Wanted: Domain Appraisal buylaptop.co.uk

[Sitegains]

Hi, any opinion on the following much appreciated. All of the following have minimal to no backlinks so looking for appraisal on domains only. These are my first ever catches, im personally quite pleased with the domains but keen to hear others opinions...

F******s.co.uk
Cheapestholiday.co.uk
androidtablet.co.uk
buylaptop.co.uk

thanks in advance

Jon

 

[Murray]

If they were free to register, I wouldn't register any of them.

Just seem quite awkward attempts at keyword domains

Would android be a trademark problem?

 

[Sitegains]

Ha! Well thats pissed on my fire

Your right, they do seem a little awkward I guess. I do like f******s.co.uk but its got little commercial value... perhaps develop an info site and earn some links, then an affiliate site.

Pretty sure "buy laptop" gets a few searches per month (admittedly I havent checked)... does search volume add value to a domain? Im aware of googles emd update but it only effects low quality sites on emd's, so keyword domains still have value, right?

 

[Retired_Member38]

buylaptop might have been good a few years ago - it has no value at all today as it can't be ranked and nobody can make any money from it.

The android one is a trademark issue.... negative value and you might want to consider deleting it.

cheapestholiday is like buylaptop.... no value in 2014.


Figtrees is by far the best of your 4.

 

[Murray]

Figtrees is by far the best of your 4.

Even then though, figtree would of been better

Got the plural for the only would that didn't suit it.

If they're your first few domains though then it's not a terrible start, the first few I got were much worse.

 

[Sitegains]

buylaI'm interestedop might have been good a few years ago - it has no value at all today as it can't be ranked and nobody can make any money from it.

Thanks for your feedback, im interested why you say this?

 

[Retired_Member38]

Thanks for your feedback, im interested why you say this?

Because exact match updates from Google, Googles preference for Brands and the massive amount of penalties being handed out for cheap and easy link building, have absolutely destroyed any value of these domains.

You are extremely unlikely to be able to develop and rank this without losing money.... imho you'd need to be foolish to even try it. So by default the domain is worth nothing.

 

[Sitegains]

Hey, I agree the domain isn't great due to reasons discussed above. But I have to disagree on the following....

Because exact match updates from Google

Its a common misconception that EMD update made exact match domains worthless. EMD update looked to dampen the advantage automatically given to emd's in the serp's, and looked to filter exact match domains with thin content. Building a quality site on an emd still has advantages and google dont look to filter quality sites.

Googles preference for Brands

Agree, Google has a massive preference for brands (although over the years this tends to go in a cycle of push brands/dampen brands/push brands/dampen brands etc). But if you are building a brand from scratch there are still advantages to having keywords in your domain. One of the strongest from an SEO perspective is that natural linking (i.e url anchors or brand anchors) you still get a keyword anchor text "vote".

the massive amount of penalties being handed out for cheap and easy link building, have absolutely destroyed any value of these domains.

These domains? The domain in question has a totally clean link profile.

You are extremely unlikely to be able to develop and rank this without losing money.... imho you'd need to be foolish to even try it. So by default the domain is worth nothing.

Disagree. Yes it will be a long burn to rank for "buy laptop" but anyone embarking on an SEO campaign on a new domain would be completely foolish and naive to set this as a target anyway. The domain will help the SEO to target longer tail keywords "buy cheap dell laptop", "buy laptop online" etc etc

Like I said, Im not arguing that the domain is valuable. Im merely pointing out that your reasoning is wrong- not looking to start an argument either....

 

[scottmccloud]

Even if you were to succeed in ranking it well for whatever keywords you've chosen, I wouldn't click on it I'm afraid. 'Buy Laptop' screams 'spammy site' to me.

 

[PanzerWagon]

The title of this forum needs changing from:

Domain Appraisals: Request a Domain Appraisal by Forum Members.

To:

Domain Appraisals: Request a Domain Appraisal by Forum Members and Then Post Your Thoughts on Why The Reasoning for Those Appraisals are Incorrect.



Laptops are on the way out.

Don't think you can really rank buylaptop for any decent terms.

You'd need a big marketing spend to even stand a chance and someone with that sort of cash isn't going to build a site on that domain as they can clearly afford better in the first place.

Even if you were to succeed in ranking it well for whatever keywords you've chosen, I wouldn't click on it I'm afraid. 'Buy Laptop' screams 'spammy site' to me.

I don't think that's a valid reason to write this one off as just because it screams spammy site to you doesn't mean it will for everyone else.

It certainly doesn't to me. Most people don't look at search results and think ah that's spam, look at the domain.

The fact it's a poor EMD, in an area dominated by huge players from OEM's to all the electrical retailers is the main issue.

5 years ago you could rank this and have made some decent cash I think.

 

[Retired_Member38]

Its a common misconception that EMD update made exact match domains worthless. EMD update looked to dampen the advantage automatically given to emd's in the serp's, and looked to filter exact match domains with thin content. Building a quality site on an emd still has advantages and google dont look to filter quality sites.

They haven't made all emd's completely worthless - they have just lowered the boost so much that domains like the OP have just bought are worthless. You're now far better building on a brandable domain than a crap emd. Obviously if you can afford laptops.co.uk then that all changes.

Agree, Google has a massive preference for brands (although over the years this tends to go in a cycle of push brands/dampen brands/push brands/dampen brands etc). But if you are building a brand from scratch there are still advantages to having keywords in your domain. One of the strongest from an SEO perspective is that natural linking (i.e url anchors or brand anchors) you still get a keyword anchor text "vote".

But if you start with an obvious spam domain like buylaptop or something then you'll have no chance of ever becoming a brand in the first place.

These domains? The domain in question has a totally clean link profile.

I'm not saying those domains are penalised. I'm saying with Google so willing to throw penalties around, the cheap and easy link building that could have ranked this domain a couple of years ago, is now no longer viable. You're going to need to do real link building... 10's of thousands of pounds worth of it. So if you're going to spend 50 grand anyway, it makes no sense to do it on a domain that wasn't even worth reg fee. You might as well spend a few thousand and get a decent one.

 

[Sitegains]

The title of this forum needs changing from:

Domain Appraisals: Request a Domain Appraisal by Forum Members.

Sorry, I thought the point in forums was to discuss and share ideas? Or is this the type of forum where I just have to accept any advice given, despite personally disagreeing with it...? In that case i'll make this my last post.

 

[Murray]

On the topic of EMDs, I think they sitll give you an advantage, but if you spam them up with poor quality links that advantage wont last very long.

But "buy laptop" isn't a very good EMD in the first place and as Monkey said not likely something someone would want to be building out properly and pumping money into.

Sorry, I thought the point in forums was to discuss and share ideas? Or is this the type of forum where I just have to accept any advice given, despite personally disagreeing with it...? In that case i'll make this my last post.

Nahh hang around

 

[Edwin]

The problem you have is that ANY domain can be made valuable if you "build a quality site" on it. But the process of building (and, more importantly, marketing and promoting) that site is:
A) Time consuming
B) Expensive
C) Difficult (most people don't have ALL the skills needed to do it PROPERLY so you're looking at outsourcing at least some of the work)
D) Uncertain (it's not clear how soon or where the payoff will come from, and anything you gain from Google can be taken away again at any time without warning)

Given A) through D) you have to assume that a company willing to undertake the process thoroughly anyway is going to want to do it on a REALLY GOOD exact match domain, or on a "brandable" descriptive (like "squirrel" or "lemon" or "six" or "red" or "value" or "wheel" etc.), or on a made-up "brand" domain, but certainly not on an at best average exact match domain.

So that ties in neatly with what others have said about the lack of value of the domains you posted in this thread.

 

[Sitegains]

Thanks Edwin,

Yes I see the points being made now. I agreed at the start of this thread that the domain isn't an attractive offering to try and sell. I understand to build a brand on this domain would be pointless- thanks those who made this point.

My argument is that the domain still has an advantage in Google due to keyword inclusion. It doesnt take thousands of pounds, content marketing and link "earning" to rank in Google, it can still be done on a reasonable budget and with relativley good future proofing against penguin refreshes.

 

[Retired_Member38]

My argument is that the domain still has an advantage in Google due to keyword inclusion. It doesnt take thousands of pounds, content marketing and link "earning" to rank in Google, it can still be done on a reasonable budget and with relativley good future proofing against penguin refreshes.

It doesn't have an advantage though. People are already predisposed not to link to it or buy from it before they click it, because its just a crap domain. It would be far easier to build links to a laptop selling shop on Rabbit.co.uk with a high quality design on it... but the difference there is its for sale for 10k whereas the domains in the OP cost a fiver.

Good domain + good design = instant credibility

If you can only afford one I'd go for the good domain; its far easier and less risky to upgrade a design later than a domain.

 

[Sitegains]

Good domain + good design = instant credibility

If you can only afford one I'd go for the good domain; its far easier and less risky to upgrade a design later than a domain.

That's an excellent point!

 

[Murray]

It would be far easier to build links to a laptop selling shop on Rabbit.co.uk

Great idea, if only someone was offering it for sale currently at a very fair amount

 

[PanzerWagon]

Great idea, if only someone was offering it for sale currently at a very fair amount

You thought about putting up a For Sale page on it?

 

[Retired_Member38]

You thought about putting up a For Sale page on it?

I wouldn't have thought there was any need. Anyone visiting the domain can see its not used, and anyone who is able to spend 5 figures on a domain certainly has the knowledge to check the whois and see the domain selling company listed there...