Developed Domains: Who does what?
Development of domains is and will be a big topic in the future. How do the big portfolio holders approach this topic and are they able to address it on a larger scale, or do they develop names individually? Most of those companies now own their own content networks, and some of them have already integrated some of the content into their domain lander pages. I figured it’s about time for an overview of the companies and their development/content related holdings and partnerships:
Demand Media
- improve.com (formerly MoreFocus)
- Netster
- Associated Content (partnership)
This is probably not complete, since I did this from the top of my head. So let me know if I forget anyone. Please go ahead and comment or email me.
It seems there is quite a movement towards developing large networks of domains. I can’t figure out what this means for the little domainers. On one hand, more registered domains leads to greater scarcity and increased value across the board. On the other hand, how long can the little guy compete in domain aquisition and SEO?
There will always be room for legitimate websites, but I think the small networks of SEO websites and parked domains will find it hard to compete with these huge content networks.
Geoff, thank you for your comments.
I agree that development on a large scale is quite difficult to manage for the “one man domainer company”.
If you are developing across a larger number of domains, it is advantageous if the domains have some type of commonality. There are few tools out there, which allow this type of development. Also in general it appears that development is best approached in steps. For example companies like TrafficZ offer individual customizations on your domain parking pages, and you can even include content. There are also many software products for bulk-”development”, but to be honest, I am not that familiar with those. The long sales letters always scare me off.
Then one step up would be something like what is being developed at Domainer.com – a system that allows you to place different components on many domains and customize them down to a domain level.
And I do think that while maybe on a smaller level there is still a chance for the individual domainer and SEO person to catch part of the traffic. This is still an Internet of niches, and not everyone can be in every niche at once. Here’s a comparison: While most high-value domains are gone today, I still manage to register generic names that at least pay for themselves (which being PPC “parked”) and were never registered before.
So at least there’s still enough opportunity to compete, but yes, there is a consolidation going on.
If you are looking for assistance as to where to start, send me an email (I@m.FM), maybe I can help.
I’ll have to try some of your suggestions for parking. I’m just getting strarted in the market right now (20 domains). but I haven’t had much success with Sedo Parking. Thus, I have ventured into development and learning SEO tactics. I bought XsitePro and put up a couple of websites. The results are too early to tell, but I have already landed decent search postions for two of my target phrases. Now I just need to develop some more content and links. If I can come up with an efficient system than I will develop some more.
I agree that there are still some generic keyword domains still out there. You have to dig pretty deep, but it can be like treasure hunting when you find one! I am also looking into the expired market but the competiion is tough!
Let me know if you can provide some examples of your sites with TrafficZ and Domainer – I would be interested in seeing them.
Geoff, actually none of my names are with TrafficZ at the moment, I never had time to set them up, since I am still building out my portfolio. Here’s an example of one of their page, which is customized a little: http://webmortgage.net/
I have heard good things about XSitePro too before, but I never tried it myself – please let me know how it works for you.