Registering for .CO domain names has been pretty interesting since its official launch. If you read my previous post about .CO domain names, I mentioned about the possibility of these type of domains being an interesting form of generating revenue, due to the possible speculations surrounding the domaining industry. Today, I have found two deals (one closed and another ongoing) that might just prove that this is indeed a potential market to explore. Recently, E.CO has been auctioned for a massive $81.000. This week, and still undisclosed, it is expected that the first .CO domain will be sold for a six figure amount, making it the first in the history of .CO domains. The story broke out from the “facilitator” of the deal, who preferred to keep it undisclosed while the auction is underway.
Anyway, I’m not sure if all of you are interested in domaining, but being in the game is really not a whole lot complicated and all you need is a little bit of capital (primarily to register the domain name) and a whole lot of creativity and patience. Domaining is not the concept of buying and selling websites, but rather registering (or buying) a domain name to later sell for a profit. Before, good domain names were only those that are only one or two words that contain type-in keywords. Domaining has gone a long way and it is now extended to phrases or “exact” matches.
How To Find A Good Domain Name?
Note that this method is not exactly to develop a website. Although you can use this method for increasing your AdSense revenue, or improving your affiliate sales (see below), this is more tailored towards finding and selling a domain name. If you can register or buy a domain name (for cheap) that passes this formula, then rest assured that you have almost a winner.
The formula:
Find “exact matches” that have at least 500 to 1.000 searches and has a CPC equal to or higher than $5. That’s it.
Simple really, but I will right out tell you that it will be very difficult (unless you are feeling lucky) to find keyphrases that will pass this test while having the domain name available for registration. Most likely, and this is the reason for this post, you will find a .CO name available and should that be the case, you are then closer to making a good profit out of it. If you can not find an exact match, try lowering the density of your keywords and search again.
Please remember that this is not a “get rich” scheme and it is not guaranteed that you will make tons of money out of it. Your profit will depend on what you want to gain. As I say, every bit counts and I prefer 10% of 100, than 100% of nothing.
Tools to help you find your Domain name?
To find keywords or keyphrases that could help you pass the formula given above, I only recommend Google AdWords Keyword Tool. It is free and the data it provides are reliable. There could be other tools out there that you prefer to use, and regardless, just make sure it gives you the information you are looking for.
Here is an example. For the purpose of this post, I have done this search today. Using Google’s AdWords keyword tool, I started with the coveted term “SEO”. If you see the results below, I have filtered the results with at least 500 searches and CPC over $5.
Now What?
Once you have found some variations for a domain name, use your favorite registrar and search if the domain name is available. I would concentrate only on .CO as it is almost likely that all other TLD (top level domains) will already be taken. Obviously if you find it available for either, .com, .net. or .org, all the better. And before I forget, avoid using hyphens, or domains based in trademarks or person names as the marketplace is very sensible with these kind of domains and will probably not accept your listing.
Using the example above, I have chosen the term SEO Rates. Went over to my registrar and searched for the domain availability. Guess what? Yes, the seorates.co domain name is “still” available.
Where to list your .CO domain name?
There are many websites that will allow you to sell only domain names. Flippa.com is one of them and recently, one of the highest authorities in the domaining world, domaining.com, has created a marketplace (not aff link) that is exclusively dedicated to .CO domains. They have a strong user base and can be the perfect service to sell your .CO names.
What if I decide To Develop A Website?
Should you wish to go this route, you will have to do just about everything there is on the book about blogging, optimization and all that. Thing is, since you have found a “targeted” phrase, you will be able to use this domain name to maximize it to your favor. Do not doubt that, “exact matches” on your URL will get you faster to the top of search engine rankings, provided you have the content to back it up.
That’s it. Hope you have found this post useful and that it has provided you with that added incentive you were looking for to begin your journey to being a domainer π If not, use it to target keywords for your next post. You might just get lucky and improve your AdSense earnings, considering you are targeting “high” CPC keywords. It can also help you to boost your rankings for particular keywords, provided the competition is not too high π
dan keller
I have not jumped into the .co game yet. I would think the .org , .info would be a better investment then a .co …no?
Hi Dan. I would totally agree with you, with the exception of dot info. I don’t think it has that much of a value as a domain name. Maybe if it where an establihed website generating some nice revenues, lol.
Also, while I do agree that .org is better, the problem lies precisely on the fact that, as with .com and .net, most are already taken and it is difficult to find a “new” good domain names. If you can find them using the formula, yay, you are lucky and I would say, buy it right away or reserve it for me π
In addition, you maybe can find some bargain names with .com, .net and .org extensions, but the investment will be much higher and therefore your risk is also higher. I obviously do not discourage it, on the contrary, I just think that the .CO right now has much better chances.
As always, good to see you here and thanks for your input. Appreciated
Used Towers
I noticed Namecheap recently added .co to their list. I may have to play around with one of these eventually but for now I’ll stick with .com/.org/.net domains.
Peter J
We will just have to wait and see how things pick up with the .co domains. Hopefully if things catch on and you buy some big names then if you come to sell them, you might make some good cash. Otherwise your probably wasting your money.
Alex @ Giochi Divertenti
I am a little bit skeptical about .co domains.
I think the hype will disappear soon and they will not gain much popularity.
TheFoneMart
I m new to this domaining bussiness and working hard to sell my very first domain thefonemart.com which I think would sell for a 3 figure amount. Well ur post is really helpfull for newbies like me. Again thank you.
I can’t imagine that too many people are interested in registering a .co name. There are too many .com, .net, and .infos available still for these to be too in demand. But it might be a good way to get keywords that are unavailable right now in the .com area. I think it could really work out either way.
Melinda
When I heard awhile back that the .co was coming, my first thought was I wonder how many people would scoop up the big company names in the hopes of selling them back their domain at a large profit.
Ryan
Interesting post..
I can definitely see why lots of people do this. I don’t think this would be right for me because of the fact that I don’t have a lot of $$$. But, I can see some people making lots from this..especially if you own one of those 1 word domains π
yalamber subba
.biz is also a nice domain name
Rahul @ MazaKaro
Very nice tool. I want to ask that the name of domain cant be a local language name? Means like my domain name is mazakaro.com and it is a word of Hindi (language of India) so what u suggest putting such names are good or not?
elmot
Wow, this is a great business venture for people that you provided Bro, but the best thing is that you really outlined on how to milk this fat cash cow.
Thanks π
This is one business I have never venture into but heard so much about. π Really, who would have thought that face+book can be a hit today? That’s the exciting part. Everyone has a chance in this somehow.
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
lawmacs
Food for thought Ditesco now that websites are born every day it left me to think that selling domain names might be a good thing any thought on that
Hi Ditesco, Great post with lots of info on domaining. I have bought several domain names although not any dot co. My only problem is when I bought these 5 domains I just put a price on each one, and have never heard from anyone. I’m going to contact the company where they are parked and negotiate lowering my rates on each domain, however I can’t see where this company has done anything to help sell these domains of mine or even contacted me to suggest that I might want to lower my amounts that I’m asking for these domains. I wish I had read this article before hand it might have helped me out a little bit. I’ve also been told that it’s best to take each one of my domains and make a website out of t hem & then try to sell them. I’m wondering the theory behind this . I’ll be back to see what info you have suggested or any help you can offer. thanks for a informative post, jj
Aaron
Thanks Ditesco. I’ve thought about doing this before with other extensions, but never got around to it. It’s a highly competitive market, so of course it will take time and you will see the best results if you design a nice looking informational site on top of your domains, instead of just a landing page.
Hi Aaron. I am sorry for the late response. Had some personal issues to tend to. Anyway, I agree with you that domaining is a tough and competitive market. Nonetheless it could be very rewarding if you find that “right” domain name. Building an informational site along with it will definitely increase its value. Landing pages are good but many simply ignore them nowadays. Thanks
Mitchell Allen
DiTesco, this is really cool. Your method is much more efficient than “casting about” for domain names and mixing them up a word processing blender π
Cheers,
Mitch
Thanks for the compliment. This method works and I have used it several times. Thing is, you have to have patience π
Eric
DiTesco, I was able to get some really great .COs during the Landrush period. Let me know what you think of them.
CleanEnergy.co
NatGas.co
FuelCells.co
BioFuels.co
CloudTechnology.co
And my Favorite….
CloudComputing.co
Cloud.com bought by Citrix for over $200mil.
Cloud.co bought by Amazon for “undisclosed amount”
CloudComputing.com is owned by Dell
CloudComputing.co is the last great domain in the field of cloud computing that has not yet been bought by a large technology company. It is mine. I’m waiting for the right Tech company to make me an offer. I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.
Eric