Domains, Domain Names For Sale & Domain Name Registration

Fly Fishing Books

Today starts a series of posts which I have decided to publish as a how-to / starter guide for new domainers. It will be a start to finish diary of how to develop a hand registered domain and turn it into a revenue-earning site.  The step by step series of posts will demonstrate a scalable development process which can be replicated across any amount of domains and is designed to maximise the earning potential of your domain name portfolio.

To begin this journey I first had to register a domain name. I have chosen a hand-registered domain as opposed to one bought at auction to emphasize the fact that a good development strategy can work across pretty much any domain name, as long as it is chosen correctly.

The domain name I have chosen for this development diary is fly fishing books .co .uk.

So why did I choose this domain name?

When looking for any new domain name to develop I am specifically looking for a number of “keys.” I use the term “keys” as I believe if a domain does not have them then the door to its earning potential can never be unlocked…cheesy, but true nonetheless.

Here are the keys I am looking for:

• The key phrase:

The key phrase is the actual term /product/service that people are searching for. You must find this before finding your domain name. My approach is to ask family, friends or work colleagues what the last thing they searched for on the internet was.

• The earning potential:

Once you have a few suggestions or ideas for a key phrase you need to research their earning potential. This breaks down into two parts. Search volume and Cost Per Click (CPC.)

• Search Volume:

Using Google’s Keyword Tool search for the key phrase using the EXACT indicator. This will return an estimate of the number of searches that particular key phrase is being searched for. More specifically I use the LOCAL SEARCHES figure. I am always looking for key phrases which have over 2,400 EXACT LOCAL SEARCHES per month. Any less than this and it’s not a very good amount of volume. Any more than this and you will probably find it hard to rank first page without performing some good search engine optimisation (SEO) work and that means further investment, either with time or money and as return on investment is vital when building a domain name portfolio it is best to avoid any lengthy SEO work for the moment.

• Cost Per Click:

This is the earning potential of the key phrase and is the amount that advertisers are, on average, paying to rank in the sponsored listings for that term. Let’s get straight to the point here, any CPC under $1 and I wouldn’t even blink at it. $1-5 is low, $5-10 is strong and $10 is excellent. You can get a good idea of a domains CPC by using tools like Estibot.com.

In this instance Fly Fishing Books has a CPC of just $1.17 and an average search volume of 3,600 this is now just 210 after Google’s “correction” of its keyword estimator..  NOT IMPRESSED. So I am using a domain which is at the very basic level I would consider. Again to demonstrate that this method of domain development can work if followed correctly.

The third and final key is the domain name itself.

Exact keyword/key phrase match domain name:

The domain name in question must be an exact match of the keyword or key phrase you are targeting. Do not settle for anything less. In this instance it had to be flyfishingbooks.co.uk not fishingflybooks.co.uk or booksflyfishing.co.uk.

How did I register the domain name?

I use 1and1.co.uk to register my domain name. Simply search for the key phrase on their site and if the .com or .co.uk (if you are based in the UK) is available then register it. If not, do not register a lesser extension.

Why 1and1.co.uk? They are my personal preference and I do not use anyone else.

Strong Advice…

If you can’t get the exact match then simply move on. It’s just a waste of money otherwise. Do not get emotional over domains just because they sound or look “cool.” Buying a domain which will not even earn its registration fees back in earnings each year is not cool…just stupid. Being a domain investor or domainer for want of a better word is about being a business person and that means return on investment and profit.

So let’s get back on track.

I’ve found a key phrase which meets my three keys. I’ve also found the exact match domain name for it too. Now it’s time to develop the domain and start earning some revenue, which means I need to sort out web hosting, building a simple website, using Google Adsense and affiliate banners and some basic SEO to get the domain ranking in the search engines.

Stay tuned for the next post in the Fly Fishing Books tutorial by subscribing to my RSS feed or following me on Twitter.

Thanks

Gary

Tags: Domain Development, Domains, estibot, fly fishing books, google keyword tool