This is part 2 of the “How to turn your Domains into Dollars” series. The first part introduced you to the basics of monetizing domains. This post intends to dwell further into this excellent revenue source online. For those who missed part one or need a refresher, you can click here to have a look.

Domain valuation – short, memorable names versus sensible ones

The trend a few years back was that short and memorable domain names were more valued; largely to their ability to bring “type in” traffic easily. Sensible two or three word domain names were still not registered or had little significance to the online presence of an organization or individual at that time. However, with time, the internet evolved into a much more crowded and competitive place. Suddenly, the longer but sensible names also increased in value. The scarcity of short domains, growing competition and increasing number of online businesses are the major contributing factors to this new trend in the “domain name war”. Nowadays, you can sell a three word sensible domain name for quite a hefty sum.

Flipping a developed domain name

If you have time on your hand, a little development work on the domain will fetch you far greater returns. This method is specially applicable to names that might otherwise sell for reg price – plus/minus a few dollars. You can turn a potentially undervalued domain into a hot commodity by giving it a decent number of traffic, back links and possibly a Google Page Rank.

Imagine a scenario where you are given two domain choices. The first domain is short, memorable and recently registered with no traffic, back links or PR attached. The second domain is a three letter name, not so memorable, but having thousands of page views per day, back links developed to high authority sites, and a PR of, say, 4. Which name would you go for? I guess, the latter… reason being it is already developed and getting you decent traffic. Yes, you may loose some traffic during the transition, but retaining the lost numbers is far easier than developing traffic from scratch.

Earn rather than loose

1) Don’t be mistaken by the idea that “brandable domains” have far greater value than keyword domains. A name that appears “brandable” to you might have no meaning to someone else. Some people register brandable domains with the misconception that they would be sold for very high prices. Brandable domains earn you big sums only if you come across a person looking for that exact name and willing to pay anything to acquire it. Its more of a chance factor to sell and make big from these names.

2) Avoid registering trademark names at all costs. Just because a  trademark domain name is available does not mean that you are free to register it and hold it for ransom. The repercussion of possessing a copyrighted domain name is huge, and you could be charged millions of dollars for violating the copyright law.

3) If you register a domain name with the intention to flip it, avoid some common mistakes that devalue the name. Avoid registering names with hyphens, numerals or prefix “the” in the name. While domains with these items do sell and there are no hard and fast rules that specifically prevent you from earning from these, the sale amount they make may not be worth your effort. Why waste your time buying and selling a domain with zero or negligible profit margin?

Flipping domains is something that you need to develop strategies for. Serious domainers need to make room for initial losses as you can not expect to make a multi-thousand dollar sale in your very first transaction. With each new flip, you can learn ways on how not to carry out your flipping business. With passing time, you would have exhausted all “negative points and techniques” and ready to put your knowledge into earning big from domain flipping.

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