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Keyword Rich Domain with 550,000 Monthly Searches. Sell or Build Site?

by darrenlc
15 replies
  • SEO
    • |
No sure if this is the place to post but I just wanted a bit of advice on a domain name a just bought.

The domain name is for a UK based holiday company and has a search volume of 550,000 a month. Based on the keyword in the domain.

The question is do I create a site on it and put in load of ads in the hope that I can rank it or do I approach the company in question and offer to sell it to them. If I did what do you think I should be asking for it.

I may have found a little gem but on the other hand it may be worthless. What are your thoughts.
#550 #build #domain #keyword #monthly #rich #searches #sell #site
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    If it's a trademarked business name how do you know the business won't threaten a lawsuit If you don't hand over the domain?
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  • Profile picture of the author darrenlc
    That's a good question, I think I need to be careful.
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    • Profile picture of the author SEO Power
      Originally Posted by darrenlc View Post

      That's a good question, I think I need to be careful.
      Find out if it contains a trademarked name or not before you do anything else. If it doesn't, you can just sell it to them because trying to rank for a 550,000 monthly searches keyword is a marathon.
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  • Profile picture of the author darrenlc
    I have done a bit of research since this morning and it is a trademarked name so trying to sell it to them is not an option. The were basically using it as a redirect to the main site.

    My guess is that due to the amount of exact match searches for the keyword they had in the domain people may be typing in ********holidays.co.uk into the browser. In fact there are a few back links to the domain where people may have mistakenly used this url instead of the main one.
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  • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
    In all honesty, I'd probably ditch it.

    If you do anything with it, you'll face a possible lawsuit later on down the line for infringing their trademark & damaging their reputation. For example, if I registered "Amazon.guru", then I am tricking consumers into thinking that Amazon owns or agrees with the content on the page.

    I once made a site about 5-yrs back when I started. Something like, "Amazon-Gift-Giveaway.co.uk", where I used a CPA locker site and offered giveaways for Amazon coupons.

    Amazon e-mailed me a couple of months down-the-line. They were actually quite nice. In short, they said something like:

    "We are contacting you about your domain. This infringes on our trademark and is tricking consumers. You have 48-hours to transfer the domain into our GoDaddy account or we will pursue legal action to rectify the situation. You will also be refunded the cost of your domain name (£10) - please provide your bank details."

    It came from a Solicitors firm, not Amazon themselves. Little to say, I gave up the domain and they paid me £10 - lol.
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    • Profile picture of the author SEO Power
      Originally Posted by Icematikx View Post

      In all honesty, I'd probably ditch it.

      If you do anything with it, you'll face a possible lawsuit later on down the line for infringing their trademark & damaging their reputation. For example, if I registered "Amazon.guru", then I am tricking consumers into thinking that Amazon owns or agrees with the content on the page.

      I once made a site about 5-yrs back when I started. Something like, "Amazon-Gift-Giveaway.co.uk", where I used a CPA locker site and offered giveaways for Amazon coupons.

      Amazon e-mailed me a couple of months down-the-line. They were actually quite nice. In short, they said something like:

      "We are contacting you about your domain. This infringes on our trademark and is tricking consumers. You have 48-hours to transfer the domain into our GoDaddy account or we will pursue legal action to rectify the situation. You will also be refunded the cost of your domain name (£10) - please provide your bank details."

      It came from a Solicitors firm, not Amazon themselves. Little to say, I gave up the domain and they paid me £10 - lol.
      That's a mistake most newbie affiliates make. I wouldn't ditch the domain if I was the owner. I would try to make some money off it in some way at least to recoup the cash I spent on it until the company demands for their domain.
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        Originally Posted by SEO Power View Post

        That's a mistake most newbie affiliates make. I wouldn't ditch the domain if I was the owner. I would try to make some money off it in some way at least to recoup the cash I spent on it until the company demands for their domain.
        Ignore this. That is absolutely horrible advice. If they choose to sue, it can end up costing you way more than you would ever make off the domain.

        Dump it and move on.
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        • Profile picture of the author SEO Power
          Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

          Ignore this. That is absolutely horrible advice. If they choose to sue, it can end up costing you way more than you would ever make off the domain.

          Dump it and move on.
          There is no way they can sue him unless he refuses to release the domain to them. I'm just gonna ignore the implied insult in your comment in order to uphold the purpose of this forum, which is to give and receive advice, and criticize constructively.
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          • Profile picture of the author shockwave
            If it's an aged domain with some backlink juice, maybe you could use it as a 301 redirect to a churn and burn money site?
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          • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
            Originally Posted by SEO Power View Post

            There is no way they can sue him unless he refuses to release the domain to them. I'm just gonna ignore the implied insult in your comment in order to uphold the purpose of this forum, which is to give and receive advice, and criticize constructively.
            If pointing out that you are wrong about something and giving someone horrible business advice is an insult, then yes, I was insulting the heck out of you. You are clearly talking about something you know nothing about and leading the OP (and possibly others reading this thread) astray down a path that could cost him thousands of dollars.

            They can sue him for trademark infringement without even asking for the domain to be turned over.

            Most companies will be nice about it and just ask for the domain to be turned over, but not all of them.

            Talk to a trademark attorney some time. I've talked to two in the past. They both gave the same answer.
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        • Profile picture of the author darrenlc
          I am in mind to dump it after all it only cost me £3.50 to register it. My boss has other idea's and wants it. He's even going to get some advice from his solicitor as to the legality of it.

          Something that has confused me is that I had a look at the whois records before they update. The company who had it specialise in protecting trademarks and domains owned by big companies. They are also responsible for the renewal of big brand domains. My guess is that someone has messed up big time and not renewed it. The other option would be that they have let it go which i seriously doubt.

          I think I'm just going to redirect it to thier site for now just to be safe.
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          • Profile picture of the author yukon
            Banned
            Originally Posted by darrenlc View Post

            Something that has confused me is that I had a look at the whois records before they update. The company who had it specialise in protecting trademarks and domains owned by big companies. They are also responsible for the renewal of big brand domains.
            I don't want to sound paranoid but that sounds like a setup/bait for a lawsuit. They already know the traffic volume (550k) for the exact keyword.








            Originally Posted by darrenlc View Post

            I think I'm just going to redirect it to thier site for now just to be safe.
            Don't redirect to any site because If they see traffic from that it's only drawing attention to you (the domain owner).

            Dump the domain.
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      • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
        Originally Posted by SEO Power View Post

        That's a mistake most newbie affiliates make. I wouldn't ditch the domain if I was the owner. I would try to make some money off it in some way at least to recoup the cash I spent on it until the company demands for their domain.
        "newbie affiliates".

        Yes, I'm a newbie(??).

        5-Years ago I was a newbie. I tried to make money from infringing Amazon's trademark. It worked, I made some bucks. In the end, Amazon demanded the domain or a lawsuit.

        Some companies won't be so nice. It isn't in Amazon's best interests to prosecute a small-time kid. Businesses will never sue individuals/smaller companies if they appear to be a "bully". Negative publicity far outweighs the advantages, especially when it can be resolved in PRIVATE.

        However. Smaller companies and start-up companies will FIGHT to protect their growing trademark/brand. If I had a medium-sized e-commerce company with 10-20 employees and a turnover of less than £10M, I'd be all-up for suing the small guy who is infringing on my trademark. No warnings, just a "you've been served" notice through the door.

        But guess what? Nobody told me I was infringing their trademark. I didn't even know what a trademark was; yet alone that I could be sued for infringing on one.

        The OP is being TOLD what can happen. He has no excuse.

        If you want to take risks with your career and the rest of your life, so be it. After all, what are you going to put on your resume? I can just picture it.

        #1: Made $20,000 per year using a domain infringing on Amazon's trademark - tricking consumers into believing they are dealing with a website that Amazon represents.

        Yeah. Too many people take shortcuts.

        The OP is taking a shortcut. He's trying to piggyback off another companies success to create his own success. That isn't marketing, SEO, SMO or anything else. It's being lazy, useless and downright deceiving. If the OP came to me for a job, I'd shut the door. If you're willing to infringe a companies trademark to make a few bucks, then you're willing to steal from me to make a few bucks.
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        • Profile picture of the author darrenlc
          Originally Posted by MikeFriedmresponse773

          Dump it and move on.
          I think that is what I will end up doing. To be honest I just saw the expired domain and jumped on it without thinking of the consequences. Now that I have a bit more knowledge about it I realise it's a grey area that could get me in a lot of trouble. To be honest I wish I hadn't got it now.

          To be honest if I had built a site on it I would have just put some ads on it and something about the company and posted some information pointing the visitors to their site anyway.

          Icematikx:

          Not even worth a response. What a hypocritical statement!
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          • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
            Originally Posted by darrenlc View Post

            I think that is what I will end up doing. To be honest I just saw the expired domain and jumped on it without thinking of the consequences. Now that I have a bit more knowledge about it I realise it's a grey area that could get me in a lot of trouble. To be honest I wish I hadn't got it now.

            To be honest if I had built a site on it I would have just put some ads on it and something about the company and posted some information pointing the visitors to their site anyway.

            Icematikx:

            Not even worth a response. What a hypocritical statement!
            Not really. I told you - I did it myself. I was 17, barely understood business; yet alone trademark laws. If somebody had told me not to do it, and told me of the possible consequences, I wouldn't of done it - full stop.

            The point here is - we're telling you not to do it, and we've told you the consequences. If you decide to still go ahead with it, that's on your head.
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