Dominating the Domain Name Niche By Cashing in on Valuable Yet Undeveloped Virtual Property

When people think of a niche, they’re usually thinking along the lines of parenting, weddings, or golf. Domain names are a tool to them – a way to reach their niche. But have you considered domain name to be a niche in their own right?

There are many people in Internet Marketing who make very good money in the domain name niche. Owning and selling a domain can bring in anywhere from a couple of extra bucks to multi-millions! Making money through the domain-selling niche is known as domaining.

What Are Domain Names?

Just so we’re all on the same page, domain names are what you type in to your browser to go to a certain website. They’re also known as URLs. The address usually ends in .com, but sometimes you’ll see a .net or one of the many other endings.

Most people know what domain names are, but few people actually know what they can be. Unclaimed domain names are the undeveloped real estate of the Internet. Just as owning real estate in the right geographical area offline can get you a ton of money, so can owning the right domain name on the ‘net.

Companies and entrepreneurs are very willing to buy land that they want to develop but they’re also very willing to pay a lot of money for a domain name that reflects how they want to brand themselves online.

Basically, money can be made in several ways. You can simply sell a domain name to an end-user (a person or company who will use the site for the sole purpose of developing it). Your end-user may also be a domain name reseller (someone who will turn around and sell the domain name to someone else).

Another way you can profit is to register the domain, park it with a hosting company, and profit from some sort of pay per click traffic. This is great for capitalizing on typos consumers make when trying to enter a domain name directly into their browser rather than using a search engine to find it.

You may also want to register expired domains and leverage the existing traffic being funneled to that URL. Plus, you get the added perk of having links already pointing to it in many cases.

There are a variety of reasons why these domains that have been built-up and drawn traffic expire. All that matters is that they aren’t currently owned and now you can capitalize on this oversight.

On the buying end, you can purchase a domain from a reseller and then resell it to an end-user or buy it and park it to earn from pay per click programs. Selling to a reseller is usually quicker and easier, but it won’t pay nearly as well as selling to an end-user.

You can buy a domain that you were the first to register, you can buy one that’s been registered but has now expired, or you can buy a domain from a reseller. If you buy from a reseller, you’ll have to pay significantly more than you would if you’re purchasing a domain that’s not yet owned.

Many domain traders acquire sites through all three methods listed above. But if you choose to buy one or more domains from a reseller, then you need to be sure the money you pay for it is worth the price.

Generating Cash-Producing Domain Ideas

If you’re planning to buy domain names that have never been registered, then the first thing you need to do is come up with domain names that you think will sell and be in big demand.

The next step will then be to check the availability of the domain name. There are a variety of websites that will check this for you and also allow you to buy the domain name through them.

You can easily find a service on your own or you can try one of these: www.hostgator.com, www.godaddy.com, www.namecheap.com, and www.register.com. All you’ll do is type in the domain name you want to check and then you’ll get results with all of the possible endings like .com, .net, and .org to name a few.

The results will tell you which domain names are available and how much it’ll cost you to register it. If you decide you want to buy one of the domain names, then the next step is to fill out the appropriate information to register it in your name. You can usually choose to register the domain in your name from one to ten years.

For finding and registering expired domain names, there are a variety of tools on the web you can use. Some of them are free and some you’ll have to pay for. You may be tempted to use the free tools but the sites that require membership come with a lot of helpful information.

There are also a variety of sites that act as resellers of domain names. You can easily find these by searching on Google or a similar search engine. Only use these if you plan to buy it, fix it up, and resell it again for an even higher price.

Domain names with one, two, or three words sell the best. The shorter the domain name, the better the chances are of getting good money for it. Most 1-word domains are gone, but you never know what will expire or slip through the cracks unnoticed. You have 63 characters to think up a domain, since the .com takes up the other 3, but you don’t want to use up all of this space.

You also want to try to avoid buying domain names with hyphens in them. For example, you may be tempted to buy something like “i-love-sneakers.com.” But most people will forget to type in the hyphens, so most of the traffic will actually go to ilovesneakers.com, which is owned by someone else.

The .com extension is the king of all domain name endings. The dot coms are worth a lot more money than the dot nets or domain names with other endings. Some people will purchase an entire package of extensions, so that their competitors won’t slide in under the radar and steal some of their traffic.

When you come up with a one or two word idea that’s been taken, use a Thesaurus to help you create some other possibilities.