You Should Make Landing Pages for your Domains

[DomaHub]

Link to original Medium article.

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First of all, what is a landing page? The term has many meanings on the internet, but for domaining purposes it simply means:

A site for your domain name where visitors can make sales inquiries.

Sounds simple enough, but what’s so special about it? Is this an alternative to listing on secondary marketplaces (e.g. Sedo, Flippa, etc.)? Is it better than traditional parking?

Okay, okay — you’re skeptical. Let me help break it down for you.

Parking Revenue is Declining…
For the end-user at least. Look at this 2015 survey result from popular domain news source domainnamewire.

Credit to Andrew Allemann (www.domainnamewire.com)​

Yes, domain parking revenue used to be very lucrative for many domainers in the early days of the internet. Yes, it was a simple and easy way to make money from your domains. But, in today’s reality, parking tends to only bring in a couple of bucks a month.

There could be a few possible reasons for this such as fewer people typing in URL’s to unknown websites, people becoming less likely to click on advertising links, parking companies not giving you a fair share of the revenue, etc.

Regardless, parking revenue is on the decline for many domainers (and basically nonexistent for many others...). So where should you put your domains now?

Marketplaces Don’t Cover All Your Bases
There are dozens of domain name marketplaces where you can list and sell your domains to other people. Some marketplaces allow you to redirect your domain to its respective listing page. Or they may provide free and/or paid parking options while your domain is currently being listed. And some marketplaces provide neither.

You probably have a number of domains listed on marketplaces. You’re relying on the people who peruse these marketplaces to eventually find your domain and then purchase it.

But what about the people outside of these marketplaces? How will direct visitors know your domain is for sale — especially if your domain only shows parked ads or shows nothing at all?

Don’t Alienate Your Visitors
There are going to be a number of people who visit your website directly (i.e. by typing in the domain into their browser). Some of these people are going to be interested in buying it. How can we best persuade them to make an offer on the spot? Or at the very least, let them know the domain is for sale?

A typical Uniregistry parked domain. (with satire)​

The above image is an example of a typical parked domain’s site provided by Uniregistry. A single banner at the top that states the domain is for sale and provides a phone number. Clicking the banner directs you to another marketplace where you can submit an offer (quite redundant). The rest of the site is all advertisements.

If a potential buyer were to stumble onto this domain, would they know what to do? No, chances are they’ll bounce because the site looks like typical spam and you lose out on a potential sale opportunity or lead.

Let’s try to help visitors avoid seeing this little guy.​

Even worse, you have nothing on your domain and the user sees some kind of browser error or blank page.

AdBlock Is On the Rise
The number of users who use some form of adblock (software to detect and avoid ads on a page) is increasing. Let’s face it. Not many people like being targeted for advertisements.

Source — 2017 Adblock Rep​

When people arrive at your site and see advertisements or they see nothing because of adblock, they are more likely to just leave the page immediately.

Dedicated Landing Pages Bridge the Gap
Landing pages ensure that your visitors will see something better than just ads or errors when they land on your domain. Good landing pages will also make it immediately obvious to the visitor that your domain is for sale. An even better one has a visible price tag (buy-it-now price or minimum offer price) and a simple contact form to get in touch.

This way, visitors won’t get confused by strange advertisements and redirects, errors or blank pages, and they’ll have a easy way of contacting you.

But that’s not all! Landing page services and platforms also provide a variety of different stats and visuals you can show on your page. These things help visitors understand the domain better, potentially increasing the likelihood of a sale. Additionally, many of these services provide portfolio management and help you get set up across all of your domains in a short amount of time.

Don’t want to lose out on potential marketplace sales? Don’t worry, you can have a dedicated landing page and still list your domain on other marketplaces. This way, you can maximize your reach and alienate as few visitors as possible.

Conclusion and Follow-up
Our next post will cover the things that make a good landing page as well as things to avoid when creating one!

 

[DomaHub]

you can use a vanity number like kall8 for phone but I disagree I think having a phone on the form is important...most people like to call esp for larger amounts.

I'm sorry, I was unclear in my previous post. I meant that having a form for the buyer's phone number, instead of having the owner's phone number displayed is superior. I think we both agree that having a way to contact the buyer via phone is important.

 

[toughdomains]

I am not sure I understand what you mean by "both."

My only point was that having a form input for phone number so buyers can put their own phone number in to contact you is superior to having your own phone number displayed so buyers can call you at that number. Even with vanity numbers, nobody likes having to deal with scams/spams that putting your phone number out in the public internet will no doubt invite.

I'll provide pictures so there is no further confusion.

Buyer's phone number inside the contact form. (Good - no chance for bots to scrape your phone number and spam/scam you)

Owner's phone number inside the description. (Bad - bots can scrape your website and sell your contact information to scammers/spammers). This is the solution that @mpls suggested as a work-around to having no phone numbers inside the forms used by NameSilo.

Hope this clarifies everything

Not sure I agree with this. offering a phone number on the form increases contact %. you are more likely to get a contact if someone can call you. (esp with older buyers) ...I understand what you say about bots scrapping the phone but as I stated before you can use a vanity number for $5 and forward that vanity number to your real phone so bots can scrap your vanity number all day. when you get too much spam cancel the vanity number and get a new one. So I think having phone is really important....this 3k sale in fact was generated by a phone call from a form on our system....(the buyer called the phone # listed on the offer form and did not even use the offer form)
https://namebio.com/adstash.com
buyer did use the form to check out the domain through escrow...

So seller phone number on form = Good

regarding phone number in contact form...asking for phone actually decreases response rate of the form.
you can see more info in this article there are many tests that demo this but this what came up in google.
https://vtldesign.com/web-strategy/conversion-rate-optimization/phone-number-form-field-case-study/
but so many customers wanted to ask for buyer phone that we offer both forms with and without phone....so asking for phone on form to me is not good for conversions and anonymity

So asking for buyer phone number on form = bad

We often A/B test our forms to see which ones generate the most offers then release the winners to our members. I do understand the argument if a buyer really wants your name he will give you his number or a fake number but if a buyer wants to remain anaymous with no fphone # and that will result in a sale then I say thats the way to go...

In the end you need to provide all these options in the offer form so the domain seller can decide for themself what works best.

 

[DomaHub]

Most pages I visit that are parked are 100% blocked. So I don't see any for sale links or banners. I stopped using those awhile ago because I wasn't getting enough sales. Once I switched I started getting a lot more sales.

What did you switch to? A service? Or did you make something on your own?

 

[creataweb]

What did you switch to? A service? Or did you make something on your own?

Both, doing split testing now with a new layout (hasn't gone live yet.)

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

I think WPRobot is dead and this idea wouldn't work well on full automation unless someone developed a system from scratch for today's world.

Same goes for mini-sites. Used to be great but now they're mostly dead. Better to dev 1 or 2 larger sites and focus on them. Just my opinion of course.

cool cool. can I ask what your issue is with WPRobot. sounds like you used it? or you read some bad news about it?

and I'll quote this

"this idea wouldn't work well on full automation unless someone developed a system from scratch for today's world."

they do have another hosted solution like an Efty style set up called

CMSCommander.com

how about that one? was looking into that too.

why is all of this dead? new Google Algo ruining everything again?

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

I haven't used WPR but looked at it, it seems dead and not useful imo.

I'll checkout the CMSC and yeah I think Google helped kill these things faster.

geez. that was my only hope really to do like automated income. I really was gungho about it.

as parking was dead for sure.

I had planned to use WPR to created autogen RSS feed site like turn domains into mini Amazon or Walmart affiliate programs using those sites XML feeds.

and then maybe slapping some of those "content ads" like Taboola or OutBrain or RevContent to add more income to the mix.

would Google ban such sites? or blacklist a domain for this?

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

Haha no problem. Happens to the best of us

reminds me. I need to do this with all the newly transferred domains. I don't understand why the receiving registrars don't have an automated way that changes the dns soon as you transfer? why is that? to prevent what? if the domain is pointing to your website hosted at the last dns?

probably.

what a hassle. and most registrars don't have a "global" option to switch all domains in account to default.

 

[biggie]

@DomaHub , with all due respect, I think it's you who didn't get Biggie's post.

Biggie is asking a very sensible question,
why someone that is interested in buying a domain won't click the -quite obvious- sales banner?

As long as that banner is clicked then the landing page will immediately switch to a more appropriate page according to the visitor's interest, ie. buying the domain.

Hi,

That is one part of his post I actually overlooked and did not respond to, thanks for bringing this up.

I understand that people who are looking to buy the domain are more than capable of clicking the obvious sales banner. But why must someone who wants to buy the domain have to go through an extra click to get to the sale?

Why do they have to be redirected to a different marketplace page?

Also why must the domain have all these irrelevant advertising links?

We know customers are fickle and can get cold feet easily. We should make it as easy as possible for them to make that final purchase.

Thanks to @Hypersot for reiterating my point

and to @DomaHub for replying

i think when someone is looking to buy a domain, they don't have to go thru an extra click or even go that route of pursuit, and if they do, then i think, it further illustrates their interest and possibly their intent.

other means for potentials, is they can simply use "whois" to contact the owner, which many of us have received inquiries thru.
while those who use "whois privacy", may be adding an unnecessary deterrent to reaching the owner.

as for the advertising links on parked pages:
the "click thru rate" determines if those ads are irrelevant or not, based on what the visitors sees when they arrive.
while the "epc" provides revenue, while the owner waits for right buyer.

i'll concede that ad blockers have had some effect on ppc revenues, but conventional landers don't generate revenue at all.


given the choice between,
how determined a buyer is to reach me via a parked page, via whois, or thru a marketplace listing, including any potential ppc earnings while i wait for him/her/them to click thru or email me.....
over landing pages replacing that.

then i choose $ for now.




imo....

 

[Sinfully Wicked]

://www.dominericos.com/
uses nameinvestors.com scripts.

That is a really rubbish site/script.

It's not even responsive!

 

[DomaHub]

Thanks to @Hypersot for reiterating my point

and to @DomaHub for replying

i think when someone is looking to buy a domain, they don't have to go thru an extra click or even go that route of pursuit, and if they do, then i think, it further illustrates their interest and possibly their intent.

other means for potentials, is they can simply use "whois" to contact the owner, which many of us have received inquiries thru.
while those who use "whois privacy", may be adding an unnecessary deterrent to reaching the owner.

as for the advertising links on parked pages:
the "click thru rate" determines if those ads are irrelevant or not, based on what the visitors sees when they arrive.
while the "epc" provides revenue, while the owner waits for right buyer.

i'll concede that ad blockers have had some effect on ppc revenues, but conventional landers don't generate revenue at all.


given the choice between,
how determined a buyer is to reach me via a parked page, via whois, or thru a marketplace listing, including any potential ppc earnings while i wait for him/her/them to click thru or email me.....
over landing pages replacing that.

then i choose $ for now.




imo....

Thanks for the reply Biggie. I think a lot of the consensus we've seen from this thread is that "spammy" looking landing pages are a big turn-off for most people, but you do raise a good point that truly determined buyers will click through regardless.

Any logical person would choose making $ over not at all, but when the cost of making that $ is seeming less professional (via advertisements or spammy landing pages) or creating "click-barriers" for your customers, then it becomes a bit harder to justify.

May I ask roughly how much you make from your parking revenue per month? It's okay if you do not want to divulge that information, but without hard numbers to back up your claim, it seems a lot of people in this thread are choosing the professional landing page option over spammy parking pages.

 

[DomaHub]

@DomaHub

You keep referring to yourself as "we". Are you royal or is this a shared Namepros account?

Haha, shared account. We have different members drop by and comment sometimes. Sorry for the confusion! (not royal..)

 

[biggie]

@DomaHub

You keep referring to yourself as "we". Are you royal or is this a shared Namepros account?

Haha, shared account. We have different members drop by and comment sometimes. Sorry for the confusion! (not royal..)

so, how do "we" know, who "we" are talking too, at any given point or post, in time?


do you'z confer with each other, before replying to get on same page, or do one of you just steps forward and starts typing?

are you male or female and of legal age to conduct business

just saying....

glad @promo asked the question


imo......

 

[DomaHub]

so, how do "we" know, who "we" are talking too, at any given point or post, in time?


do you'z confer with each other, before replying to get on same page, or do one of you just steps forward and starts typing?

are you male or female and of legal age to conduct business

just saying....

glad @promo asked the question


imo......

Haha....

We all represent DomaHub as a company. We do often discuss responses together before we post them.

To your last question...we are of differing genders and are all of "legal age" but I am not sure how that pertains to the topic of landing pages...are you trying to flirt with us?

Joking aside, I don't want this thread to get derailed from the original topic. If you have any direct questions unrelated to the original topic, please send us a PM.

 

[DomaHub]

Well I do know shared accounts are prohibited in the TOS. I dont even think business accounts can be shared. Better check with staff.

Will do. Thanks!

 

[DomaHub]

Hello,

The following rules/terms of service apply to your question:

You agree to take full responsibility for all Content you submit to the Service. You agree to assume any losses and/or liabilities that result from your Content.

You agree to create only a single account. This includes banned accounts, accounts created on behalf of business entities, and any other account that may be created by a single entity. An exception is made for accounts with active Business Membership subscriptions that are in good standing, at the sole discretion of NamePros.

User accounts are for exclusive use by the individual or entity that created the account; they are not "owned" by anyone. You are responsible for your password, activity that occurs through your account, and you agree to not license, transfer, sell, or assign your user account without the NamePros Managing Director’s written approval. With the exception of people or businesses that are expressly authorized to create accounts on behalf of their employers or clients, NamePros prohibits the creation of an account for anyone other than yourself, and user accounts may not be used by multiple people.

Please take note of the following line in the terms I provided: "user accounts may not be used by multiple people".

I hope that helps,

Thanks for your help Eric. We will assign a dedicated user to handle our communications here at Namepros. Hope this clears any confusion and we apologize for any terms we may have violated.

 

[drynyks]

efty I use but can not sort is bad

 

[DomaHub]

efty I use but can not sort is bad

What do you mean you cannot sort? Sort what exactly?

 

[drynyks]

domains simply listed in order they are entered and may never be sorted otherwise

 

[Brandworthy]

domains simply listed in order they are entered and may never be sorted otherwise

Their domain management interface certainly isn't the best, but you can sort by any table header. Maybe @efty can chime in?

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Mine are in order. Not on mobile tho
To do that at bottom of mobile unit, click desktop version.
Then click domain, the title of domain name column
On desktop mine are always in order
@Doron Vermaat

 

[frank-germany]

I decided to build my own landing page for my domains.

Here's and example:

Golf/d/o/t/wales

It works and i get the odd enquiry

white text on top of a light foto
not easy to be read

 

[toughdomains]

hah,

trying to present a "sky is falling scenario" with parking, using the poorest looking parking page ,

for a lame intro to the promo that's bound to come.

why assume that "a buyer"... someone who is looking to "buy" wouldn't have sense enough to click on that link?
it's a dumb assumption, given the sales data recently released from Uniregistry marketplace

also, why not show what the lander looks like after they click the for sale banner or simply state one can redirect right to the lander at Uni or at any other ppc that have sales landers too?

ie: https://uniregistry.com/market/domain/fiat.us

or show what sedo's landers look like
ie: https://sedo.com/search/details/?pa...73&domain=wujo.com&et_sub=1010&origin=parking

or what fabulous landers look like
ie: http://www.fabulous.com/domainsales/?formdata[domain]=hdc.net&formdata[affo]=6141&formdata[affhash]=1507842927&utm_source=bannertop&utm_medium=6141&utm_term=Non DDN Make Offer&utm_content=hdc.net&utm_campaign=DOMAIN ACTIVE FOR SALE BANNERS

or parkingcrew?
ie: https://www.mydomaincontact.com/index.php?domain_name=etv.org


with so many choices, why the need to make your own lander or pay some service the dollars you could be spending on domain renewals?

just saying as a counter point.


imo.....

@biggie yes if you looking for NO customization like adding a logo, no commission fees, domain age, IDN support, escrow.com payment options, different templates, a fast page load, a short optimized form that increases responses, cookie compliance, other domains by seller or anything else that would make your lander not look like a page from 1993 then your all set. You are right there are a lot of lander services out there but the examples you provided are very limited. The options out there now are amazing and getting better.

 

[toughdomains]

I decided to build my own landing page for my domains.

Here's and example:

Golf/d/o/t/wales

It works and i get the odd enquiry

@noonoo1 page looks good. background loads a bit slow maybe try shrinking down the image to about 1/3 the size it will load alot faster. We also run our images off Amazon web services to speed up the load time a bit more.

 

[creataweb]

Interesting...

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

agreed think if your trying to develop avg names one by one huge waste of time. but if you can mass create a feed page for thousands of names with your ads in minutes then its better than parking...advertising your own store or link to portfolio on a marketplace is better than not.

I was looking into something called IFTTT.com (IF That Then This) ( Don't ask me! I have no idea. It's some hipster crap creativity bs. lol)

anyways. using IFTTT you can create mashups of content of people you follow to create your own rss feed. imagine the possiblities for "Set it and forget it" at least in theory . lol might fall in line with your idea of creating a "Feed page"