Guest Post By Rob Ratliff – Domainer-In-Training

The following blog post is a guest post by Rob Ratliff who I hired on to help with the development and operations side of LocalTek.  He has taken the time to write a little about what he has learned working for us and his recent experience trying to sell a website to and end user.  Rob had a bit of experience in SEO and domaining before he started but learned quick that he needed to dig deeper and learn more before spending another dollar on a domain.

I really thought it would be great to have a guest post by someone who is new to domaining and what they are going through as they learn more and more.

Enjoy…

First of all I’d like to take the time to say how wonderful Bruce is as a boss.  (There I said it.  You can read how I really feel at the end of this post.)  Anyway, moving on, I can say there have been occasions when having Bruce around are a good thing.  He does in fact know a little bit about this domaining business,  but I don’t want to make his head swell too much.

EDITORS NOTE: I did not pay him to say any of that, I try not to pay him at all.....

Truth is when I began working for LocalTek I thought I knew more than I actually did about SEO and online marketing and in the time I’ve worked here I have been able to get my head wrapped around this type of business a little better.   What I’ve discovered is that while SEO is very important there are so many other important factors to consider when buying a domain, and building a website.

Some of these factors include search traffic statistics, what keywords are used, exact search matches vs. broad search matches, what the domain name means for the site, as well as who will benefit from the site etc.  I’ve also learned it’s important to deduce whether the site would do better as an affiliate marketing site, a PPC site, or would it be a good site to develop and then sell to an end user.    With all this to consider, I’ve learned you don’t just buy some domain name and then build what you want on it, then spend months trying to promote the site unless you have the time and the money. Most mini-sites can be developed rather quickly and be reasonably effective tools for producing revenue.

What I discovered is that websites and domains are almost exactly like real estate. As a real estate investor one of the questions people ask is what should I do with the house when I get it.  Like domain names, you kind of have to let the house tell you what to do with it based on how you acquired it, the location of the house, the condition of the house, etc.  If it’s a very nicely finished house you owe a close to fair market value on, you may just rent it.  If it needs to be fixed up and you can sell it quickly for a profit, then do that.  Again though, you don’t know what’s best until you do the research. The same thing applies to domain names and websites.  Depending on how you acquired it, what the domain name is etc., can determine the best course of action to take with it.

For this reason I learned to do things like look at the keywords that fit the domain name better to learn how and what people search for related to that domain name.  I then learned to look into parking a site or developing the site as options and what may be best for the domain name purchased.  Lately I’ve been looking into selling domain names to end users who may benefit from their Google search rankings to get click traffic without paying for it by the click. Of course I am making mistakes and learning about that too.

For example, I recently I purchased the domain name: SamoyedPuppies.net.  Domain names like this I’ve learned are good because the domain name matches the way people search for Samoyeds.  I also discovered that the keyword term “Samoyed Puppies” is searched for several thousand times a month.  Fortunately, when you search for “Samoyed Puppies” on Google, my site appears on the first page of Google which surprises me and delights me at the same time.

Knowing my site ranked so well, I emailed a Samoyed puppy breeder and asked if they wanted to advertise on my site or even by my site so they could use it to drive traffic to their business.  The email I received back really surprised me.  Whoever responded said they weren’t interested because the picture of the puppy on the first page had blue eyes and blue eyed Samoyed puppies aren’t allowed to show in the ring.  She also wrote that the age Samoyeds live to was wrong on my website it should be 12 -14 years, not 12-16 years old.  Huh! Guess she missed the point, but that’s my fault because I didn’t explain why purchasing the site would do any good.

Of course, when I told Bruce about the encounter he already knew my approach was wrong and pointed me to a site where I could request an “end user sales letter” example.  After reading this letter I realized most end users really need to be told exactly how the site will be of benefit to them.  Otherwise, like the example I had earlier the end user just doesn’t see the relevance and looks at the content rather than the possibilities of free clicks and revenue generation.

My approach now will be to create email letters which clearly outline the reason purchasing the domain name and especially the website will be beneficial to the buyer in the long term and the short term. This letter will include information about why purchasing my website will give you access to the first page of Google under certain search terms which will eliminate the PPC method of creating traffic to their business’ website.  (Of course if the website isn’t on the first page of Google and other search tools, you could explain how this could easily be accomplished.

So in essence, while I’ve learned a lot, I still have much to learn but at least now I have a little more confidence when purchasing domain names and as I continue to learn, I’m sure Bruce will let you know.  So I guess in the end I must say Bruce is a good guy after all.

Robs blog can be found at RobRatliff.com

Thanks to Rob for taking the time, although he is still learning he has came along way and has made it past the buying domains because they sound cool and trademark phase and has also made it past the collector stage where he just buys and buys and buys with no plans on how to get a return. Thanks Rob, great progress!