I generally don’t pay much attention to Alexa rankings. I write articles of interest based on what I am doing and what I see in the domain industry, and I figure people will visit if they want. I know Alexa tends to be skewed towards Internet and tech focused websites, so as much as some people use it as a means of gauging traffic, I don’t pay much attention to it.
Yesterday evening I checked out the Alexa ranking for my website and was pretty surprised to see it below 25,000. I’ve seen an uptick in traffic, but the last time I checked it was in the 30s. I wanted to check a few other domain blogs that I read to see if they’re also seeing a “better” Alexa ranking, and I was very surprised when I checked the Alexa ranking of Mike Berkens’ Blog.
Out of millions of websites tracked by Alexa, Mike’s blog (23,128) and my blog (23,121) were separated by a grand total of 7 websites. I cross checked the Compete score, and we are separated by around 200 websites. This seems pretty minuscule in the whole scheme of things, and it’s always fun to be in the good company of Mike (and Judi).
I agree. The person buying the domain(s) should build up that domain. Alexa or any other ratings are bogus!!!!
Elliot,
Cool article. Alexa actually prefers a blog over any other website because the content is fresh each day, whereas some websites just sit around collecting dust. Most of the most active domains selling at Go Daddy’s auctions have traffic.
People are unlikely to find an article unless they’re looking for specific content. Since your blog provides domain information, visitors are able to interact on the discussion board about their recent sales, concerns and ventures.
I’ve been writing diverse content over many diverse topics for the past year on my blog. I recently lowered my ranking once I started to namedrop it, as well as submitting it to Google. Google crawls the web each day to find credible websites.
It may take a year before they’ll find a website, especially with millions upon millions of domains sitting around without any new content. Alexa ranks a website based on several factors, but popularity and blogs are capable of improving traffic and page ranking.
Autoinsurance.com has very little value on websiteoutlook.com, but is worth a fortune on estibot.com and valuate.com. I feel that estibot and valuate over appraise content based on their keywords.
Many websites are worth far more than what is provided on estibot and valuate. They tend too balloon the value on popular keyword domains, but disregard the ranking and traffic as a part of overall value.
While I like estibot and sometimes use valuate, I feel their appraisals combined with bargaindomains.com 5%, 10% and 15% price format, are interfering with domains that have major market appeal.
Would someone actually pay $500,000 for GrandCanyon.com? What about $20 million for autoinsurance.com – a website that is only ranked 517,000? Domain investors should consider using websiteoutlook, estibot, valuate and 7zoom as tools to determine domain value. Nameboy set high figures on .com, .info and .net, but disregard .org, .mobi and .us.
As for the Alexa ranking, my blog and suisun.org will move under a million within the week. I have been writing many articles on them, as of late. I have a handful of other domains that I’m hosting which will reach below 2 million by this weekend.
Alexa is accurate in assigning traffic ranking based on popularity, as opposed to back links and page ranking. Every stat factors into the value of a website.
Estibot values your bog at $150, when in fact it is actually worth 6 figures. They make the mistake of leaving out the important numbers, instead focusing on the keywords. With websites like bargain domains, it is conflicting with domains that will generate huge interest. I would never put any domain on there that could set off a frenzy at other auction houses.
Cool article.
Jason
http://suisun.org
http://magicwriter.blogspot.com
Jason
“Autoinsurance.com has very little value on websiteoutlook.com, but is worth a fortune on estibot.com and valuate.com”
“What about $20 million for autoinsurance.com – a website that is only ranked 517,000? Domain investors should consider using websiteoutlook, estibot, valuate and 7zoom as tools to determine domain value”
Please – this is sadly one of the those point of views in the industry from people who have bought in to automated appraisals way too much and trying to have somebody else (an automated system no less) tell them how much a domain is worth.
You can manipulate, extract data, compare tools all day long to find the price you WANT your domain to be worth or ways to monday morning quarterback why a name is not worth.
Spend more time understanding how domains relate to tradiational media prices and how an effective domain can bring value to a company rather than using these tools to help FIND an imaginary number to make you sleep better at night.
@Alan,
Autoinsurance.com is not worth the money. It doesn’t matter about commercial value when the domain barely does anything. People don’t visit autoinsurance.com to find insurance. Neither do they search for the domain in Google.
I don’t trust appraisals. I happened to sell a few domains based on price acquired from online appraisals. People transform poor names in mega websites. It doesn’t matter what these domain appraisal websites suggest, but a website like autoinsurance.com is useless in the wrong hands. Rankings are an indicator to the popularity of a specific website.
When I looked for insurance. I won’t go to some quote website. Bank of America has done very little to promote their loans.com because it is an extra forwarding tool that is linked into their main website. Commercial value is nothing if you don’t know how to use the resources you have to generate traffic.
I’ll say it now, tomorrow and next year, autoinsurance.com is worthless in the wrong hands. I would rather have tickets.com or even stocks.com. Most people know what insurance company they want to deal with. It doesn’t make any sense to visit autoinsurance.com to find overrated quotes.
Some domain investor would fixated on the autoinsurance.com
transaction. Marketing is nothing if you can’t generate enough traffic to increase your exposure. Ranking tools are accurate. Even stat counter can evaluate which articles are most popular on a website. I’ve done extensive research on domains, SEO and other areas. It’s a no go for autoinsurance.com. Wouldn’t waste money, even if I were rich.
Sorry Jason but I have no idea who you are but you sound like someone that is only learning this business – probably less than 2 years experience.
“I’ll say it now, tomorrow and next year, autoinsurance.com is worthless in the wrong hands”
Every domain is worthless in the wrong hands.
“I would rather have tickets.com or even stocks.com”
Thats because quite likley you know more about tickets and stocks.
“Most people know what insurance company they want to deal with. It doesn’t make any sense to visit autoinsurance.com to find overrated quotes”
And there’s the rub – assuming most people know what they want .. sure, thats why dvertising is a trillion dollar marketplace – people don’t know what they want – advertisers tell them what they want.
I’m not going to argue about autoinsurance.com since its pointless.
@Alan,
Advertising is a multi-billion dollar industry. More in the range of 290-400 billion. Advertisers may be advertising online, but they still look into print advertisement. When I mentioned I wound use the four websites to appraise domains, I didn’t suffer people need to believe what they find on the websites. Find another random domain you own and appraise it at those 4 sites I mentioned.
If you owned autoinsurance.com, and knew nothing about the industry, an end-user would probably take advanage, just like companies do when they ripoff comic and card collectors. If you happen to land on websitelook.com, maybe you would sell the domain for $2000 instead of it’s market value.
I assume you think I’m suggesting people need to use those 4 sites. I noted you have to check the sites to determine their overall value. Do you think Elliot’s blog I’d worth $150? That’s ridiculous. It’s worth far more than that.
The reason autoinsurance.com has low traffic is because it is not being utilized to its full advantage. I would rather own stocks and the tickets because I know how to market the two. I know a great deal about auto insurance. I even have some good domains that target the area. However, I have been wasting time following up with an interested buyer.
I’ve written content on many diverse areas. I know the potential of autoinsurance.com, but as is the website is not worth more than $100,000. This blog site has way more unique than the site. If an auto insurance company purchased the domain to forward traffic, then it would serve its marketing purpose. The reason why the domain rarely changed hands is because the owner was probably asking 7-8 figures for the domain.
If I had the money, my top 10 would be:
tickets.com
stocks.com
loans.com
mortgage.com
casinos.com
insurance.com
vacation.com
hotels.com
purses.com
NYC.com
I see those domains as marketable. For entertainment purposes, I would want to acquire:
trips.com
shows.com
travel.com
scripts.com
movies.com
writing.com
museums.com
sports.com
gadgets.com
beaches.com
I understand how advertsing works. Unless I work in the insurance, I don’t see any value for autoinsurance.com. I don’t jump on the bandwagon and envy domains just because estibot values it as $20 million. I would rather own videogames.com. People may be looking for insurance, but most people already have some kind of insurance. Companies are trying to entice people to change their insurance. The domain will do little for anty random collector, whereas I’d it falls into the right hands, it can help to market an auto insurance company or represent a secondary outlet.
Just because I don’t want autoinsurance.com doesn’t make me inexperienced. It’s nothing I would wanted, even if I had the money. We all want different domain names. I would rather own insurance.com. It is much easier to market. How much more can you discuss when quoting auto insurance? Rates, collision, premiums, and etc… Insurance covers life, home, renters, auto, diamond, va, air travel, and much more.
Auto insurance may generate high cpc and appraisal value, but again it is only appraising the keywords and not the performance of the website. I can debate the website all day long. I never mentioned that people should trust any appraisals. People will pay high amounts for domains with little market value, whereas some slip by for a bargain. I want one domain right now. I know I can get it. But I have to wait until I graduate with my MA next month.
I know exactly what to do with the domain. The owner hasn’t utilized it at all. Once I acquire it, I’ll report on it’s success. I have several which will generate money in the future. Traffic is key. The owner of chatrpulette.com was offered over $30 million for his website. He declined. Estibot has it valued at $800. There are people who are willing to pay millions for it.
The company wanted the website because it has heavy traffic and is popular. Surely enough, I understand the industry. I may not be a pro like Elliot or youself, but I know enough to build a valuable collection. I can transform a worthless domain into a money magnet. I’m going to prove that to another who owned a domain a decade back, and let it go because they suggested it was worthless. Traffic, page ranking, brandability, keywords, and popularity control domain prices.
However, autoinsurance.com is useless to me, well unless I auctioned it off, where I may attract attention for low 7 figures. Anything regarding homes, credit, loans, and travel are money makers. They basically market themselves without having to put years into building traffic. People are paying top dollars for high traffic domains. Many domain investors want a fortune for a domain that has no traffic and has been an utter waste.
In the end, you have to find domains will you’ll enjoy building. I would like animation.com, but my specialty is more in writing and film. I probably wouldn’t had as much success as another is a master animator or some company like Disney or Dreamworks. Howver, I’m well-versed in screenwriting, and may do well with scripts.com or screenplay.com. You seem to have interest in the autoinsurance.com domain. Unless I’m interested In a domain, I wouldn’t defend its market value.
Jason
A well educated response – thanks.
Advertising is a trillion dollar business. I assume you got the 290-400 billion number from some industry reports although these reports never report all advertising. How about the music in films which can command $100’s of thoushands for a simple 20 second strip from an artist’s song or the $50,000 appearance fees for some silly celeberity to show up at a club – these are all advertising dollars however you want to play it.
I agree there are many better names however the point was to ignore the data on many of these automated systems.
You say $100,000 for car insurnace. Lets put it this – I know for a fact this domain was earning almost $40,000 a month in revenue parked so extraplote the value to the end users paying for those ads. $100,000 is more or less essentialy the value for 4 weeks with that domain.
I’m not defending auto insurance per say – just saying that these stats are commonly known to report very incomplete data. The insurance industry in general is much more profitable for people creating content online then almost any industry you mentioned above but again, its not about defending an industry or domain.
Its about understanding that all of these appraisals are useless. The data is good but one must use the data with out tools to define a name right for thier business. Hell, even Google data is off many times.
Good luck with your domains and hopefully you have a success story to tell one day.
Domains have ALOT to do with the success of a business. An old and brandable domain such as AutoInsurance.com is a diamond in the rough and the value is not measured only in today’s traffic, but what the diamond can become once cut and polished. (developed and marketed).
To value a domain name only in current traffic is a “rookie” mistake.
AutoInsurance.com is worth 5-10M with ZERO traffic. Once built into a brand and with good traffic, it’s worth 20M +.