With over sixty million domains out there already registered, it can be daunting to try to find the right domain -- one that will drive quality traffic to your Website or parked domain. But how can you ensure you're making the right decision when you purchase registered and expired domains? Do your research and you'll feel confident in your purchase.
In this article, I'll explain the tools and techniques domain pros use to determine -- or at least reasonably guesstimate -- how much, and what type, of traffic a domain receives. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be able to predict approximately how much money a given domain will make, and thus gain a better understanding of the domain's true value. We'll discuss three methods for evaluating the traffic trhat a domain receives:
.Trackers/Direct Methods... Ideally, you could skip all of the guesswork and find out how much traffic a domain receives directly from the domain owner. The easiest way to do this is simply to ask the seller. However, the seller may make a mistake (or simply be dishonest), so it's always a good idea to double-check the numbers using one or more of the following methods.
Trackers/Direct Methods Ideally, you could skip all of the guesswork and find out how much traffic a domain receives directly from the domain owner. The easiest way to do this is simply to ask the sellers about it. However, the seller may make mistakes (or simply be dishonest), so it's always a good idea to double-check the numbers using one or more of the following methods.
Parked Domains...If a domain name is parked, the parking program may make traffic statistics available automatically through the domain's sales listing page. For example, at the time this article was written, the traffic attracted by the parked domain, and a replica watches could be viewed on the domain's sale page.
Parked Domains...If a domain name is parked, the parking program may make traffic statistics available automatically through the domain's sales listing page. For example, at the time this article was written, the traffic attracted by the parked domain, and a uk website could be viewed on the domain's sale page.
Predictors/Indirect Methods...What should you do if a domain is not parked and the seller is unable to provide you with visitor statistics? Fortunately, a few handy tricks can be used to help you get a rough indication of whether or not a domain receives any traffic.
I wouldn't recommend relying solely on any of these tricks as a bullet-proof way to guesstimate traffic. However, taken as a whole (and with a hefty spoonful of salt), they can shine a bit of light on the question of whether or not a domain will receive valuable traffic.
.Alexa.com...Alexa ranks web sites based on the number of visitors they receive. For example, at the time this article was written, Yahoo.com ranked first, while blue.com ranked at 212,093 and camera.com at 717,298. These rankings are based on data derived from Alexa's toolbar users. Translating these numbers into unique views, skechy.com received over 10,000 unique views in the month of Sept. while all4uk.com received over 70,000 uniques. (Statistics source: Sedo.com).
Alexa.com...Alexa ranks web sites based on the number of visitors they receive. For example, at the time this article was written, Yahoo.com ranked first, while tisstiss.com ranked at 212,093 and folkk.com at 717,298. These rankings are based on data derived from Alexa toolbar users. Translating these numbers into unique views, allready.biz received over 10,000 unique views in the month of September while pummle.com received over 70,000 uniques. (Statistics from Sedo.com).
Many high-traffic domain names will receive an Alexa ranking just from their type-in traffic. In general, an Alexa ranking under 1,000,000 for an undeveloped site is a good indicator that the domain receives decent traffic (e.g. several thousand monthly uniques). Rankings over a million are less reliable, but usually any sort of Alexa ranking means the domain receives at least some traffic. As with all of these methods, Alexa should be used as a guideline only: sometimes even domains for which Alexa returns 'No Data' (too low to rank) will still receive traffic. Ranking.com offers a tool that's similar to Alexa's.
Overture Searches...Yahoo! Search Marketing's Keyword Selector Tool tells you how often a given keyword was searched in yahoo's network. For example, 'Yahoo' was searched 17,858,229 times in September 2005, while 'Blue' was searched 178,124 times.
Research has shown that Overture searches do sometimes have a rough correlation with traffic (especially type-in traffic), but as with other methods, there are many exceptions to the rule.
Research has shown that Overture searches do sometimes have a rough correlation with traffic (especially type-in traffic), but as with other methods, there are many exceptions to the rule. Traffic Source...If you want to better understand something, go to the source. This aphorism applies to domain traffic just as well as it does to other information. Thus, in addition to using the above methods to guesstimate the quantity of traffic a given domain receives, you may want to use these techniques to try to determine the source of that traffic. Traffic source will affect the longevity and conversion of the traffic. In simpler terms, it will have a huge impact on how much money the domain will make.
Link Popularity...A web site or formerly-developed domain name may receive traffic from old incoming links and directory listings. There are many online tools for checking link popularity; Marketleap.com offers one of the best tools.
.Link Popularity...Any given web site or formerly-developed domain name may receive traffic from old incoming links and directory listings. There are many online tools for checking link popularity; Marketleap.com offers one of the best of these tools.
The important thing to look for here is not the quantity of links, but their quality. A single link from a major web site may be worth thousands of links from smaller sites. The longevity of link traffic varies widely: a link from a news article may generate a storm of steady traffic that lasts only a week, while a directory listing may continue to generate steady traffic for years. Another similar tool worth checking out is URLtrends.com.
Just keep in mind that it's also important to look at how high the site is listed and how often the keyword is searched. And don't forget that search engine listings change frequently, so if this is the primary source of traffic, expect fluctuations!
Paid Fluctuations...Some traffic may be coming from PPC advertisements, exit popups or banner ads that the seller has bought. This is the shortest-lived traffic, because as soon as you buy the domain, the seller stops paying for the ads! The best way to determine traffic origin is to ask the seller about traffic sources and view the traffic logs. To ensure the logs are not modified, ask for access to the logs instead of screenshot of the statistics.
Without access to the logs, it can be difficult to determine if a domain is receiving paid traffic, but a savvy domain buyer will look for a few key pieces of evidence: do the domain statistics align with the Alexa ranking and the number of incoming links? For example, a domain that receives a couple hundred views a day, and has no Alexa ranking and very few incoming links from low-traffic sites may likely receive paid traffic. But don't discount such domains out of hand: they may be receiving typo traffic (see below for more information) or may be a seasonal domain (such as one related to the World Series).
Without access to the logs, it can be difficult to determine if a domain is receiving paid traffic, but a smart domain buyer will look for a few key pieces of info: do the domain statistics align with the Alexa ranking and the number of incoming links? For example, a domain that receives a couple of hundred views/day, and has no Alexa ranking and very few incoming links from low-traffic sites may likely receive paid traffic. But don't discount such domains out of hand: they may be receiving typo-traffic, or may even be a seasonal domain (such as one related to the World Series).
.Expired Traffic...If a domain was formerly developed, some users may continue to visit because of old links and reference pages, or simply because they remember the actual name of the domain. This traffic may continue for years, but as with any site, it decreases over time.
If it's not possible to speak with the current owner about the past development of the site, a few simple searches can help. In particular, use the hints above to examine the types of sites that are linking to that domain. With this information, you may be able to get some idea of the type of traffic that's visiting the domain in search of old content. After the content is removed, many of the links will be updated or removed and this traffic will eventually dwindle or expire.
.Typos -n- Variations...Don't ignore traffic that's diverted to the domain name as a result of typos from other high traffic sites. Check out the traffic that flows to similar or mistyped domains using the tools above. Also consider traffic generated from variations of names, such as an abbreviated form of your domain name, or an acronym. If these domains experience high volumes of visitors, there is just as much of a possibility that this will translate to high traffic levels for similar sites.
Find the Right Domain...Traffic is crucial for any revenue generating business on the Web. Finding and choosing the right domain with targeted traffic can take your business and -profits- to new heights. If you haven't quite had the time to build that web site, simply park your domains, let your parking company place targeted advertisements on the domain's index page, and sit back and monetize the traffic. You can do this at sedo by taking advantage of their optimize keyword tool. Also, use the tools listed above to determine domain traffic and never make a wrong buying decision again.
In this article, I'll explain the tools and techniques domain pros use to determine -- or at least reasonably guesstimate -- how much, and what type, of traffic a domain receives. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be able to predict approximately how much money a given domain will make, and thus gain a better understanding of the domain's true value. We'll discuss three methods for evaluating the traffic trhat a domain receives:
.Trackers/Direct Methods... Ideally, you could skip all of the guesswork and find out how much traffic a domain receives directly from the domain owner. The easiest way to do this is simply to ask the seller. However, the seller may make a mistake (or simply be dishonest), so it's always a good idea to double-check the numbers using one or more of the following methods.
Trackers/Direct Methods Ideally, you could skip all of the guesswork and find out how much traffic a domain receives directly from the domain owner. The easiest way to do this is simply to ask the sellers about it. However, the seller may make mistakes (or simply be dishonest), so it's always a good idea to double-check the numbers using one or more of the following methods.
Parked Domains...If a domain name is parked, the parking program may make traffic statistics available automatically through the domain's sales listing page. For example, at the time this article was written, the traffic attracted by the parked domain, and a replica watches could be viewed on the domain's sale page.
Parked Domains...If a domain name is parked, the parking program may make traffic statistics available automatically through the domain's sales listing page. For example, at the time this article was written, the traffic attracted by the parked domain, and a uk website could be viewed on the domain's sale page.
Predictors/Indirect Methods...What should you do if a domain is not parked and the seller is unable to provide you with visitor statistics? Fortunately, a few handy tricks can be used to help you get a rough indication of whether or not a domain receives any traffic.
I wouldn't recommend relying solely on any of these tricks as a bullet-proof way to guesstimate traffic. However, taken as a whole (and with a hefty spoonful of salt), they can shine a bit of light on the question of whether or not a domain will receive valuable traffic.
.Alexa.com...Alexa ranks web sites based on the number of visitors they receive. For example, at the time this article was written, Yahoo.com ranked first, while blue.com ranked at 212,093 and camera.com at 717,298. These rankings are based on data derived from Alexa's toolbar users. Translating these numbers into unique views, skechy.com received over 10,000 unique views in the month of Sept. while all4uk.com received over 70,000 uniques. (Statistics source: Sedo.com).
Alexa.com...Alexa ranks web sites based on the number of visitors they receive. For example, at the time this article was written, Yahoo.com ranked first, while tisstiss.com ranked at 212,093 and folkk.com at 717,298. These rankings are based on data derived from Alexa toolbar users. Translating these numbers into unique views, allready.biz received over 10,000 unique views in the month of September while pummle.com received over 70,000 uniques. (Statistics from Sedo.com).
Many high-traffic domain names will receive an Alexa ranking just from their type-in traffic. In general, an Alexa ranking under 1,000,000 for an undeveloped site is a good indicator that the domain receives decent traffic (e.g. several thousand monthly uniques). Rankings over a million are less reliable, but usually any sort of Alexa ranking means the domain receives at least some traffic. As with all of these methods, Alexa should be used as a guideline only: sometimes even domains for which Alexa returns 'No Data' (too low to rank) will still receive traffic. Ranking.com offers a tool that's similar to Alexa's.
Overture Searches...Yahoo! Search Marketing's Keyword Selector Tool tells you how often a given keyword was searched in yahoo's network. For example, 'Yahoo' was searched 17,858,229 times in September 2005, while 'Blue' was searched 178,124 times.
Research has shown that Overture searches do sometimes have a rough correlation with traffic (especially type-in traffic), but as with other methods, there are many exceptions to the rule.
Research has shown that Overture searches do sometimes have a rough correlation with traffic (especially type-in traffic), but as with other methods, there are many exceptions to the rule. Traffic Source...If you want to better understand something, go to the source. This aphorism applies to domain traffic just as well as it does to other information. Thus, in addition to using the above methods to guesstimate the quantity of traffic a given domain receives, you may want to use these techniques to try to determine the source of that traffic. Traffic source will affect the longevity and conversion of the traffic. In simpler terms, it will have a huge impact on how much money the domain will make.
Link Popularity...A web site or formerly-developed domain name may receive traffic from old incoming links and directory listings. There are many online tools for checking link popularity; Marketleap.com offers one of the best tools.
.Link Popularity...Any given web site or formerly-developed domain name may receive traffic from old incoming links and directory listings. There are many online tools for checking link popularity; Marketleap.com offers one of the best of these tools.
The important thing to look for here is not the quantity of links, but their quality. A single link from a major web site may be worth thousands of links from smaller sites. The longevity of link traffic varies widely: a link from a news article may generate a storm of steady traffic that lasts only a week, while a directory listing may continue to generate steady traffic for years. Another similar tool worth checking out is URLtrends.com.
Just keep in mind that it's also important to look at how high the site is listed and how often the keyword is searched. And don't forget that search engine listings change frequently, so if this is the primary source of traffic, expect fluctuations!
Paid Fluctuations...Some traffic may be coming from PPC advertisements, exit popups or banner ads that the seller has bought. This is the shortest-lived traffic, because as soon as you buy the domain, the seller stops paying for the ads! The best way to determine traffic origin is to ask the seller about traffic sources and view the traffic logs. To ensure the logs are not modified, ask for access to the logs instead of screenshot of the statistics.
Without access to the logs, it can be difficult to determine if a domain is receiving paid traffic, but a savvy domain buyer will look for a few key pieces of evidence: do the domain statistics align with the Alexa ranking and the number of incoming links? For example, a domain that receives a couple hundred views a day, and has no Alexa ranking and very few incoming links from low-traffic sites may likely receive paid traffic. But don't discount such domains out of hand: they may be receiving typo traffic (see below for more information) or may be a seasonal domain (such as one related to the World Series).
Without access to the logs, it can be difficult to determine if a domain is receiving paid traffic, but a smart domain buyer will look for a few key pieces of info: do the domain statistics align with the Alexa ranking and the number of incoming links? For example, a domain that receives a couple of hundred views/day, and has no Alexa ranking and very few incoming links from low-traffic sites may likely receive paid traffic. But don't discount such domains out of hand: they may be receiving typo-traffic, or may even be a seasonal domain (such as one related to the World Series).
.Expired Traffic...If a domain was formerly developed, some users may continue to visit because of old links and reference pages, or simply because they remember the actual name of the domain. This traffic may continue for years, but as with any site, it decreases over time.
If it's not possible to speak with the current owner about the past development of the site, a few simple searches can help. In particular, use the hints above to examine the types of sites that are linking to that domain. With this information, you may be able to get some idea of the type of traffic that's visiting the domain in search of old content. After the content is removed, many of the links will be updated or removed and this traffic will eventually dwindle or expire.
.Typos -n- Variations...Don't ignore traffic that's diverted to the domain name as a result of typos from other high traffic sites. Check out the traffic that flows to similar or mistyped domains using the tools above. Also consider traffic generated from variations of names, such as an abbreviated form of your domain name, or an acronym. If these domains experience high volumes of visitors, there is just as much of a possibility that this will translate to high traffic levels for similar sites.
Find the Right Domain...Traffic is crucial for any revenue generating business on the Web. Finding and choosing the right domain with targeted traffic can take your business and -profits- to new heights. If you haven't quite had the time to build that web site, simply park your domains, let your parking company place targeted advertisements on the domain's index page, and sit back and monetize the traffic. You can do this at sedo by taking advantage of their optimize keyword tool. Also, use the tools listed above to determine domain traffic and never make a wrong buying decision again.
About the Author:
About the Author, James L. Byrd can help you find the best domains under the following categories (and more): Audemars Piguet replica, and replica watches
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