costs $xxx/hr.

Generally, when buying names, I spend 10-15 minute per name (shortlisting, researching etc.). So it makes no sense for me to keep wasting this time spent and restarting the process every year. Right now, I just take quick glance and renew the list with rare exceptions that are left out. Eventually, I won't be even rechecking like that just auto-renewing all. If I come up with some algorithm that will categorize all my names and find some "markers" that tell me I am wasting more money renewing those names than selling them year after year, then I might drop those subcategories. But that is when I have hundreds of thousands of names.
 
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No Traffic + No Enquiries + Not a Dictionary Word means it goes on a list to manually decide whether to hold it any longer (the default is no) - I'm more "brutal" about dropping newish domains than 15+year aged names.

Several have sold at an overall loss when taking all the renewals into account, but taken the view of something than nothing and wanting to see it utilised over holding out for yet another year of low-ball offers.

Having a pricing strategy, and a regular-ish (but too infrequent for my liking) turnover of current names helps, as that goes into the pot for renewal fees and buying more ;)
 
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No Traffic + No Enquiries + Not a Dictionary Word means it goes on a list to manually decide whether to hold it any longer (the default is no) - I'm more "brutal" about dropping newish domains than 15+year aged names.

Several have sold at an overall loss when taking all the renewals into account, but taken the view of something than nothing and wanting to see it utilised over holding out for yet another year of low-ball offers.

Having a pricing strategy, and a regular-ish (but too infrequent for my liking) turnover of current names helps, as that goes into the pot for renewal fees and buying more ;)
Your web site is broken. Lots of exposed page source displaying.
 
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I consider the likelihood of selling the name before renewal.
 
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All of the above in your survey, but in the end, it all comes down to instinct based on experience.
 
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Many things need to be considered when deciding on renewals. If the name has other alternatives you must research those before you decide to drop. You should do thorough research overall on the name and keyword at renewal time if in doubt.

Buying domains with a “hold it one year” plan is not going to help your business even break even. If you think so little of a name to drop it if it doesn’t sell in 365 days you shouldn’t have regged/bought it in the first place. Buy keepers.
 
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Usually there's always a good reason to buy or register a domain in the first place.

All the reasons mentioned in the poll matter, but perhaps what matters the most is the renewal budget this year and perhaps also ROI last year. If my budget was unlimited, I'd never drop a single domain name I ever bought or registered. Why? Because I don't think I ever buy or register anything without enough thought behind it.

If I'm sure about it, then I set auto renewal and don't waste time rethinking. However, if I'm buying on a hunch, I set renewal to manual and write a note about the though process behind buying it on the first place and what to consider when the renewal time comes.
 
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Depends on the type of portfolio you have.
Large portfolios with thousands of domains will have a different form of renewal than smaller portfolios with a few hundred.
 
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I look at the value that we created around the domain. I check stats, traffic etc and then I go from there. Our portfolio consists of brands though, so the decision usually isn't difficult to make.
 
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No Traffic + No Enquiries + Not a Dictionary Word means it goes on a list to manually decide whether to hold it any longer (the default is no) - I'm more "brutal" about dropping newish domains than 15+year aged names.

Several have sold at an overall loss when taking all the renewals into account, but taken the view of something than nothing and wanting to see it utilised over holding out for yet another year of low-ball offers.

Having a pricing strategy, and a regular-ish (but too infrequent for my liking) turnover of current names helps, as that goes into the pot for renewal fees and buying more ;)
I totally agree on this one. Instead of holding on to names that doesn't generate enquiries, I'd rather get new ones that might create a sale.
 
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Its a hard decision to make per usual but heres what usually cross my mind....

Did I register the domain name? if yes -> then my thoughts are ... that I still believe in this domain name as much as I would believe in the next handreg i decided to purchase... so with that I might as well renew...

did I BUY aftermarket... is it worth letting it expire? For instance if the name is a 4 letter domain or something like that no it's not worth letting it expire in which case autorenew.

If i bought the name aftermarket and it cost less then renewals when I originally bought... or it was part of a package or something... then no ill let it go...

lastly ... if it was a hand reg... and it's effect on me didnt age well then ill let it expire... aka if i thought something was super clever or if it was very popular at the time... but the magic wore off or the name sounds dumb to me now.. then obviously cut the slack....
 
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A big thing for me this year has been time I've invested. I've let go some domains that were decent, but I had just already invested too much time marketing them for what the ultimate sales price would be.
 
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when regging out of impulse a domain I looked at the lists of available regz i made prior to see if later one still has that appeal for choosing one at a time
 
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Will this domain get a juicy offer when I drop it too?
 
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