» September 26, 2006 in
Many times we buy domains on a whim and never do much with them. My question is what are the criteria for whether or not to renew these domains?
My initial thought is if it made more money than it costs in the past year, then renew it.
Well, I've got a domain with a dozen pages that only made .87 cents for the entire past 12 months. It only gets a few visitors per week. However;
The pages on the site are all PR4 and the domain is aged one year now. I'm thinking I should renew it for these reasons.
What are the criteria you use on whether to renew your "bought on a whim" domain names?
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Pretty much the same criteria as you mark - if it makes money it stays.
Maybe we should all get together and have a "draft-day" like in the NBA. Lay out all our domains on the table, and play swapsies! :-)
But what if it doesn't make money but has a PR4 and is now 1 year old? That should be worth something eh?
PR4? Keep it and use it as a backlink for other sites. To renew it and host it is a cost, yes, but it's an investment if you use it in the right way. That PR4 link might be enough to drive another site higher in the rankings and earn more than you would have done without it.
Andy
This year I've started to let some domains go as I realised that they're not 'special' and I just don't have the time to do anything on them. I've kept the best ones, some of which have not even got a hosting account on them yet! I don't look at it as has the domain made me money, I look at it as do I think the domain will make me money in the future directly or indirectly.
If you've got a domain that's been indexed for a year, gets a few visitors, but isn't making the money you want, then either scrap the site and rebuild it or use the domain as a launch site for other work as already mentioned
With the price of domains these days being so low I think if you even have a glimmer of thought that the domain could make you money then you should keep it. As for hosting, well a reseller account that already pays for itself covers the issue of paying out for hosting as technically you don't need to.
If you're even asking yourself then it's probably worth holding on to for at least another year until you can safely say - I'm not interested in it any more. Then put it up for sale! A PR4 domain that's over a year old is valuable to anyone in this game.
I'm in the same sort of boat. I've got domains that I've yet to do anything with... I've got domains up and running that haven't made me much money. I've got domains with potential... I just don't know what to do with them either.
Anyone want to buy a couple ;) LOL.
Andy - I may keep it for the backlink, good idea. Btw, Do you have a blog?
Sarah - I completely forgot about selling the thing. In this case I don't think the site will earn me money in the future, but with the PR and age it's probably worth more than the $8.99 renewal.
Empress - Still no luck selling those domains? Are they just domain names or sites with PR?
Thanks ya'll for the perspective.
Likewise, sold about 30-40 for much less than they were worth. But what the heck. Now I have aspirations for the new .ac domains (alternating current, air craft, aircondition, etc for the green thing, green wave, etc that alternate energy sources)
Got 11 from the Ascension Island nic even though there are discount houses that offer the first year cheaper. After 500 half price is offered. Nic.ac offers partnerships for partners. Interesting. Anyone want to figure out a way where we can form some sort of "buying association" so that the 500 internet words benefit everyone involved and not the bigger companies that stomp over the average people.
Thanks,
Rey
My initial thought is if it made more money than it costs in the past year, then renew it.
Well, I've got a domain with a dozen pages that only made .87 cents for the entire past 12 months. It only gets a few visitors per week. However;
The pages on the site are all PR4 and the domain is aged one year now. I'm thinking I should renew it for these reasons.
What are the criteria you use on whether to renew your "bought on a whim" domain names?
If you like this post then please consider subscribing to my full RSS feed. You can also Subscribe to 45n5 by Email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.
Stu says on September 26, 2006
Pretty much the same criteria as you mark - if it makes money it stays.
Maybe we should all get together and have a "draft-day" like in the NBA. Lay out all our domains on the table, and play swapsies! :-)
45n5 says on September 26, 2006
But what if it doesn't make money but has a PR4 and is now 1 year old? That should be worth something eh?
Andrew Peacock says on September 27, 2006
PR4? Keep it and use it as a backlink for other sites. To renew it and host it is a cost, yes, but it's an investment if you use it in the right way. That PR4 link might be enough to drive another site higher in the rankings and earn more than you would have done without it.
Andy
SarahG says on September 27, 2006
This year I've started to let some domains go as I realised that they're not 'special' and I just don't have the time to do anything on them. I've kept the best ones, some of which have not even got a hosting account on them yet! I don't look at it as has the domain made me money, I look at it as do I think the domain will make me money in the future directly or indirectly.
If you've got a domain that's been indexed for a year, gets a few visitors, but isn't making the money you want, then either scrap the site and rebuild it or use the domain as a launch site for other work as already mentioned
With the price of domains these days being so low I think if you even have a glimmer of thought that the domain could make you money then you should keep it. As for hosting, well a reseller account that already pays for itself covers the issue of paying out for hosting as technically you don't need to.
If you're even asking yourself then it's probably worth holding on to for at least another year until you can safely say - I'm not interested in it any more. Then put it up for sale! A PR4 domain that's over a year old is valuable to anyone in this game.
Empress says on September 27, 2006
I'm in the same sort of boat. I've got domains that I've yet to do anything with... I've got domains up and running that haven't made me much money. I've got domains with potential... I just don't know what to do with them either.
Anyone want to buy a couple ;) LOL.
45n5 says on September 27, 2006
Andy - I may keep it for the backlink, good idea. Btw, Do you have a blog?
Sarah - I completely forgot about selling the thing. In this case I don't think the site will earn me money in the future, but with the PR and age it's probably worth more than the $8.99 renewal.
Empress - Still no luck selling those domains? Are they just domain names or sites with PR?
Thanks ya'll for the perspective.
Rey Blanco says on March 31, 2008
Likewise, sold about 30-40 for much less than they were worth. But what the heck. Now I have aspirations for the new .ac domains (alternating current, air craft, aircondition, etc for the green thing, green wave, etc that alternate energy sources)
Got 11 from the Ascension Island nic even though there are discount houses that offer the first year cheaper. After 500 half price is offered. Nic.ac offers partnerships for partners. Interesting. Anyone want to figure out a way where we can form some sort of "buying association" so that the 500 internet words benefit everyone involved and not the bigger companies that stomp over the average people.
Thanks,
Rey
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