To develop or not develop, that is the question.

[pixel42]

I own about 65 domains, mostly .COMs, and many of them are keyword-specific to the legal profession and/or brandable that would work nicely if I developed them. The only problem is, it's bad enough having to pay the reg fees each year (which I'm doing because I see some of these as an investment), and I can't imagine having to pay for hosting on every single one PLUS taking the time to install a CMS (something like WP to run an auto-blog) on each domain.

At the same time, I know there's more value to be gained by putting some content up instead of just letting them sit there.

My main question is, what type of content should I put up, if my main goal is to eventually sell the domain? I'm not sure whether to fill it with keyword-rich content and slap a big banner across the top saying "this domain is for sale," or what. Parking is not bringing in enough revenue. I'd rather add some content and then shop some of these keyword-specific domains to potential buyers.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm looking forward to learning more from this forum!

 

[Melly]

1. if you don't plan on doing anything with the domains and they are not earning you anything either develop or sell them. Why pay for domains that are not doing you any good other than costing you fees that you don't want in the first place.

2. I don't pay hosting for each individual domain. I pay a flat rate per month for a reseller and host each domain individually. However, you can purchase cheap package and put them all under the shared hosting. I just use the reseller as a preference in case I want to sell the site later they can continue hosting it with me or simply move it.

3. WP is easy to install and even on 65 domains could be finished in one day. I wouldn't recommend trying to develop them all at once though. It will become overwhelming and then you won't accomplish anything. Choose 2-3 to start with and make them into something unique. Some people swear by minisites but its a personal choice I suppose. I hate autoblogs so if you are going to develop them at least put up unique content.

4. Maybe sell half or more and create a plan on which you want to develop. Set a goal for yourself weekly on how many you would like to complete and how much you want to spend on each if any. If you can do all of the work yourself you will be better off in the long run.

Good luck.

 

[stock_post]

This is as good as it gets!

1. if you don't plan on doing anything with the domains and they are not earning you anything either develop or sell them. Why pay for domains that are not doing you any good other than costing you fees that you don't want in the first place.

2. I don't pay hosting for each individual domain. I pay a flat rate per month for a reseller and host each domain individually. However, you can purchase cheap package and put them all under the shared hosting. I just use the reseller as a preference in case I want to sell the site later they can continue hosting it with me or simply move it.

3. WP is easy to install and even on 65 domains could be finished in one day. I wouldn't recommend trying to develop them all at once though. It will become overwhelming and then you won't accomplish anything. Choose 2-3 to start with and make them into something unique. Some people swear by minisites but its a personal choice I suppose. I hate autoblogs so if you are going to develop them at least put up unique content.

4. Maybe sell half or more and create a plan on which you want to develop. Set a goal for yourself weekly on how many you would like to complete and how much you want to spend on each if any. If you can do all of the work yourself you will be better off in the long run.

Good luck.

 

[pixel42]

Hi, thanks for the response. I agree that starting with 2-3 is the way to go - the first one I'm going to do is a wedding related site with local information, which I can write my own content for, because that's a field I know a bit about. But for example, if I want to develop a site that might eventually interest a law firm in a specific city, what should I put there? Should it be modeled after a lawyer's personal site, or what? I'm confused as to what the actual content should contain.

Also, in the past when I've used WP or CMSmadesimple to do sites, WP has taken about 2 hours to get up and running. That's with FTP. How is it possible to configure it for 65 domains so fast? Are you talking about WP MU? (Granted, it's been about 2 years since I've used wordpress, things could have changed).

 

[Melly]

Fortunately most hosting companies have this great thing called Fantastico that allows you to install Wordpress automatically. I can setup WP/apply a theme/and do the settings for it in less than 5 minutes. It takes literally 30 seconds to setup WP with Fantastico.

As far as what to put on a law site it depends on who you want to sell to. If you plan on selling it to a lawyer who specializes in a certain area maybe create a content site on What that type of lawyer does, how he can help clients, the typical fees, how to locate the type of lawyer you need, basically any useful content that a visitor might find interesting. Also you may setup a directory on the site with all lawyers in that city/that specializes in that specific type of practice. Hope that makes sense.

 

[pixel42]

Thanks, PM. I signed up for hosting with Hostgator (unlimited domains) and have already set up WP (with the one-click install) on one of the domains. Setting it up was easy, but creating content is what's really taking time. I went through and manually created pages for a few categories like "DUI, Theft Crimes, Restraining Orders, etc." and added some filler text (until I can pay someone to write some articles for me).

I also plan to automate some of the posting eventually, because I just don't have the time to add fresh content to each of these sites on a daily basis. I came across Elliott's Blog (domainer with some great info), who started a site about Tropical Birds, and although it's a nice domain that he's eventually looking to sell (and monetizing in the meantime), my first thought was "who cares about tropical birds?" I'm assuming he paid someone to come up with most of the information that's on the site, unless it happens to be his area of expertise. The same goes for me with these legal sites.

If I have to pay someone $2-4 per article, that adds up. Again, is this what everyone does?

I'm also a little worried about having a bunch of WP installs all in the same place, because having these sites run on a CMS increases the likelihood of SQL injection and hacking. Then again, there are certain advantages to the plugins and having things automated that I'm not willing to give up, because I REALLY don't have the time to lovingly create static HTML/CSS sites for all these domains.

I'm really considering outsourcing some of this or hiring someone to assist me, but I realize whatever I can take care of myself will cut down on costs. Ugh. Any tips on how I can streamline this process are greatly appreciated!

 

[profecy]

This is as good as it gets!

yes, I too have been looking into this question and that was a great reply, BetConcept, thank you!