What inspires you? Do you find value in studying other industries, networking with your peers and learning from one another? At Above.com we most certainly do. If you haven’t had a chance yet to read this in depth piece on … Read More
Author Archives: Melissa Dafni
When should you test your domains?
Now that we’ve discussed why you should test your domains at multiple parking companies, let’s discuss some factors that might influence your decision to test them. Click Through Rate (aka CTR) For me, click through rate is a big flag. … Read More
Now that we’ve discussed why you should test your domains at
multiple parking companies, let’s discuss some factors that might influence
your decision to test them.
Click Through Rate
(aka CTR)
For me, click through rate is a big flag. If your click through
percentage is low then your traffic is not converting and if it’s not
converting then you’re not maximizing your revenue. I know, I’m stating the
obvious but I’m often surprised at the number of domains I see parked only with
one company that have a CTR in the single digits.
Several things can impact your CTR and sometimes you have to
dig for the answers while other times simply changing parking companies does
the trick. So many factors can influence your click through rate, I will
discuss them in a separate post.
Earnings Per Click
(aka EPC)
When using EPC or RPM (Revenue Per Thousand) as a factor,
you will want to be cautious. Some keywords are just low earners and will be no
matter where you test them. Others will have an abnormally low payout and you
will find you earn more at a new company. Some domainers prefer to focus on RPM
rather than EPC. Personally, I will examine both and see how they vary over a
period of time. I don’t have an all-inclusive
rule for either that will cause flags. For me, a lot of it will depend on the
domain, its potential keywords, any kind of seasonality and its other stats.
When you have a domain with both a low CTR and a low EPC then the risk to test
elsewhere is much lower than the rewards.
Changes in Statistics
Changes in traffic, revenue, clicks can be tricky. Sometimes
a domain will slowly drop in revenue and unless you look several months back,
you barely notice a difference because it’s just a little bit at a time. Other
times a domain will have a drastic drop that will immediately raise flags. Is
it just seasonality? Is it normal for that domain, or is it a flag that maybe
that parking company is just no longer monetizing the domain as well? It’s a
good idea to periodically check in with the health of your portfolio. Just
because a domain was doing well doesn’t mean it will continue to do so. Sudden
increases are something to look at as well and may be a prime time for testing
a domain to maximize the influx of new traffic.
Conclusion
While parking revenue is mostly a passive endeavor, it doesn’t
have to be. The great thing about testing your domains on the Above Parking
Manager is that if you want to be hands on and analyze your domains and make
decisions manually, the tools are right there for you to do so. And if you want
to be more passive and let the system manage your portfolio for you, you have
that option as well. The bottom line is if you’re only parking your domains
with one parking company, you are leaving money on the table. Want to discuss
your domain strategy and how it can be improved? Let’s talk. Email me at
melissa at above dot com or on Skype at AboveMelissa.
What do you want to start?
Recently, I happened across a quote from Karen Lamb. “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” So often we keep putting off for later what we could start now. Our reasons are varied. “I don’t have … Read More
Recently, I happened across a quote from Karen Lamb. “A year
from now you may wish you had started today.”
So often we keep putting off for later what we could start
now. Our reasons are varied. “I don’t have the money.” Or “I need to be more
financially secure/have more saved.” “I don’t know how to do X.” “I don’t have
time.” Maybe it’s just a simple fear of failing. Either way, we have so many
excuses that we rationalize as reasons that too often, we never start.
For me, I know I’ve had plenty of my own excuses that have
prevented me from starting many things. Usually a lack of knowledge and time
are my big hindrances. Since I was a child I have wanted to learn to speak
German. Unfortunately, German wasn’t an option that was taught when I was in
school so I studied Spanish instead. German was still on my list of things to
learn, but it was always somewhere down the road. Finally this summer I said
enough of someday, and started learning German. I’m not very far, but I already
know 100% more in a few weeks than I did a year ago.
What do you want to start but haven’t? What’s holding you
back?
Are you like many domainers and have a number of domains in
your portfolio that you have plenty of ideas for and someday, you’ll do
something with them? What’s holding you back? Let us know, maybe we can help!
Are You Profiting from Your Expired Domains?
Normally when you let a domain expire, there’s very little benefit if any for you as most registrars will sell what expired inventory they can and keep 100% of the profits.That seems rather unfair, doesn’t it? Yes, you let the … Read More
Normally when you let a domain expire, there’s very little benefit if any for you as most
registrars will sell what expired inventory they can and keep 100% of the
profits.That seems rather unfair, doesn’t it? Yes, you let the domain expire, but shouldn’t it still be a symbiotic relationship?
At Above.com
we think so. We have a program for sharing domain sales profit from expired domains. The
Above.com Expiring Domain Sales Program is an opt-in program offered to clients with more
than ten domain names registered with us. Participants of the program retain 60% of the profit from the sale of any domains they let
expire at Above. All expiring domains are auctioned in the Above
Marketplace with a minimum sale price of $49.99.
Wouldn’t you like another potential source of revenue? Especially one that required very little effort on your part? Then let’s talk! We’re pretty proud of the Above.com Expiring Domain Sales Program and would love to tell you more. Contact Victor Pitts (victor at above.com) for the details. We understand changing registrars can be a painful process, but we think we can make it worthwhile. The Above.com registrar is ICANN accredited and we offer competitive pricing. What do you have to lose? (Besides expiring sales revenue to your current registrar that is).
-->Who is Above.com?
Should you use a ccTLD?
Although the .com TLD is most buyer’s first choice, especially in the United States, sometimes it isn’t an option, or actually is not the best option. So what should you think about when considering a ccTLD (country code Top Level … Read More
Although the .com TLD is most buyer’s first choice,
especially in the United States, sometimes it isn’t an option, or actually is
not the best option. So what should you think about when considering a ccTLD
(country code Top Level Domain)?
Your Market
Where are your customers? If you are trying to target
customers in a specific country you may find the ccTLD is actually used more
than .com or .net. This should of course also influence what country codes you
consider. If you’re trying to attract customers in brazil, then it probably
doesn’t make sense to register your domain on .de. Before you register a ccTLD
to target customer’s in a country, do some research. You may find they prefer
it, or you may find like .us, it’s rarely used and you may be bleeding traffic
to other extensions.
Your Use
How are you going to use the domain? Are you parking it? Are
you building it out? Who are you targeting? Although it can be cute and trendy
to use a ccTLD as part of a domain hack (when a word or words are split to
incorporate the TLD ie Save.me or quick.ly, nurs.es), your customers might find
it very confusing and find it difficult to find your site.
Additionally, you may find yourself with some search engine
optimization issues. Google’s head of Search Spam, Matt Cutts recently stated that
when a site uses a ccTLD, if it is a popular domain in that country and not
really used worldwide or really applicable, Google is going to assume that the
site’s content very much applies to the specified by the domain and when you
change the intent of a ccTLD that site is doing a disservice to that domain.
(You can watch his full answer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yJqZIH_0Ars)
The Risk
While the restrictions governing gTLDs (generic Top Level Domains)
like .com and .net are set by ICANN, ccTLDs are governed by the local
government. The rules can vary widely and in some cases your domain can easily
be taken away from you because you violated their rules, with your site content
or citizenship/address, or simply because there was a change in regiment and
the new leaders in power don’t think you can have it.
A few years ago, the site vb.ly made headlines because Libya
revoked their domain citing Sharia Law. Libya said that Vb.ly, a url shortner
at the time, was being used to distribute porn which violates Libyan law. What
impact would it have on your businesses to suddenly have your entire online
presence taken down?
The other risk of course is bleeding traffic. If you are using
something that is obscure to your customers, you may be losing them to other
sites that have the more obvious use. So for example, quick.ly would probably
bleed traffic to quickly.com. How much did that lost traffic cost you?
Should you register a ccTLD? Unfortunately, there is not an
easy answer and the answer won’t apply to every situation. Take the time and do
a little research. While the .com might cost your thousands in the beginning,
using something more obscure could cost you much more in the long run.
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Testing is not a Dirty Word
Do you test your domains? On the surface a simple question, but I’ve been amazed over my years in the domain industry at some of the reactions and answers I receive to it. Often people get a look of … Read More
How Domaining is Like Doing a Polar Plunge
On Saturday, February 23, I did a very crazy thing. I willingly jumped into 37’F water. They actually had to cut through the ice to create a place for us to jump. Why in the world would I do that … Read More
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