Newbie!

[sgg123]

Hi all,

A cringeworthy post but I gues you have to start somewhere!

My curiousity was sparked by affiliate marketing/domains over the last 10 months or so. I am really hungry to learn more and will start in earnest by hoovering up what I'm sure is great starter info on this site.

I'm sure that these questions are answered here but if anyone would like to help me out with a sentence for each then that would be great:

1) I know that the value of a domain name is quite subjective but how do you 'sell' a DN or i guess how do you decide to buy one? Is the domain name woth something just on it's own with out any site or traffic development?.... will a domain name just attract traffic anyway...... if you decide not to develop a DN with a site or otherwise how do you determine its worth on the market?..... and therefore what are the key factors to consider when investing in one? I realise that turned into a monster question.... sorry!

2) Can you buy a DN, host it and just pop it up with say Adsense on it without adding any 'meaningful' content and still get revenue...... or will you be penalised by search?

On to my embarrassingly weeny list of domains.... well... as I said... you have to start somewhere! I would really appreciate anyones opinions on these:

cheapflowerdeliveryonline.co.uk
howtotreathairloss.co.uk
howtotreathairloss.com
lastminutesailing.co.uk
mygreenbicycle.co.uk
sharepointtraining.co.uk
virus-protection-software.co.uk
whatcausesbaldness.co.uk
whatrunningshoes.co.uk
whichrunningshoes.co.uk
nursecourses.co.uk
nursetrainingcourses.co.uk

There are a few more awful ones.... impulsive buys,,,, but we'll leave those for now!

Thanks all.... and great to meet you all.

Steve

 

[accelerator]

1)

To sell a domain - Offer it to people, market it online, use online marketplaces, or wait for offers.

Yes, some domains are worth owning without development.

Some domains, mainly .com, will have reasonable type in traffic. Most domains don't.

To determine worth - experience. Also look at dnjournal.com, domainprices.co.uk, dnsaleprice.com.

Key factors to consider - Who will buy this from me, why will they be motivated to buy it.

2) You only need a little content to monetise with AdSense, but you still need to rank the site.

3) sharepointtraining.co.uk is quite good.

Don't reg too many domains before you really know what you're doing. Remember, it's easy to buy a domain, it's much harder to sell it.

Good luck.

 

[sgg123]

Thanks accelerator, really helpful info, and thanks for the dn appraisal. Do you use the keyword tool to determine whether you'll buy and develop a dn.... and if so what would be your local search thresholds? Sharepointtraining comes top of that lot at 720 local as opposed to the next highest which is virus-protection-software at 390. Is the latter worth developing in your opinion?

 

[Edwin]

Microsoft has a registered trademark for SharePoint and since that's in no way "generic" it's totally worthless - you'd do better to delete it if you can...

 

[sgg123]

Oh dear....

This did cross my mind... back to the drawing board

 

[sgg123]

Why do I have to delete it? Will Bill Gates track me down and set his henchmen on me even if I've only registered it?

 

[Edwin]

Why do I have to delete it? Will Bill Gates track me down and set his henchmen on me even if I've only registered it?

If you're intending to get "domaining" seriously, the cleaner your portfolio, the less likely it is that a company could use the evidence of other domains you've registered against you if they ever tried to DRS you (many DRS cases do bring other domains owned by the Respondent into the discussion to try and "prove" a pattern of abuse).

Since you can't build a site intended for long-term use on it (Microsoft's lawyers can take it off you any time they like) and nobody's going to buy it because of the TM, it's just a liability so why not delete it and be done with it?

 

[sgg123]

Hi Edwin, thanks for the info. I will follow that one up. It's good to learn (sometimes the hard way!) what's good and what's not. In the case of virus-protection-software, which has the next best indicative keyword stats, would this be one worth persuing/monetising?

 

[accelerator]

Whilst I realise their is a TM consideration, in this case I don't think it's clear cut, in that I have found Microsoft Gold Certified partners using sharepoint in their domains. i.e. it may be the case that Microsoft would be happy for a trusted partner of theirs to use the name to deliver training and promote their product. Equally though, it could pan out as Edwin has suggested, i.e. their is significant risk to the domain.

In general, I avoid trademarks completely, and stick to generics. Life is easier that way.

Rgds

 

[sgg123]

Thanks very much for your honest advice on this guys, much appreciated.

 

[storebuilder]

It's very, very difficult to critique a post like this because on the one hand you have someone who so obviously wants to give it a go and yet on the other is so totally green.

I guess that's what makes it such a fascinating industry.

I think the best piece of advice here as given by all of the top domainers here is to go slowly and read here as much as you possibly can before jumping in.

It's very easy to register a load of crap and far more difficult to take your time and be more selective.