Category:How To Optimize

Parking

Every now and again I see both new and experienced domainers posting messages on domaining and Internet marketing forums like this:

“I bought this domain name. Since it has x,xxx visitors per month, I parked it… but it’s not making me money. Should I sell it? Any offers?”

My first thought is, “yes – sell it to me!” But then I think no, I should stick to my niche! Seriously though, these messages look like someone is either:

1. Using a parking program that doesn’t convert very well for that domain.

OR

2. Hasn’t fully optimized their landing page.

So, what should they do? That’s right: test, test, test! It’s important to test properly though. Now, due to certain restrictions, it’s difficult to conduct a statistically correct split test of the landing page of a parked domain. But that doesn’t mean not to test. It just means doing the best you can. Just don’t just give up if you get 10 visitors and nobody clicks – that’s not enough traffic to base a decision on! Ultimately it depends on your traffic, but the bigger the number of results, the more statistically significant they are.

So… make one small change, wait a few days, and then review the results. For example, here are a few things that will impact on your conversions and are worth testing:

1. The keyword or keyphrase you’ve chosen for your parked domain. For example, you might want to use a keyword that’s related to your domain name. For example, if you have an insurance web site, you might choose one of these:

• insurance quotes
• insurance provider
• insurance estimate
• life insurance
• pet insurance
• car insurance

2. The layout of the landing page. Try different layouts.

3. The graphics displayed on the landing page. In some niches, people will be coming to your site expecting to see graphics, so don’t discount these. Test them instead. Also, whatever graphics you display, they should relate to the keywords you’ve chosen.

4. The colors on the landing page. I have personally seen huge differences in click‐through rates simply because of color. For example, dating and adult sites convert well when landing pages are red or black. Here’s a hint about choosing color schemes: visit some high profile web sites in your niche and look at the colors they use. What colors are the background, buttons and graphics? Alternatively, go down to your local store and view a couple of magazines related to that niche. Test various color combinations until you’ve found the highest‐earning one. Basically, the more you understand your target market, the faster you’ll be able to short‐cut some of your testing and optimize your domain. So get inside the heads of your targeted visitors. Who are they? What are they really looking for when they visit your site? Imagine yourself as one of the members of your target market.

You come across a link to your domain name. What are you expecting to find when you click on that link? What information are you looking for?

For example, if you have a real estate domain name, most visitors will probably expect to see content related to property. However, if you’re in the home rentals niche, they are probably not looking for a picture of a house with a “for sale” sign on the front. They’re looking for properties to rent. Understanding distinctions like this that will increase your conversions. So, not only should you provide words and imagery that visitors would expect to see, but you also need to avoid displaying content that is likely to confuse or create doubt about whether or not they’ve come to the right place. You need to make it as easy as possible for them to find the information they want and click on your ads or affiliate offers.

Rule of thumb: your site is a conduit. Don’t make your visitors think… make it easy for them to click and get to where they want to go.

Correspondingly, including animations, video, audio, or anything that distracts a visitor from clicking on your offers should be avoided. However, you want to subtlety direct the visitor to your ads. Avoid asking them to click as this is probably against the terms and conditions of your parking company and the advertiser. But do guide them to your offers so they virtually have no choice but to click on them or exit the site altogether.

This category currently contains no pages or media.