Should I build or park or redirect?

Domain with slight traffic

[draggar]

Well, maybe not gold, maybe silver?

Copper?

OK, I found a few pieces of granite. :)

I took some advice on registering some domains, and I picked one that I thought I'd be able to turn over. It's a good domain name, location based, to the point, very easy to remember.

On average, all my parked domains get about 10-20 hits total a week (about 25 domains, not many hits, I know).

So, I registered this new domain, and the very next day, 4 hits. Eh, probabaly a glitch with the new registration. No big deal.

Second day, 5 hits. Interesting. So, I do a little research. Apparently it was used back in 2004-2005 for the same reason that someone would buy this domain name (think something like www.EXAMPLE.com as an example, rather limited on what you could use it for).

It's location based, it's a market that there will always be in demand, and it fits the location.

So, now I really wonder, what should I do with it, keep it parked w/ PPC ads, forward it to my site (unrelated ot the domain, but that could hurt)? Or try to put something up that's similar (I'd be horrible at that since I know nothing about what the domain name is about).

[edited by: buckworks at 4:33 am (utc) on Mar. 11, 2007]
[edit reason] No URL drops, please. [/edit]

[Webwork]

If you park it then absent outside events resulting in more links the traffic will either remain static or grow slightly or dwindle with time.

If you want to undertake some work and expense you might gain a bit more traffic and make a few more bucks - but at a cost.

There's no simple answer, only experimenting. That's business: risk and reward.

[wolfadeus]

You can also try to write something like 5 articles with relevant content, put it online, register it with some free directories and let it sit.

1 evening of work for the sake of an experiment.

[webboy1]

There are a quite a few people buy domains specifically with the hope of generating revenue, but it is quite difficult. We have a portfolio of several thousand domains (for various reasons) and chose to park them with a company using keyword relevance.

Essentially, the technology recognises keywords from the URL and displays paid-for links on the page, allowing us to earn revenue each time a link is clicked. It's a similar technology to AdSense.

Out of these several thousand domains, we have a couple of hundred making enough money each month to justify renewing them each year. Others are just left to lapse if we cannot sell them on through domain auctions.

The majority of domains that make money are domains that used to be fairly high traffic sites. So they are linked to from lots of places. The fact that the holding page populates with links relevant to the URL enhances the chances of clicks. These clicks result in revenue.

So this is something you could consider. It's somewhere between simply parking and setting up your own site with AdSense etc. It does require patience and ongoing optimisation, but we're now generating several thousand visits per week in total and a fairly healthy revenue which is increasing month on month.

If I were you, and consider this - at least while you decide what to do in the longer term.

[jimbeetle]

traffic will either remain static or grow slightly or dwindle with time

Wow, no wiggle room in that statement, eh? ;-)

[Webwork]

There's room to wiggle: "absent outside events". ;0)

I sometimes get traffic spikes. I look for news events.

Remember Dick Cheney's FactCheck.com comment? Doh! It's FactCheck.org.

[jimbeetle]

He, he, another lesson from the master.