I own approximately 600 domain
names.
(This is a long post, but it is
not necessary to read the entire thing. Skip down to point #2 for the condensed
version. Just
click here.)
I have a number of reasons for
having so many domains. I believe that every savvy Realtor and mortgage broker
should own several quality domain names. Of course, finding good available
domains is a little tough, but there are still plenty of good ones out there. I
very recently registered
www.ColoradoRealEstateCo.com, and
I was very surprised that it was available.
So why should you own 50 domain
names?
1.
Domains are dirt cheap and once you buy them, you can own them forever.
(Just make sure to pay your registration fees when they come due.) To me, a
domain is like a piece of real estate on the World Wide Web. And just like real
estate, a quality domain name will become more valuable with time.
In February of 2007, I sold a
domain name for $15,000. I purchased it for less than $20 a few years back. It
was an unusually good domain name and I certainly don't expect to sell any of my
remaining domains for that much money...but I might. (Find, Buy & Sell Domain Names)
This post isn't really
about buying domain names with the intention of selling them from the get-go
though.
I look at my 600+ domains as
similar to buying land out in the middle of the desert for $30 per acre. The
land will probably never be worth anything in my lifetime, but for $30 per acre,
I might as well buy it just to see what happens. It's too cheap to pass up.
Moreover,
you can put a billboard on that land and get some real estate leads as people
drive by. Get what I am saying? The land might not be worth anything,
sitting next to a highway in the middle of the desert, but how much is the land
worth with a billboard on it? It costs about $10 to register a domain and
$5 - $10 per month to host it (GoDaddy.com Hosting Plans). So for $70 - $130 per year, I think it's worth it to have
an additional "billboard" about yourself on the information superhighway.
---- Start
condensed version of post ----
2. The main reason I
bought so many domain names initially however, was because I didn't want my
competition to own them. This is a very common strategy that big
companies use-- but you can use it too!
For example, if I was doing
business in a fictional city called Babaloo and I wanted a website, I would
probably visit www.GoDaddy.com
and purchase / register:
- BabalooRealEstate.com
(and I would use this for myself, because this one is best)
Then, just so that my competition
can't have them, I would also buy:
- BabalooAZrealestate.com
- BabalooHomesForSale.com
- BabalooRealEstateAgent.com
- BabalooRealProperty.com
- BabalooMortgage.com
- etc., etc., etc.
You get the point.
Take as many good domain names as
you can, even if it's only to prevent the competition from having them. At
about $10 per registered name, it's a slick way to get a leg up over the
competition.
You may find that many of your
desired domain names are already taken. That's okay. Take the .nets or the
.orgs if you have to. Google gives no preference to dot-coms over
dot-nets or dot-whatever. You can have a "vanity dot-com" for your
business cards, but your BabalooHomesForSale.net is where all
of your Google web traffic goes to.
Don't believe me?
Check out a little site called
Wikipedia.org
A Wikipedia entry seems to come up on page one of Google no matter what you
type.
Search for "breast cancer" in Google
and the first three results are dot-org's. Google doesn't care about
domain extensions and neither should you. Just get a keyword rich domain
for goodness sakes!
If you have a domain name like
www.KarenGeorge.com
(not my site by the way), you are going to be knocked down in the search engines
eventually. Because, eventually, somebody is going to pass your
Google-unfriendly vanity name with a keyword-rich
domain. Try to buy quality domain names, with well thought out
keywords between the "www" and the dot-whatever. ...and buy as many as
you can.
----
End of condensed version ----
For Mortgage Brokers:
Want to win over a good Realtor? Does she tell you that she
"already has a mortgage broker"? You want him or her to start sending
you business? How about setting the Realtor up with an outstanding domain
name? Make them come to you-- register BabalooRealEstate.com and you put a
"your face here" ad on the site. Tell them that they will be the official
Realtor on that site, and all you ask for is one lead every 30 days...or 60
days. Heck, if they give you one loan per year, it would be worth the
little bit of money you spent! Websites are so cheap now- and setting one
up is easy. You can buy a template...whatever. The real value,
nowadays, lies with a good domain name.
I have given away several
outstanding domain names to Realtors who provide me business. As someone who
doesn't sell real estate, I own a ridiculous amount of real estate domains!
It's the best $10 gift you can give to a Realtor who is kind enough to refer
you. A $10 gift that will make a Realtor swoon with business ecstasy! Come on. It's
too easy! You can even get hosting for as little as $60 per year and
blog software is free.
Set a Realtor-friend up with a very nice blog for $70 per year.
For Realtors:
Think about registering mortgage-related domain names. Sometimes, people search
for a
mortgage
online before they search for a Realtor. Register
MichiganFirstTimeHomebuyer.com -- I haven't checked, but I bet it's available.
Someone in Michigan searches for that phrase-- your domain should nail it.
(As long as you've read my other posts about optimizing the site. Hint-hint.)
So let's say you have your
regular site and it's all about real estate and MLS listings and whatever. You
could also put up a second website about mortgages and while they learn all
about mortgages, they can see your face and phone number over on the right side,
sort of like this blog. Nothing would stop a Realtor from creating an
informational site about mortgages, yet I've never seen it. Why not? Don't
know too much about mortgages? That's
okay! Read on...
Get a good domain, set up a blog,
and heck- allow your mortgage broker to blog there (while you retain
ownership). He or she will be happy to blog-for-business and you get
exposure to people who are looking for a mortgage in your town. And you really don't
have to do anything except be smart enough to come up with the domain name and
the concept. (If
you need help setting up a blog, just
email me through
ActiveRain.)
Good luck! And remember
that BLOG stands for Better Listing On Google.
www.GoDaddy.com
Posted by 
Hi Karen, great tips and explanations on domain names. i do have a domain addiction and i'm still sitting on quite a few. not as many as yourself though. not so sure i've experienced issues with that last statement about the owners of domains, but may start registering my better ones as 'private'. thanks for saying your a nerd, now the pressure is off me!! ;) i don't think you're a nerd..!