Domain investors using Above.com’s platform now have a new option to accelerate their traffic revenue with Above’s managed monetization service. This new higher level of portfolio management provides access to Above’s faster, blended monetization channel. Much of the traffic sold … Read More
Tag Archives: Domain Monetization
Senior Account Manager Liz Corona Provides Insight on Traffic Monetization
Above.com’s platform has continuously evolved over the years as we have stayed ahead of developing services for domain investors. Simply put, our mission has always been to save domain investors time and maximize their revenues. Above.com Dashboard’s consolidated performance stats. … Read More
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The Above Marketplace is a must-visit destination for any domain buyer shopping for inventory that is proven to have traffic and earn revenue. Only in the Above Marketplace will you find domains for sale with verified performance history. The Verified … Read More
Above.com Parking Manager Supports New TLDs
The Factors that Can Impact your Click Through Rate
In “When should you test your domains?” I mentioned that enough factors can impact your click through rate that we would focus on it separately. While I’m breaking these factors down into eight separate points, it has been my experience … Read More
In “When should you test your domains?” I mentioned thatenough factors can impact your click through rate that we would focus on it
separately. While I’m breaking these factors down into eight separate points, it has been my experience that sometimes it is multiple factors impacting a domain so changing one thing won’t have a huge impact, but changing a second will. Bottom line, test a few different factors until you start seeing a positive impact.
Bad Traffic
Bad traffic is often a huge culprit when you have a low
conversion rate. Bot traffic doesn’t convert and worse, can get your domain
black listed.
Landing Page
Although it may not always make rational sense, your landing
page can impact your click through rate, but what will or won’t work won’t better
isn’t necessarily obvious. In direct mail, there exists a lot of debate over
the long versus short letter and more relevant the glossy versus the ugly. Most
people assume that the expensive looking slick glossy pieces get the best
results but often it’s actually the cheap, looks like they printed it
themselves postcard that works. What I’m trying to say is test a variety of
landers including those that don’t necessarily appeal to you. You may just
discover one of them works better than the others.
Keywords
It’s a good idea to take some time and look at the keywords
your parking companies have attached to your domains. Are they relevant? Are
they the correct language? Do the incoming search terms match your keywords? If
a visitor reaches your site and doesn’t find what they’re searching for, they’re
not going to click on your links.
Geography/Language
While geography and language are two separate issues that
can impact your conversion rate, they are often related to one another so we
will discuss them together. Where your traffic comes from and what language
they speak can have an impact on your click through rate. If your domain is optimized
for English speaking traffic, but the majority of your visitors don’t speak
English, the links may not be relevant to them. Or depending on the country and
the parking company, they may be visiting a very different landing page. It may
not have any links at all, simply a search box. Or it may have generic terms
that are completely irrelevant to your domain. Take the time to look at not
only where your traffic is coming from, but what language their search terms
are in.
Photos
Do parking pages with photos convert better than parking
pages that don’t? Maybe, maybe not. Some people will swear by photos on their
parking pages while others get great results without them. Just like the glossy
versus ugly debate, try testing with and without photos. Try different photos,
try relevant photos, try no photos.
Parking Company
While the differences between parking companies and click
through rates was most pronounced when it was essentially a Google feed versus
a Yahoo feed, your parking company still can impact your click through rate.
Each parking company utilizes different algorithms, optimization options and
potentially monetization options. Some parking companies handle non-English
speaking countries very well, others not as well.
Non-Convertible Traffic
No matter what you do, some legitimate traffic is just not
going to convert. Maybe it’s someone interested in your domain and trying to
determine if it’s available for registration or for sale. Maybe your visitor
realizes they input the incorrect domain and simply moves on with the corrected
domain rather than clicking.
For Sale
Does having a for sale link on your parking page impact
conversion? It might. For some visitors, they may worry that the for sale link
means the site isn’t very strong, or won’t be around for very long. For others,
it may make it seem less trust worthy. And, it may also not have any impact
whatsoever.
What changes have you made that had an impact on your domain’s
click through rate?
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.
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