5 simple ways to make more money at Parked.

When it comes to ease-of-use, Parked.com is a clear winner in domain name parking. Even its domain editing tools are simple and quick to use. If you haven’t yet edited your domains there, here are five simple ways to tweak your way to more profits.

1. Remove unrelated keywords - having several keywords unrelated to your site’s topic can kill click-through rates. So when the algorithms get it wrong, it’s time to step in manually. Thankfully, Parked makes is a snap. Just drag and drop the keywords you don’t want into “Removed Keywords”. Parked uses a lot of Ajax, which makes its domain management tools a lot like software.

2. Update your title - by default, Parked makes the title of your page the domain name. So when someone lands on chiefsecurityofficer.com, the title they see is chiefsecurityofficer.com. Not that compelling. At a minimum, change it to “Chief Security Officer”.

3. Add custom content (but be careful) - you can quickly add text and extra graphics to the bottom of your Parked pages. This can help get into search engines. But be careful. People who add clickable links such as affiliate banners on their pages have reported their PPC click-through rates plummeting.

4. Customize your graphics - Parked has thousands of graphics for your landing pages. But if you don’t find one that quite fits your topic, just upload it yourself (be sure you have rights to the picture). You can also tweak the lander’s colors. If your domain is about sports in St. Louis, you might try colors like red (for the Cardinals) and blue (for the Blues).

5. Ask your account manager for help - if you have high traffic domains that aren’t converting, don’t be shy about asking your account manager for optimization help. It’s in their best interests.

If you have additional suggestions, please comment.

Survey shows Escrow.com is leader at facilitating large domain purchases.

34% of respondents in Domain Name Wire’s third annual survey said they prefer to use Escrow.com to safely pay for high dollar domain names they buy.

Escrow.com is popular with domain owners because it was designed as a fully automated platform for escrow and has a particular focus on domain names. Pricing is also reasonable:

$0-$5,000 3.25%
$5,001-$25,000 $162.50 + 0.26% of amount over $5,000
$25,0001+ 0.89%

Escrow.com set its escrow service up to be in full compliance with all state requirements. I believe it is a licensed escrow service agent in all 50 states at this time. That’s more challenging than it sounds given that laws vary from state to state.

Here are the complete results for this survey question:

1. Escrow.com 34%
2. PayPal 23%
3. Sedo escrow 22%
4. Wire Transfer 13%
5. Other 5.4%
6. Afternic escrow 3%

Of course, one’s definition of “high dollar” domain purchases may vary.

A number of domain buyers still transact using PayPal. This is dangerous, as a seller can disappear with the money and PayPal won’t help you get it back because it’s a non-tangible good.

Next year we’ll add Moniker’s escrow service to the list. Moniker pioneered domain escrow in the late 90s and has increasingly become a dominant player in the space (outside of transactions from its auctions).

Company selected as “Most Innovative” when it comes to selling domain names.

45% of those surveyed in Domain Name Wire’s third annual survey believe Sedo is the “Most Innovative” company in the domain aftermarket. This is the first year the question was asked on the survey.

Sedo sold about $75 million worth of domain names last year, mostly through its online sites. It holds monthly “Great Domains” auctions featuring high quality domains and has over 10 million domains listed or parked with its service.

In second place was Moniker, which is well known for pioneering live domain name auctions at TRAFFIC domain name conferences. Moniker received 18% of the vote. Close behind was Snapnames with 12%. Moniker and SnapNames are now part of the same parent company, Oversee.net. That means it will be a force to be reckoned with going forward.

GoDaddy was nearly tied with SnapNames at 12%. GoDaddy runs an aftermarket service at TDNAM.com, and has flirted with live online auctions. The first live auction was a bust, but the company hired DNForum’s Adam Dicker to manage its aftermarket. Hopefully that will give the company a much needed boost.

Afternic and DomainTool’s picked up 7% of the vote. Next year the survey will group all of Name Media’s online sales venues, including Afternic and Buy Domains. DomainTools was certainly an innovator last year by broadcasting its live auction online and allowing internet bidding (although its latest auction was full of technical and planning snafus). SnapNames/Moniker now offer online viewing and bidding as well.

Here are complete results for “Most Innovative” aftermarket domain seller:

1. Sedo/GreatDomains 44.6%
2. Moniker 17.7%
3. SnapNames 11.9%
4. GoDaddy 11.8%
5. Afternic 7%
5. (tie) DomainTools/Name Intelligence 7%

[See survey results here.]

GoDaddy complies with ICANN advisory for transferring domain names.

Last September I wrote that GoDaddy might have to end its controversial practice of denying transfers-out when a domain owner changes whois information in the preceding 60 days.

A few weeks ago ICANN finalized the advisory that I wrote about, and it seems to target GoDaddy specifically. The advisory basically says that registrars can’t deny transfer requests due to changes in whois information, as this would violate ICANN rules that require registrants to keep their data up-to-date. Furthermore, it specifically says registrars can’t make users “opt-in” to the lock when they change whois information (something that GoDaddy did).

I contacted GoDaddy earlier this month to see if it was complying with the advisory. Tim Ruiz, Go Daddy’s Vice President of Corporate Development & Policy, said in a statement “Go Daddy always has and will continue to comply with ICANN rules and regulations.”

Fair enough, but I decided to test it by changing my whois information for FileVirtualization.com and then transferring it to Moniker the next day. I’m happy to report that the transfer was successful.

Network Solutions is the only other major registrar I know that put 60 day locks on domains. The company has not responded to repeated requests for comment about this issue.

It’s worth noting that ICANN’s advisory lacks teeth. The only thing ICANN can do to stop a registrar from a practice like this is to take away its accreditation. This is a “nucleur option” and rarely practiced until it’s too late — and wouldn’t be used against the world’s biggest registrar unless the situation was dire. ICANN needs the power to levy fines against registrars who fail to comply.

This domain related press release is good for a laugh.

PR professionals always look for a way to tie their company to current events. A UK-based home business web site is stretching it a bit far with this headline:

Early Release of Tax Stimulus has Domain Registrars Gearing Up

Already laughing? It gets better:

President Bush’s recent announcement of the long awaited tax stimulus checks being issued earlier than expected comes as welcome news to millions of American tax payers. Due to the countries current economic slump, some will be using their stimulus rebates towards battling rising gas prices, while others will try and get a jump on their financial hardships and invest in a web based business.

Many of those Americans choosing to turn their rebates into additional revenue will be seeking out more places to buy domains, which has many domain registrars and sellers very excited.

GoDaddy, have you expanded your overtime customer service force to gear up for this onslaught of registrations? I heard Moniker has hired 100 additional full-time staff to handle “The 2008 tax stimulus domain name gold rush”.

I’ve seen a lot of dumb press releases related to domain names. Perhaps it’s worth starting a regular feature about them. But I don’t know if I can top this one on a regular basis.

(By the way, don’t get me started on what I think about this “tax rebate”.)