mistermix

I'm not a domainer, i'm an end user.

From my point of view if I'm buying a domain it would be easier for me to see its potential if it had a mini site with 5-10 pages compared to a holding page or parking page.

That way it would get indexed by goog and if its an exact match domain, it would potentially have a good ranking.

This will create more interest in the domain and a possible higher sale price for you sellers.

But I almost always see domains parked, totally blank or with a single page with no keyword related content.

Why don't domainers put up minisites?

DomainManagement

this one does

and this one will for you also


regards steve

Bailey

1. Of course it's better than parking - But, time is also money. To me thats akin to asking why don't estate agents build houses. Skills base ! expertise ! business model - I could go on and on.

2. Easier to see it's potential with a mini-site ? - And I thought website builders had imagination, Better nothing than something that looks like it was thrown together by an amateur.


If your argument is why dosen't every domain holder learn webdesign - Yep valid point, help to get some perspective etc - but thats back to Estate agents building houses argument -

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TheDon dot Com

Sussexite

Maybe a better estate agent related analogy is trying to sell

• a real live house; v
• selling a house off plan from a brochure?

crabfoot

I have some rubbish sites that were thrown together by an amateur (me). They were badly chosen domain names in the first place. The age on them gives them some authority with Gargl, and although they make pennies and get visited once a month, they provide me with links that are valuable.

Can't get that from a standard "parked site", but my domain host provides rudimentary DIY parking with a 3 page minisite. Unfortunately I can't get Adsense to run on there, the templates obstruct it somehow ... any clues as to why would be welcomed. Some ads run, some don't, and the problem is not as simple as "Java is obstructed".

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mistermix

But these days you don't need to know web design to put up a simple, elegant looking mini site.

The estate agents analogy isn't really valid.

You can simply pay a freelance web designer to create a css template from around £50-£100. You will then own that design and can simply upload it to whichever domains you'd like a mini site for. Articles can be written from £2 upwards too.

There isn't a huge cost involved or a huge amount of skill needed.

If you own the domain bluewidgets.co.uk and manage to get it ranking position 60 or better on google.co.uk then it certainly will get noticed by businesses competing for "blue widgets". Surely this will get the domain noticed by the right people.


Obviously the mini site will show that the domain is for sale by the owner etc.

I can understand why its not possible for a whole portfolio but surely for your best domains its much better than parking.

mistermix

Actually, does anyone here fancy giving it a try? Just to see what's possible etc. I'd be happy to help.

Frog

I have never understood why more domainers don't put sites up and point a few links at them.

As an end user rather than a domainer, I would rather buy a domain that had a small, indexed and aged site on it every single time, rather than a parked domain.

At times they can be absolute nightmare to rank if they've been parked. It seems completely random. debtmanagementplan.org ranks page 2 for "debt management plan" right now with a little site on it, but since I bought it parked it took me months to get it even in the top 100.

When I bought that domain, I'd happily have paid more for a similar domain with site on it. For example Dougs Payday-loans.co.uk wasn't worth the price I paid under normal circumstances, but small site, age, partially ranking = worth over paying as it shaves months off the time till profit.

It would be extremely easy and cheap to build lots of your domains out with small informational blogs... and if someone like me is sniffing about looking to buy, that might end up being the difference of a sale or not.

johnnyboy

You have to remember that some domainers have hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of domains. It would be impractical and almost impossible to have mini-sites on every single domain they own, either because or lack of time, skill or cash required to get a site up. Those that do develop their domains will be working on their best ones a handful at a time. So for some, it isn't either easy or cheap to put something up on many of their domains.

Frog

I honestly can't see how it won't be easy or cheap for everyone. I realise people buying £20 .org.uk's can't put sites on a domain, but for a domain you expect to sell for £1000 or more its crazy not to put something on it at all.

I think anyone not taking that approach, is seriously underestimating what customers are looking for when they want to buy to develop. Sure, not having a site won't hinder you selling to another domainer, but its the end users who are willing to pay more money.

You could throw up hundreds of minisites in a week at £30 a go, with nothing more than a philipinno/indian worker and a textbroker account. Doesn't take any real money, time or skill at all.