Need your advice on parking

[Stian]

Ok, guys. I need your advice.

I have an LLL.com which currently receives 900-1000 unique visitors per day. This traffic is pure type-in. I have owned the domain for more than a year now and the traffic has been stable at 600-800 unique visitors per day, but it tends to peak in the Holiday season and therefore the domain currently receives more than 1000 uniques/day. Same thing happened last year (late November 2008 the traffic almost doubled).

I know what most of the visitors are looking for and I know that if I park the domain with this keyword, I should be able to get at least 20% CTR, if not more. This means 200 clicks per day, which again means a lot of revenue!

Now, I know that most of the guys here on DNF would've parked the domain, but I have never been into PPC and I get so paranoid reading all the WIPO cases going around lately. I paid a lot for this domain, so I don't really want to risk losing it.

But .. argh .. Sometimes, when thinking of all the revenue I'm missing out on, I just want to park it. I have also seen other parked domains, which are typos of the domain my visitors are looking for and they have been live for years.

I have also been told that this particular company is not known for caring about stuff like this and going after domain name owners.

So, what should I do? .. Just keep having no content at all on the domain name and wait for an end-user with big pockets, or just park it and reap the revenue?

 

[axeman]

Why dont you put privacy on the whois for starters, unless you have that already? That would at least make it difficult for anyone to track you down.

 

[Stian]

Why dont you put privacy on the whois for starters, unless you have that already? That would at least make it difficult for anyone to track you down.

I've never used privacy on any of my domains, as I think it looks suspicious, also I think it looks bad in the whois history when selling the domain (it'll always raise questions). Also, I've heard that if a company wants to file a WIPO it doesn't matter if you use whois privacy or not, the registrar will hand out your info never the less.

 

[keyser]

I get so paranoid reading all the WIPO cases going around lately. I paid a lot for this domain, so I don't really want to risk losing it.

Good thing being paranoid when it comes to short acronyms. What about a small website somehow (indirectly) related to the domain and earn money thru adsense ? Ctr would be lower of course, but your asset should be more "comfortable" legally speaking.

My 2 cents.

 

[axeman]

I've never used privacy on any of my domains, as I think it looks suspicious, also I think it looks bad in the whois history when selling the domain (it'll always raise questions). Also, I've heard that if a company wants to file a WIPO it doesn't matter if you use whois privacy or not, the registrar will hand out your info never the less.

I agree wholeheartedly with your stance, i have never used it myself, and yes i always wonder why some sellers need it, i can understand with adult domains, and i suspect some use it to cover questionable tax and revenue from their sites.

Some people just like it, it would appear. Another thread i read here today a guy took offence of someone sending him a letter via his whois to re-reg a domain with their company, he now has whois privacy. Overkill IMO.

But i think you need to weight up the benefits and non benefits in this case. It's at least a first line of defence.

It's an option to consider i guess. I cant think of anything else ATM other than that.

 

[Stian]

Good thing being paranoid when it comes to short acronyms. What about a small website somehow (indirectly) related to the domain and earn money thru adsense ? Ctr would be lower of course, but your asset should be more "comfortable" legally speaking.

My 2 cents.

I used to run a website on it, but not really related at all. The funny thing is that the domain is so brandable it can be used for almost anything. Either way, as I'm not really a developer I don't have the patience to keep updating the site and therefore I shut it down.

I have also put a simple adsense for search bar on the site, which made $8-$10/day, but it's still not the same when I know that I can get 3-4 times as much when parking it. Maybe I should just put up that adsense for search bar again.

Still, I don't know how much longer I can hold back the temptation of parking this domain. :cheesy:

I agree wholeheartedly with your stance, i have never used it myself, and yes i always wonder why some sellers need it, i can understand with adult domains, and i suspect some use it to cover questionable tax and revenue from their sites.

Some people just like it, it would appear. Another thread i read here today a guy took offence of someone sending him a letter via his whois to re-reg a domain with their company, he now has whois privacy. Overkill IMO.

But i think you need to weight up the benefits and non benefits in this case. It's at least a first line of defence.

It's an option to consider i guess. I cant think of anything else ATM other than that.

Yeah, I've never been a fan of whois privacy and I tend to not bid or make offers on domains with it, unless the seller can give me a perfectly good reason for it.

 

[green.angel]

My experience is that conversation rates with parking on LL/LLL.whatever are often disappointing. I guess that's because the traffic sources are so various that somehow it dilutes the traffic value. We are witnessing some exceptions though.

So if I were you, I would make a short test first to get an impression of what you can expect. If the domain shows chronically low conversion rates with parking, it will answer the biggest part of your original question

 

[Stian]

My experience is that conversation rates with parking on LL/LLL.whatever are often disappointing. I guess that's because the traffic sources are so various that somehow it dilutes the traffic value. We are witnessing some exceptions though.

So if I were you, I would make a short test first to get an impression of what you can expect. If the domain shows chronically low conversion rates with parking, it will answer the biggest part of your original question

I had it parked for 5-6 days in 2008 and here's how it performed on Sedo (unoptimized):

Views: 7,673
Clicks: 1484
Click rate: 19.34%
€/Click: €0.08
Revenue: €117.70 ($177.45 USD)

So I know that it performs well with parking, hence why I am so tempted to park it again.

 

[green.angel]

I had it parked for 5-6 days in 2008 and here's how it performed on Sedo (unoptimized):

Views: 7,673
Clicks: 1484
Click rate: 19.34%
€/Click: €0.08
Revenue: €117.70 ($177.45 USD)

So I know that it performs well with parking, hence why I am so tempted to park it again.

Not bad. Is this domain for sale :lol: ?

 

[Stian]

Not bad. Is this domain for sale :lol: ?

No, not at the moment. Also I don't want anyone to mistake this for a way of promoting my domain, I just wanted to get some opinions on whether I should park it or not.

 

[vikrantjain22]

Try parking with Bodis also.

I have seen revenues shoot up 100-200% on some of my names when compared to Sedo Parking. Works with some names, not always.
But you can certainly try it as an alternative.

 

[Biggie]

if you're scared then you shouldn't have bought the domain in the first place

you should know how this game works by now

it's all about risk vs rewards

either park it

develop it

keep doing nothing with it

or sell it and let someone who isn't scared, do something with it

the money you could have been making, could have went to other purchases or a defense fund should you have to get legal advice

as the domain owner, it's your right to explore the potential of the domain.

Good Luck!

imo...

 

[Stian]

if you're scared then you shouldn't have bought the domain in the first place

you should know how this game works by now

it's all about risk vs rewards

either park it

develop it

keep doing nothing with it

or sell it and let someone who isn't scared, do something with it

the money you could have been making, could have went to other purchases or a defense fund should you have to get legal advice

as the domain owner, it's your right to explore the potential of the domain.

Good Luck!

imo...

Actually, when I bought the domain I bought it because I love the name itself and I had no idea it received such amounts of traffic. I was very surprised when I started tracking the traffic.

Thanks for the tips. Made me want to park it even more. I might just do that.

 

[Gerry]

It does not matter what the domain is or represents.

make a mini site around some of the most popular topics at the moment:

Tuition, financial, mesothelioma

These are paying some of the top clicks.

Or park it using that same philosophy - what's hot and paying the best.

 

[fab]

Develop it. You will probably make less money to start off with, but definitely have greater potential. If you don't have the time, then hire someone. Try to create something that can easily be expanded, and has the theme of the key word.

I am speaking from personal experience.

 

[Stian]

Thanks for all the tips guys! I've made the decision that if I haven't sold this one to an end-user by the end of the year, I will start development in January 2009.

 

[fab]

Good choice, good luck!

 

[katherine]

I will start development in January 2009.

Ah you are late

 

[Stian]

Ah you are late

:lol: You are right. 2010 of course.

 

[Stian]

1,741 unique visitors on Friday 27th. Highest count ever so far.

I will park it for the weekend, at least.