Premium Domain Name Piftalls
Buying a premium domain? You might want to think twice.
Lots of people buy premium domain names for their businesses. By 1999, just
about every word in the English language had been purchased as a domain name,
with .net, .org, and all the other variations snapped up as well. Enter the
domain reseller. These people will sell you a domain name that matches up with
your business, is easy to remember (or should be) and can help get you found in
the search engines.
The search engine part is where the real problems begin. A domain name that
exactly matches a popular search term is more likely to get ranked on top of
engines like Google. In a few cases you can even buy a brand new domain and find
yourself in the top 10 within a few weeks (results not typical, but we've seen
it happen, and it made us money.) This is one reason some .net and .org
variations go for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Very few people would think
to type .org or .net into a search engine and see a different site, but since
Google rewards this type of thing, these domains are at a premium.
If you don't do your research, you might very well find out that your domain
name s a piece of junk that won't get found for a long time, and here are a few
reasons why:
1. The domain has been banned by search engines. When people use
artificial ("black hat") techniques to get a site found, and then put a bunch of
non-relevant ("spammy") content on the site, then it can get kicked out of the
index. Always keep in the back of your mind that the domain is for sale because
it isn't making money for the owner. A good owner rarely needs to sell a domain
that is profitable, since s/he can lease it and profit off your hard work every
month.
2. The domain has been penalized. What's the difference between a penalty
and a ban? Not much! The penalty passes to you when the domain is sold. You
don't get found anywhere for anything, so you'd better have a different
marketing plan while you're waiting.
3. The domain has no archived content. People sell "old" domains all the
time. There is good money in it. An old domain name can bypass some of the
filters you find in Google, and can get rankings. Use the
archive.org wayback machine
to see if there has been any content in the past. If not, the search engine
knows you are trying to rehab an empty spot, and they will act like you're brand
new.
4. The domain has no age. (As seen on Ebay.) People buy a URL and then
sell it the next day. This makes sense for news events, so you'd better be
working fast to make sure your site is ready before the fad expires. For anyone
else, it costs less to buy your own brand new domain.
5. The domain has been sitting around empty for so long that its incoming
links have no value. Normally this happens when a hosted site goes out of
business, or redirects to a new company name, and its content vanishes. Search
engines recently have started devaluing links when site content changes
radically.
6. The previous version of the domain was hosting awful content (Porn,
Pills, Casinos) that got it de-listed. This is not much of a distinction
from being banned, but it also means that any links that point at you might be
keeping you in a bad neighborhood, because your chosen domain name could be a
euphemism for something you would never dream of doing, even if you did have the
plastic wrap and a boat battery.
How Do You Avoid the Headaches? I thought you'd never ask:
1. Check for PageRank using the Google Toolbar, or an external site since
PR can be spoofed. A true
pagerank analyzer
will tell you the value of the site. The standard disclaimer is that PageRank
isn't everything, but a PR0 site is not worth the paper it's not printed on.
2. Check for backlinks. Go to Yahoo and type in linkdomain: followed by
the URL. If there are a lot of good links, step 1 is a success. Now look at the
links. If they are all trashy, you could have a problem later on. You can also
use the linkdiagnosis.com tool (only
seems to work in Firefox) to see what the anchor texts are. What's an anchor
text? It is the linked phrase. If you have a bunch of bad anchors, or ones that
aren't relevant, or that look like something else, then you might not end up
very lucky. Then again, it is easier to change direction than to start fresh.
3. Go to Google and type in site: followed by the domain name. If you see
9000+ spammy pages with variations of the main theme, then you probably are
going to have a problem. Many sites like this are known as "monetization" sites,
and they're for sale because they're all junk. Take it from a guy who spent
$1000 to find this out.
4. Ask to add your Google Webmaster Tools code to the site. Look for
special messages from Google, check the crawl stats, and see what Google says
the site is about, the last time it was crawled, what the links are, etc. If
someone doesn't let you do this for any site that costs more than $500, you may
want to think about why. Sometimes Google takes 1-2 days to cough up all the
info, so be patient. An honest seller should not mind waiting for a payday.
5. Use the
Google Keyword Tool to see how many monthly searches you get for your
site name. It may not be what you think, or it could be more. Before you get
too dazzled, make sure to set the dropdown for "phrase" or "exact" because there
can be a big difference in results, and it is always lower.
6. Use domain appraisal tools as a negotiating tool. If the appraisal
shows that it is worth less, point it out. Otherwise, you should find a tool
that does, or point out the scratches and dents.
Lastly, type the domain name into a regular Google search. Look for negative
publicity, angry posts, etc. The name may be perfectly legitimate, but you don't
want to inherit bad vibes from people who got ripped off. You could be spending
your marketing dollars on lawyers just to make sure someone stands up to say
"not me" in a courtroom.
This is by no means the first and last word on the pitfalls of premium domains.
Sometimes search engines just don't like you and won't help you at all, but the
domain name can be a big step in the right direction. Even if you're just going
for branding, you want to check and make sure that your new brand was not ruined
by someone else before you even thought it up.
Notes and Special Information
Special note: in search engine optimization, the rules change every day, and sometimes twice. In the past, a Google update lasted months, but we have seen rankings shift on a daily basis. Therefore, a good site today is imperative despite any other factors, and the time to get started is now!.