100 people in the world own 2 million domains

[sasquatch]

generic names still rule.

No they don't.

To paraphrase Clinton: "It's the content, stupid" :-D

 

[Theo]

When it comes down to monetizing traffic, generic names rule.

 

[sasquatch]

When it comes down to monetizing traffic, generic names rule.

Yes, but only when you count "ppc" and/or affiliate links as the only way of monetizing traffic.

But there are other ways of monetizing traffic; look what IP name did; look what M.D.Homepage did... or the political statement Name Admin did when they redirected Cheney's TV verbal blunder to Soros site :-D

 

[Theo]

Comparing apples to oranges again.

The MyIP page saga - I don't buy it. There is nothing on there to generate the $$$$$ - unlike the sale of those 3 typo domains of "free downloads" a few months back at $60k a piece.

The MDHP is viral marketing.

Traffic monetization of generic names is inherent. To make another MDHP it will take another gimmick - and every time the threshold is raised.

 

[Chaiki]

Yes, but only when you count "ppc" and/or affiliate links as the only way of monetizing traffic.

For the purpose of this conversation/example there is no practical difference between PPC, lead generation, or other customer cultivation method. If shampoo.com (as a result of being the "destination") can draw more clicks per unique than whatismyip.com, then it will also draw more of any other kind of lead per unique visitor.

The underlying constant is that regardless how you mistreat the type-in visitor, they keep returning. Whereas you have to put on one heck of a dog and pony show to keep content site visitors coming back.

If you can get 50,000 visitors a day in type-in traffic, that is like getting 500,000 visits to whatismyip.com. How much traffic would drudgereport.com get in 5 years without the news gathering service that exists there? The same as sasquatchreport.com probably. So that is my point I guess. The guy who bought whatismyip.com for it's 50,000 visits, bought a fireworks explosion. He bought the sizzle, not the steak. That guy would have been much smarter (and likely made more consistent and sustainable revenues) had he bought the trifecta of alternative names previously listed, and taken the trip to Vegas. In the end, type-in names are still cheap!

 

[britishbulldog]

Whatever ! at the end of the day Quality beats quantity hands down !

 

[sasquatch]

Whatever ! at the end of the day Quality beats quantity hands down !

Precisely.

The best content-based sites win hands down over the best undeveloped ppc generics.

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

on the internet, one thing is for sure... and that is content is king..

That was back in 1999.

Today, TRAFFIC is king.

 

[Theo]

Don't you just love the great Internet bubble burst of 2000 though? :-D

I bought a domain of a former company that Microsoft paid $65 million to acquire. My cost: $200

 

[Bender]

I bought a domain of a former company that Microsoft paid $65 million to acquire. My cost: $200

Microsoft acquired the domain or the company? :huh:

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

If the article is accurate in terms of the sizes of the top hundred domain portfolios, I am one of the hundred.

 

[mike031]

hal, always have and always will be.... good content => good traffic.

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

hal, always have and always will be.... good content => good traffic.

Not true. The problem with being content-based is you are very vulnerable to competition. Back in the late 1990s it didn't matter. But today, as the internet is growing and maturing, competition is increasing. That means lots of other sites now have competing content.

Ideally, you want a mix of the two, traffic and content. But I would always put traffic first.

 

[Ed30]

If you have a name that gets minimal traffic, the only way to get decent traffic is to give the potential visitor the content they're looking for.

 

[mike031]

Not true. The problem with being content-based is you are very vulnerable to competition. Back in the late 1990s it didn't matter. But today, as the internet is growing and maturing, competition is increasing. That means lots of other sites now have competing content.

Ideally, you want a mix of the two, traffic and content. But I would always put traffic first.

you lost me... "a mix of the two" <--- what do you mean.

content pulls in traffic..... you don't have decent content, you have no traffic to speak of. simple as that... applies to 99.9% of domains/web sites on the web.... of course this does not really concern the parked keyword/generic domains which will always have natural "type in traffic"

and there is competition everywhere, real world as well as virtual (web) so like every business, you have to work and work hard if you want to succeed. if you don't do much..... you won't get much traffic. if you do work your tail off then you will see results and almost instantly.

content is everything.... without it you are "idle"

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

If you have a name that gets minimal traffic, the only way to get decent traffic is to give the potential visitor the content they're looking for.

Or, re-direct more more targetted domain traffic to it.



In the example you mention above, the business doesn't exist because of the content, which is presumably not unique; you have the business because of the "name that gets minimal traffic."

Sure, content will win you some customers, but for how long? Long enough for someone else to copy your content, and become a fierce competitor.

Virtually all content can be copied. However, you can't copy the type-ins for a domain. If you can, please let me know, because I'd like to copy these traffic generators ASAP: sex.com, creditcards.com, drugs.com, etc..

This is the point of domain marketing.

 

[GeorgeK]

I still have under 1000 domains. I guess I have far to go to be a Big Dog. Woof!

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

you lost me... "a mix of the two" <--- what do you mean.

content pulls in traffic..... you don't have decent content, you have no traffic to speak of. simple as that... applies to 99.9% of domains/web sites on the web.... of course this does not really concern the parked keyword/generic domains which will always have natural "type in traffic"

and there is competition everywhere, real world as well as virtual (web) so like every business, you have to work and work hard if you want to succeed. if you don't do much..... you won't get much traffic. if you do work your tail off then you will see results and almost instantly.

content is everything.... without it you are "idle"

What do I mean? I mean that good type-in traffic is hard to lose. On the other hand, any college kid can knock off your website, and any large company can go after your market with their own competing content, and any number of pitfalls can gobble up traditional e-ventures which have content as their business model.

Yes, content may "pull in traffic" --but for how long? Content may also pull in competition.

Domains with natural type-in traffic are what we are talking about!

Again, content is NOT everything. TRAFFIC is what is important.

"Idle" is not always what it appears. If you are driving lots of traffic and you have low overhead, those "idle" domains may be making more money than the content oriented sponsor. It's all about your margin. Content constantly needs to be freshened and managed. That costs money. LOTS of money.

Remember the dotcom bust? Those folks were all about content schemes.

You don't see the traffic mongers going belly up, you only see them making alot of trips to the bank.

 

[Rick Latona]

You guys are silly. Great websites don't need great domains but great domains never hurt and at times ad value. ConsumptionJunction.com is one of the worst domains in the world, look at my stats. There are literally hundreds of ways to misspell the name.

Great domains don't gaurantee a website's success any more than a great website with no reach and audience. They are almost too different businesses.

Domains will never out sell websites and businesses. Don't get me wrong, I'm a believer. I'm here. But they really have less to do with each other than you may think.

Great companies are bought and bad companies are sold. Lesson? Brands are worth a ton. A website is a brand and product. A domain is a potential brand and product.

I love domains as much as all of you but to think they can compare with great developed sites is incorrect, IMHO.

 

[OrangeContent]

I wish i had a million dollar domain!