Parked domain on page 1 of Google-what should I do with it?

12 replies
Hey everyone,

Back when I was a total noob (OK, still am) I bought a two-word domain name that I thought sounded cool and got 1600 searches on Google per month. Well, since then I have matured a tiny bit in my IM career to realize it only gets 100 exact searches per month (oops, made that mistake of the broad search thing the first time around!). Anyway, after realizing that mistake, a couple of months ago I parked it at Sedo and all of a sudden, it's on the first page of Google position #6 for its search term. I have done absolutely nothing with it. According to MS, it has 2 backlinks (gotta be from Sedo) and it's a 4-year-old domain. My question is, what should I do now? Should I continue to park it or should I develop it into a full-fledged website? I'm excited that it was so easy to get it on page 1 with no SEO whatsoever, but would it be worth developing it since it only gets 100 exact searches per month?

Any advice would be welcome.

Thank you!
Shelby
#domain #googlewhat #page #parked
  • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
    Hi Shelby,

    First off, what you could be seeing is Google's "Personalized Search Results" where they show you websites you have already shown an interest in. Not saying that is the case, but you'd want to find that out.

    Secondly...develop the site and include at least some kind of monitization strategy.

    ~Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author JoshuaZamora
    You can try google adsense. or depending what the keyword is find a product you can promote to those searching
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  • why spend time developing a site that gets no traffic?

    100 per month is across all sites that use google search and adwords.

    I'd pass.
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  • Profile picture of the author DNChamp
    sell it on ebay for a quick $5
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  • Profile picture of the author shelby7910
    Thanks everyone for your replies. I think I might try some adsense on it with a simple wordpress page and a few articles and see what happens, maybe try and rank it for some other keywords with on-site SEO and even a little off-site. Thanks also to Bill for the heads up about Google's personalized search - I double checked in market samurai and it's showing up there as #6 as well.
    Shelby
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    • Profile picture of the author Devid Farah
      Hi Shelby,

      First of all, how much are advertisers paying to target that keyword? If advertisers are paying a good amount of money, than it might be worth putting PPC ads on the site because you'll be getting a lot of money per click. If each click is worth $5 dollars, then 2 clicks a day is $10. That would total $300 dollars at the end of the month which isn't bad for a website that gets just 100 views per day.

      Secondly, check to see if there are any related keywords that the site ranks well for or can possibly rank for. While one keyword may bring 100 visitors, 10 at the same rate will bring a thousand visitors. One thousand visitors per day is much better than one hundred. Some of my most successful sites are the ones that rank well for dozens and dozens of little keywords that by themselves don't really bring in a lot of traffic.

      Those are just a couple of things to consider before you make a decision.
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  • Profile picture of the author fatboy
    My first question would be are people advertising for that keyword? Having a four year old domain is a plus, if you can do something with it. It can be a lot easier to build trust with Google with an aged domain then it is with a brand new domain.

    If people are searching for the keyword and advertisers are paying for spots then I would go with adsense, if not then I would stick with the parking and develop a couple more good backlinks and see if the domain moves up the serps.

    Either way, Good Luck
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  • Profile picture of the author techvic
    Put a squeeze page up there and see if it generates any optins. Or install a blog on the domain, start blogging and capturing optins. Won't cost you much and would give you a better idea of what direction you should go with the domain.
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    • Profile picture of the author shelby7910
      Thanks again everyone for your replies. You've given me some great ideas...
      Shelby
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      • Profile picture of the author mj9999
        You may want to try Google Parking, accessed through the Adsense control panel. I have heard aged domains do well in that system.

        I have also had pretty good success setting up sites that use classified ad RSS for content.

        Basically, if you want to go the passive income route with duplicate content, it comes down to how pervasive your content is already and how well it fits your niche.
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        • Profile picture of the author Brent Reader
          Hi Shelby!

          If the domain is brandable, you may well find a collector or end user who would pay a modest amount for it at auction. Kinda hard to say without seeing the name and keyword(s) for which it ranks. Unless a site is going to generate some consistent revenue, it seems hardly worth the time and effort to develop it (imo).

          Whatever you decide to do, good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    If the site is currently getting click-throughs, then Sedo is making money off of your site, instead of you.

    I'd throw up a one-page website that linked to your an affiliate offer for your "two words".

    If it makes money, it is easy money.

    If it doesn't make money, your time lost is only a couple hours.
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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