There are a number of tools that I frequently use to evaluate domain sales and acquisitions. Some of them are domain-specific, but others are used to evaluate traffic and revenue potential. Here are some of the websites with tools I use just about every day.
- FreshDrop.net – I use Fresh Drop just about every day to evaluate dropping/expiring domain names on Snapnames and Namejet. There are a whole lot of analytics you can track, including incoming links, domain age, pagerank, number of other extensions registered, and a variety of other options. Members can save filters, allowing them to use the site with more consistency and more quickly.
- DomainTools – DomainTools is probably the “grandfather” of all domain-related tools. I use DomainTools for my Whois lookups, Whois history search, and frequently the Reverse IP search when attempting to buy domain names. I think everyone who is involved in the domain space should have a DomainTools account.
- Google Adwords Keyword Tool – Frequently referred to simply as “GAKT,” this tool is helpful in analyzing keyword search volume as well as the cost advertisers are paying per click. There are many search options here, but I prefer to use the local exact match search.
- Domaining.com – I don’t know if I would really call Domaining.com a tool per se, but it’s a resource I use every day to stay on top of the news in our business.
Google Keyword Tool is great, just not sure how accurate it is.
The expired domain market is definitely crowded. Domain tools remains the most important in my opinion. Great post…
Just about the same tools that I use frequently. I also use Estibot to do some first/quick filtering of larger list of domains.
It’s DropDay.com and Estibot.com for me. I don’t use Estibot.com for valuations though; I use its parsing tools, domain name generators, drop lists, whois lookup, and its valuation results for sorting on keyword searches and CPC.
I think most people recommend FreshDrop.com because it has an affiliate program and people get paid for recommending it. DropDay.com is better in my view, although FreshDrop.com does claim to include Pool.com and eBay.com domain names. DropDay.com does not. I think Pool and eBay have the lowest quality domain names anyway so it’s no big loss.
@ Logan
“I think most people recommend FreshDrop.com because it has an affiliate program and people get paid for recommending it. ”
This is incorrect in my case. As you can see from hovering over the links in this post, I did not use an affiliate link, nor do I have an affiliate account with FreshDrop (or any of the aforementioned companies).
http://www.google.com/insights/search/
For IDNs idntools.com is a must.
you can also try ValueDrops.com, for filtered drop list.
Can you tell me what’s the best way to reveal an old/expired domain authority (besides backlinks) before buying?
Thanks!