Back in 1997, some domain name sold for ten million dollars. Yeah baby, they’re still talking about that one. Those were the legendary days of the Internet Gold Rush. Remember the gold rush? The theory behind it was that there were only so many 20-character domain names and only so many of these would spell out to true search term keywords. Cnet has Download.Com. There’s a Mail.Com, a Keystroke.Com, an Insurance.Com and even a Stupid.Com. In the porn Internet, Adult.Com has been snatched up and everyone has heard the stories about the dubious
history regarding the ownership of Sex.Com.
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"We know that a good URL helps but is hardly the prime element of a popular Internet destination." |
The big gold rush rushed by pretty damned fast. Simple words got snatched up almost as quickly as they were thought of and clever permutations of them were clever but never really considered valuable domain names. Next came the plethora of "claim jumpers" who registered keyword alterations of brand name products and services, then demanded high prices for resale. Domain names had truly become Internet real estate when the copyright lawyers got involved in the picture. After that, ICANN authorized 64-character domain names and top level extensions like .biz and .tv. Needless to say, the momentum behind the Internet domain name gold rush is pretty much non-existent.
Ironically, in spite of the craze over domain names - thought to be imperative to Internet success sites like Yahoo and Ebay flourished with their perplexing site names. Adult oriented sites had their own examples of URLs garnering gobs of traffic with non-descriptive domain names.
Persian Kitty, The Hun and Green Guy managed to rise to the top of searched-for pages without sexual terminology contained in their respective Internet addresses. Questioning the worth of any new, brilliant idea for a domain name is a natural reaction among adult webmasters. We know that a good URL helps but is hardly the prime element of a popular Internet destination.
Yahoo and Persian Kitty got to the top with smart marketing, easy navigation, consistent updates and timely delivery of the surfer’s needs. The domain name (persiankitty.com) contributed to the site’s over-all prosperity because it was memorable, not because it had a sexual keyword in it.
When adult webmasters see another doofus spamming their dazzling domain: sexisgoodbecauseisaidso.com for the low low price of $10,000.00, they are not impressed. The domain is
important but not that important. The name of your site only becomes important after you find the traffic. Your great "location" needs so much more than a short, notable name.
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You’ll probably never sell a domain name for ten big ones. That doesn’t mean domain selling has ceased to exist. People auction and sell domain names a lot. Individuals and huge domain registrars alike sell them every day. Only now, the domains being sold are of a different sort. A good many times you’ll find domain names for auction or sale that have an established web presence and pre-existing traffic bases. In many ways, this new generation of domain names - or Internet real estate are worth more to the buyer than any keyword-centric one ever could be.
Because domain registration is addictive and cheap, adult webmasters easily give in and buy more domains than they could ever realistically manage. Bulk site building is expected for a porn webmaster. Feeding traffic to our personal circle of sites is a basic step. After a point, we change directions or clean house of sites we don’t like or care to maintain. Adult site builders auction off surplus domain names with already existing search engine placement and traffic footing.
You can be the webmaster who sells and you can be the webmaster who buys.
As a buyer you may also choose from the thousands of domain names where the original owner let their re-registration lapse. Most people who register a domain usually only pay a one-year or three-year licensing fee. The odd thing about domain registration is that even though the person who conceives the name owns it when they first register it, if they don’t pay for re-registration, that domain becomes property of the registrar. Domain owners who are inattentive to time limits or can’t afford to re-register lose their names and those names are put up for sale by their respective registrars. These equitably priced domains can be searched by keyword or site category that fit your specific needs. You can browse through domain names that will soon expire their licenses if you want to legally snatch up a good name.
You can buy and sell domain names in too many places to list but some well-known places are Ebay, Yahoo auctions and GreatDomains.Com. You’ll even find adult-particular domain auction and sales sites.
If you can’t think of a good name, if you want a domain with a little more meat to it, if you want to buy that domain out from under some squatter who’s wasting it, all you need is a valid credit card and contact information to seize it. If you want to sell a site you’ve worked on and made moderately successful, you can do so for a decent profit. You won’t make a bazillion
dollars like those legendary days of the Internet gold rush but few ever did so you’re not alone.
In the next installment: Read about how domain auctions work and how to make sure you don't get burned when you sell or buy that future, cool domain name.
** Click Here For: Domain Rush: Dead or Alive? - Part #2