Buying Domain Names Archives - Page 93 of 97

Safe Domain Name Transactions

Elliot Silver

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March 11, 2008

After reading an excruciatingly long thread on DNForum that deals with allegations of scamming, stolen domain names, missing funds…etc, I wanted to share some general advice when buying and selling domain names. The advice I give is only based on how I personally do business, and I recommend using an attorney if that makes you more comfortable.
Before I purchase a domain name, I always check the Whois history to make sure the name looks like it is free and clear of problems. Frequent changes in ownership, different/inconsistent email addresses or phone numbers, and incorrect-sounding information always ring bells in my head and requires further checking. I also like to search using Google and the domain forums to see if the name has ever been in a dispute or had “issues.” Because I mostly

Lease to Own a Domain Name

Elliot Silver

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February 19, 2008

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I was giving advice to someone today about buying a domain name that is currently generating significant parking revenue. The owner is using a min-site with Adsense to generate this revenue (we’ll say $5,000 annually for the sake of this post), and the potential buyer thinks he could earn much more if he develops it further. The owner’s asking price is steeper than the buyer is willing to spend (let’s say $100,000), but I think the buyer can get creative with his offer in an effort to strike a deal.
In a situation like this, I think a lease-to-own offer would be

Importance of Keyword Searches for Domain Buying

Elliot Silver

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February 18, 2008

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When buying a keyword domain name, it is important to know how many people search daily for the keywords that make up the domain name. You might have the most targeted website for the keywords, rank number one in the search engines and have the best website design, but if nobody is searching for those keywords on a frequent basis, it will be difficult to earn a return on your investment.
Many people reference Google’s search results to cite how much information exists for certain keywords. While Google will show how many times the keyword is mentioned on the Internet, it fails to show how many people are actually searching for it. Using Google for this can be misleading, because there can be much more information about a topic than people searching for it.
The Overture search tool was a good indicator of the number of searches that were performed monthly but Yahoo has eliminated that tool. I’ve used Wordtracker and KeywordDiscovery before and both offer good indications of what keywords people search. If you own the domain name of these keywords, you have a strong search engine optimization advantage over everyone else. Once you upload relevant content and have someone optimize your site, you could see an increase in revenue.

Importance of Maintaining Liquidity

Buying Domain Names

Elliot Silver

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February 11, 2008

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In difficult financial times and tough market conditions, it is very important to maintain a portfolio of liquid domain assets that could be sold very quickly if necessary. Two and three letter .com (LL.com & LLL.com) names, strong dictionary .com terms, city/geographic terms and some numeric domain names are considered liquid domain assets.
There are reasons for maintaining solid liquidity, other than having bills to pay. For one, other people may need to start selling their liquid assets, and if you are in the right place at the right time – and you have the capital to make the purchase, you could benefit. Additionally, it costs quite a bit of money to develop and maintain a website. If you need to finance a web project, you may need the cash in short order.
When you evaluate whether your portfolio has enough liquidity, think about

Domain Psychology

Elliot Silver

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February 11, 2008

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If others are like me, they probably find themselves searching for domain names based on events going on in their life. Lately, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time searching for wedding, pet, and real estate domain names. I do some keyword research via Keyword Discovery in addition to the “real world” research that I am constantly doing. I also look-up category killer names on iWhois.com.
Exploring new areas can

TreatmentCenters.com – $100k Domain to $1Million Website

Elliot Silver

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January 29, 2008

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TreatmentCenters.com is a great example of a company buying the domain name they needed and building it into a million dollar website. TreatmentCenters.com was sold for $100,000 by Afternic/BuyDomains as reported in DNJournal. This domain name informs visitors about exactly what they will find when they type it in to their browser, and it doesn’t disappoint upon arrival. For this business model, there probably aren’t any better domain names out there.
Using a directory model, TreatmentCenters.com provides paid and unpaid listings for various health and mental treatment centers and counselors throughout the country. Visitors can search by condition, by state or by provider name to find what they need. When a website like this is able to provide names, addresses, contact information, and data on the topic of interest to the searcher, it builds stickiness, and the searcher will probably return. This provides a positive experience for the visitor, and it also provides an ROI for the advertiser.
Kudos to the people behind TreatmentCenters.com! This is an aesthetically pleasing, well-functioning website, and it looks like a million bucks! I hope to emulate it with some of my entries down the road – including Lowell.com.