When to pull the trigger on generic domain name you like

[sunday silence]

Again, I am all new to this and just started using the google adwords keyword tool to find a generic phrase that might direct traffic to a site. I found a two word phrase that apparently generates 135,000 local hits per month according to the google keywords tool. This is from my notes which I did quickly.

I am confused here, because I believe the 135k number was generated when I inserted an initial two phrase into the keyword search and this two word phrase came out below as a result.

Q. 1 What does that result mean? Does it mean 135k views from organic traffic PLUS advertisements, etc. when someone searches for the initial words I input? Or does it mean 135k total views for that phrase when anyone could be looking up anything, even unrelated stuff.

Is there a quick idiot's explanation of what traffic estimator, key word tool and placement tool do? I am having hard time getting basic explanation.

In any event, the two word phrase is available, it's unsold. I put the two word phrase (the one I found) into traffic generator tool on that google site, it says Cost Per click $0,05.

Q. 2. What does that 5 cents mean? Is that what I would expect to make everytime someone clicked on an ad, that was placed near this phrase?

Okay so I take this same two word phrase and put it into the estibot estimator. There are two sets of outcomes: One says "Avg Monthly search stats.. Avg monthly searches 110,000; cost per click 0.05; ad competition low." Then the second set of numbers right underneath says "Avg monthly searches 34; avg cost per click $0,05; avg ad competition low"

Q 3. what the heck is that supposed to mean? I realize I am new to all this but it has the very same language for two different numbers. Can you please explain what these results mean? Sorry I am so stupid but this is frustrating as hell.

Finally, the estibot says the estimated value is $340. That sounds pretty good to me for a name that would only cost what $7 or whatever.

Q 4. At what pt does these numbers tell you, you should make the domain name purchase, assuming these keywords are relevant to your goals. Does 135k monthly and estibot value of $340 sound like something you would snatch up in a hurry or just a maybe, or nothing much? When does these numbers start to scream at you to buy it?

Found another one with 27k local monthly hits or views or whatever google adwords says; and estibot value of $300. Again does this sound like a good deal for an unsold name?

Thank you. Again I am very new to this so please dont start to insult me.

 

[Name Trader]

Q1: This 135k is approx the same as Estibot's 110K Avge Monthly Searches. They are broad searches and as such are meaningless numbers. You need to check the Exact Searches, which in Estibot is 34. It'll probably be similar in Google. 34 is a very poor number. This should probably be north of 1000 to be interesting.

Q2: Correct.

Q3: 34 exact searches, 0.05 CPC, low competition. All very poor numbers.

Q4: Domains sell for approx 5-10% of their estibot value here on NamePros. But you'll have a hard time getting anything for a domain under $500 value.

You should only take the Estibot values as a rough guide to the price. I'd say the domains you are looking at are not worth registering. Exact Searches of 500, CPC approx $1+, Estibot value $500+, is about your starting point. But it's likely to be registered already and for sale cheap here on NamePros. All numbers are given for guidance only. They are not set in stone.

 

[nielsencl]

Good answers from Stub, but I have a little to add.

First of all, try to limit your questions to 1-2 questions at a time. If you post too many people may not want to take the time to try and answer them all.

In the Google KW tool you can select broad, phrase, and exact searches after you do your first search. The selections should be on the lower right. "Broad" means the word(s) were searched for, but could have been searched with other words and in any order.

This gives you a good idea of the overall popularity but remember that Google does not provide these tools for domainer, but advertisers on their system.

If you are an advertiser, you want to know what the traffic will be for your keywords and since Google will show more ads for a broad search, that is good for an advertiser, but doesn't mean as much for a domainer because other word orders or extra words in the search may not bring up your domain in a search. Chances are slim. See info on SEO to learn more.

A "phrase" is more useful, since the numbers show how many searches were done for your KW in the exact order, BUT with one or more other words. This can be interesting and help you look for other words that may be good to add to the words you are researching now, but again it doesn't accurately reflect traffic potential.

The "Exact" match shows you the number that was searched for that used your keyword(s) in the same order with nothing else. THIS is the most significant number for domainers. But this number doesn't mean you are going to get that much traffic to your domain!It is just an indication of the "potential" for getting traffic. Again, learn about SEO and you will understand more.

Keywords in a domain help that domain to get traffic for the keywords. But that help is small. With just a little work, good SEO can get more traffic to a domain that has none of the keywords in the domain.

Now, about Q2. If you see a bid of $0.05 it tells you what people are bidding and in this case, there may be no bids. 5 cents is the least you can bid I think so Google shows you that even if there are no bids. But say your bid is higher, like say $5 per click. You may start to drool when you see numbers like that with 1,000+ exact searches per month. But you forget one thing: That's not what you get paid, it is an average bid that advertisers pay. The bids to show on Google searches may reach that much or higher, but the cost to have ads on your mini-site may be much, much less. I have never seen an AdSense click for content that paid more than $2 and I have about 60 sites with some running since 2003.

Still, I like to see those kinds of numbers because if I have the domain parked and optimized well, I may get one click a year that will pay for my renewal costs. If there are more clicks, well it can be nice. The best click I ever got was on an insurance domain for $37. I only had one that was that much in the past 4 years.

By the way, if you post here long enough you will get insulted or offended. Try to not let it bother you too much. There are many jerks and impatient people that forget they were newbies once. Just smile and thank them for their unhelpfulness or ignore them. If they are really nasty you can report them.

Lastly, I only look at Global numbers and not local search numbers. Here again this is for advertisers and this difference gives them a better idea what to expect when advertising. If no one is looking for "Schenectady toenail clippers" then it doesn't make sense to advertise with that keyword phrase.

 

[sunday silence]

Okay thanks. this discussion of hard numbers, albeit rough, is very uesful to me. There are lots of how to articles on the internet but the best lessons for me are based on specific experiences. Like I got some from my buddy several years ago who explained what his "hands on" experience was; like how a certain news story led to a bump traffic to his site, how he linked back to his web design clients, etc. Even for bloggers and experts they dont often tell you real life stories as it just exposes their business too much.

I will ask one more question at the risk of getting boring: what if the purpose of buying the two word phrase say: riverboat.com was simply in order to send traffic to a brand new site, just starting out?

Or is the analysis simply the very same as above? And it could be done more efficiently by buying an existing web site with already traffic..

two question. I know I know.