TrafficZ Celebrates 10 Years in Domain Monetization

December 30th, 2011

What started out as an idea has become a rewarding reality for TrafficZ and Thought Convergence, Inc. Our story is no different from yours; We understand your mission as a domainer and want to help you achieve those goals. On behalf of Kevin Vo, Ammar Kubba and the entire team at TrafficZ and TCI, THANK YOU for the past 10 years. We hope to continue providing you with superior domain technology and cutting-edge domain monetization options.

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together, is reality.” – John Lennon

We’ve created a special Anniversary video documenting our story. We hope that you’ll take the time to view it at the link below.

TrafficZ and Thought Convergence, Inc Celebrate 10 Years in Domain Monetization

For more information, please visit www.TrafficZ.com/signup/Anniversary

 

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Aftermarket.com Celebrates Anniversary with Domain Brokerage Success Story

December 1st, 2011

 

TrafficZ’s sister company, Aftermarket.com,  celebrates its first birthday with the successful brokerage of Order.com.  The mid-to-high six-figure sale, which closed last week, ranks as the 6th highest domain sale of the year, according to DNJournal.com.

The transaction was led by Omar Kubba, Senior Domain Broker for Aftermarket.com’s recently-launched Brokerage division. Aftermarket.com’s Brokerage division was formed specifically to cater to premium, highly-sought-after domain assets, domain names and websites that typically require a high level of hands-on involvement and personal attention due to the premium price tags and sophisticated clientele.

Senior Domain Broker, Omar Kubba, who heads the Brokerage division, views Aftermarket.com’s involvement in the premium domain space a must, commenting that, “Quality domain names above a certain price point often require a seasoned and professional team in order to complete the sale. Our brokers are dedicated to identifying investors and end-users that are committed and understand the long-term value of a premium, one-of-a-kind domain asset.”

As with any relatively new asset class, many of those outside of the domain industry are either unaware of or do not fully understand the true value of a solid domain name. Aftermarket.com brokers educate and evangelize throughout the sales process, reaching out to and working with buyers at all levels, from Fortune 100 companies to small business owners to individual investors. The quick turnaround and flawless execution of the Order.com transaction evidences that philosophy, and further solidifies Aftermarket.com’s unique position in the domain name industry. According to Kubba, “The new owner of Order.com had the savvy and foresight to purchase an asset that will not only appreciate over time, but one that will also add tremendous value to their already-successful business. They understood that there’s only one Order.com in the world, and now they own it.”

Shai Neubauer, the previous owner of Order.com, approached Aftermarket.com after exhausting several other avenues of representation. He knew of the company’s solid reputation and decided to give the newly-formed Brokerage division an opportunity. “I’ve used all of the known domain industry brokers at one time or another; however, Aftermarket.com was the only company able to open the door to appropriate and qualified end users. Omar Kubba worked harder than anyone else and really went the extra mile to get the absolute best offer on my domain. His knowledge, persistence, and connections really made the difference,” said Neubauer.

Recent enhancements to the Aftermarket.com platform further assisted Kubba in successfully concluding the Order.com transaction. The newly-launched, proprietary Aftermarket.com broker system enabled Kubba to create a central web presence for all of his domain name listings, making it possible to provide a robust, secure, and professional hub for all interested parties. Aftermarket.com currently has exclusive and non-exclusive contracts on many other premium domain assets, with additional access to most of the world’s finest domain name assets; please visit http://broker.aftermarket.com for a partial list of highlighted Brokerage inventory, and www.aftermarket.com for a current list of marketplace inventory.

About Aftermarket.com

Aftermarket.com is a leading digital marketplace servicing the 24/7 demand for Internet domains on the World Wide Web. As an individual brand of Thought Convergence, Inc., Aftermarket.com is committed to offering the most advanced, innovative and secure platform for businesses and individuals to buy and sell domain names on the Internet. With its broad reach, quality inventory, and intuitive user interface, Aftermarket.com services the needs of any individual or business interested in buying, selling or learning about domain name assets. Aftermarket.com is the easy, intuitive and trusted way to make a name for yourself online.

For more information, please visit www.aftermarket.com.

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New Revenue Cap Policy On Several TLDs

August 18th, 2011

If you’re a current TrafficZ client, you’ve probably received a few company emails over the last two days regarding a revenue cap being imposed on several domain TLDs by Yahoo!, our upstream provider. The TLDs affected include:

.Biz

.Co

.Info

.TV

.US

Rolled out on August 16, the cap is imposed on a per domain, per day basis. Specifically, if a particular domain in one of the above-referenced TLDs exceeds the revenue cap on any given day, Yahoo! advertisements will cease to be displayed on that domain for the following three days. This change was made across the board and will affect all Yahoo! partners at various other monetization companies as well.

Yahoo! is just one of many advertising partners that TrafficZ works with to monetize your domains and traffic. Although Yahoo! may have imposed a cap on these TLDs, we will continue to monetize all high quality domains and traffic through our multiple advertising partners, regardless of TLD, revenue and/or volume.

TrafficZ clients or potential clients with exceptional .INFO, .US, .TV, .BIZ and/or .CO domains should submit them to our account team for further review. Where appropriate, we will work with Yahoo! to have revenue cap limits raised or removed from qualified domains, regardless of TLD.

As always, we strive to keep you informed and provide you with the best domain monetization service possible. Please feel free to contact us if you have additional questions or concerns at support@TrafficZ.com

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How to Get Approved with TrafficZ

June 6th, 2011

We receive a lot of questions about what it takes to become a TrafficZ client. A lot of people seem to have misconceptions about TrafficZ, monetization in general and what it takes to get approved for an account.  There are a few areas we evaluate upon application approval.

Quality over Quantity

We realize that quality can mean different things to different people. Of course as a domain owner, you believe that all of your domains are quality domains otherwise you probably would not have invested in them, right? As a monetization company,  our system is designed to extract the most revenue possible from each domain submitted on our system. Some users submit hundreds of domains to us and are still not approved due to the quality of their portfolio. We do pass up these large portfolios if we do not feel that your domain vision aligns with ours.

So, what do we consider to be high quality?

-          Short, sweet and generic – The shorter, the better. The more generic, the better. Generic terms generate top quality natural traffic – what every domainer strives for.

-          High quality extensions – .com and .net are still the most typed domain extensions.

-          Spelling – While typo domains can produce traffic, it is important that you avoid these typos and spell your domain name correctly. You do not want to run the risk of infringing on a trademarked name.

-          Explanation in Title – Allow your domain name to reflect exactly what the content consists of. If your domain content is about dieting, but the title has to do with candy, the users that come to your domain are not going to find what they are looking for.

-          Natural traffic – Just like every domainer strives for natural traffic, every monetization company does, too. Consistent, strong natural traffic to your domain(s) will rely on many, if not all of the points listed above.

Our number one goal as a monetization company is to do just that – monetize! If you would like some feedback on your domain portfolio, we’d be happy to help! Please email us at support@trafficz.com.  To apply for a TrafficZ account, please click here.

 

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3 Big Domain Monetization “Don’ts”

May 26th, 2011

Domaining is a live and learn type of industry. Even the most lucrative of domainers make mistakes with their domaining decisions. The important thing is learning from those mistakes and applying them to future decisions.

If you plan to monetize your domains, which most domainers do if they aren’t developing them, there are a few things you should know about domain monetization companies.

Every monetization company has a relationship with an upstream provider. They are the source for the ad feeds placed on all domain pages. Upstream providers instill a lot of trust in these monetization companies to provide them with quality domains and quality traffic. Because of this, these companies have guidelines that their users are asked to abide by. These rules have the best interests of all the parties involved. They want to provide the best experience for the end-user so that YOU, the domainer, can have a safe, yet lucrative domaining experience, too.

To make the most out of your domain monetization experience with TrafficZ or another provider, here are 3 big monetization DON’TS:

1.       Don’t Cyber-squat. Cyber-squatting by definition is: “Registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else.”

Cyber-squatters sometimes register variants of popular trademarked names, a practice known as typo squatting. While it is not illegal to buy a typo domain or a name with a trademarked term, if you chose to park these domains, you run the risk of being penalized for attempting to make money off of someone else’s name or brand. For legal reasons, this is a very sticky subject for all parties. If you own a trademarked or typo domain and choose to monetize it, your domain will most likely be categorized as “sensitive” and can receive a 2nd tier ad feed, which may ultimately, affect your domain earnings. It is best to not even purchase these types of domains as your return over time may not exceed your investment. This is especially true if you own a large portfolio of these types of domains.

2.       Don’t pay for Traffic. Ever heard of the saying, “The best things in life are free”? This is especially true for domaining. If you are purchasing traffic from a traffic source, chances are it will hinder your reputation with your monetization company. Just like domainers themselves, monetization companies strive for strong, NATURAL type-in traffic. Purchasing traffic can negatively effect your Traffic Quality “TQ” score which is calculated based on the traffic to the account. A negative TQ score over time can affect your earnings and could lead to an account termination with your monetization company. The best way to drive traffic to your site is through natural SEO, domain optimization and by adding quality content.

3.       Don’t give up early. It’s easy to get discouraged if you aren’t seeing an immediate return when you begin monetizing your domains. Most businesses don’t reach success overnight, so do not have overnight expectations in domaining.  Each domain requires a little TLC and constant maintenance.  Take the time to optimize each domain to its highest potential.  (We mentioned some great tips and tools in our previous blog entry that can help you with this task.) Our system allows you to view any searched terms on your domain page so take the time to view these reports so you know and understand the end user, where they are coming from, what they are searching for, and most importantly, what terms they are clicking on. Also, be sure to stay on top of your monetization company’s happenings, products and new releases. We released two new models outside of standard PPC that a good number of clients are taking advantage of for new revenue options.  Your designated TrafficZ Account Manager can guide you in any portfolio questions or decisions if needed. Don’t give up! If you are persistent, patient and stay informed, you will ultimately reap the rewards domaining can bring.

For additional questions or support, please contact support@trafficz.com

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TrafficZ’s Beginner’s Guide to Domaining

May 20th, 2011

Here at TrafficZ, a portion our new clients are new to the domain industry. Typically, they have friends or family who have had success with domain portfolios and are looking to try their hand at the business as well. If you are a newbie or are just simply interested in exploring the potential of domaining, this beginner’s guide is for you.

Do Your Research, Have Realistic Expectations

Before taking the plunge and purchasing a plethora of domain names (or even ONE domain name), make sure to do your research. Owning a domain is like owning a piece of real estate, so look at it like a life-long investment.  It is important to learn and understand the business before you dive in. Consult with someone who has had success domaining and ask them to show you the ropes, share resources and give you advice. If you don’t have a personal mentor, there are plenty of valuable resources online.  We like to recommend a book/site, Domain Graduate (www.domaingraduate.com) and various online blogs such as DomainNameWire.com, Domaining.com, TheDomains.com, MorganLinton.com and DNJournal.com.  Keep up with industry news, trends and happenings 24/7 if you plan on taking domaining seriously. You must also have realistic expectations. Don’t expect to get rich overnight. Often times, newbies come into domaining thinking they are going to strike gold because they know they just bought the “best domain name in the world.” Rarely is this the case, but with the right decisions, investments and patience, you may come to find the world of domaining can be a lucrative one.

Choosing a Domain Name

Choosing a domain name is like choosing names for your children. Be smart about your decisions because they could be lifelong ones.  If your goal is to make income, think about a few things when choosing a name. “Who are the potential buyers here?” or “Who are the end users here?”  Knowing who they are allows you to understand what they’ll want when they come to your page.

While there is great potential in extensions such as .co, .org, .info, etc, the .com extension will always be king and .net, isn’t far behind. Try to choose domain names with those common extensions. Generic words or terms that focus on a product, niche or service are your best bet for natural, type-in traffic, which is what every domainer aims for.

For help with choosing a domain name, check out WordTracker – https://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/ – This free tool allows you to type in a keyword or phrase and view its monthly search numbers. If the word returns 5,000 + searches a month, that is a good indicator that the term/subject is in demand and might generate some decent traffic if tied into your domain name.

For some additional free tools to assist in choosing your domains names, check out this great guide. http://www.dnjournal.com/columns/cover040805.htm

Once you have an idea of the names you’d like to purchase, choosing a registrar to register those names is your next step. A registrar and a registry are two different things.  A registry holds the contract to handle the entire extension (Ex: Verisign holds the contract for all .com and .net extensions). You cannot purchase domains from them directly. A Registrar is the middleman between the user and the Registry and they typically offer various extensions with various registries and allow users to purchase domains directly.

In addition to registering domains with a registrar, it would also be wise to research domains in the aftermarket. These are names that have already been purchased by someone else but are made “for sale” by the current owner. We recommend a great aftermarket site – our sister company, Aftermarket.com. Here you can browse over a million domain listings or search by keyword. You can bid, buy or make an offer on listings, depending on the listing style.

If you have a particular domain name in mind and you find that it is already under ownership, check to see if the domain is for sale and inquire with the owner. This information is usually accessible on the page itself or within the Whois.

Before you make an offer on any domain name you should spend some time understanding the market so you have an idea of a realistic offer. You don’t want to overpay or make an unrealistically low offer and waste both your time and the potential seller’s time.

Time to Make Some Money

Once you are confident in your domain name purchases, you are now ready to make some money.  If you know someone who has had success earning revenue on their domains, chances are, they have made it through domain parking.  Parking companies provide an ad feed for your domain pages with relevant advertising. You can then make money when a visitor clicks on one of those ads. The more natural traffic you get to your domain(s), the more opportunity there is for you to turn out some revenue. How does one get natural traffic? Once you get started with your free TrafficZ parking account, you will find our auto-optimization feature to be very beneficial to help drive that natural traffic to your site. It is important to keep the terms and content on your domain pages to be as relevant as possible to your domain name so that users find exactly what they are looking for when they come to your domain. The more relevant the page, the more likely they are to click. If you want to tailor your domain content a certain way, our system gives you the freedom to do so with our manual optimization feature. Just try to stay as consistent as possible.  We also offer have a dedicated team of Account Managers here to service your optimization needs. They can assist in making the most revenue out of your domains.

If you have the time and resources, it is important to add content to your page and to constantly update it.  Adding content allows search engines’ web crawlers to find your domain page and index it. Getting indexed is often times domainer’s number one goal as the exposure their page receives from the search engine search generates a large amount of valuable natural traffic.

 

Selling Your Domains

Once your portfolio is a bit developed, you may want to consider selling your domains then reinvesting that income into new names.  To get the most exposure, you have several options. List your domain for sale on a platform such as the previously mentioned Aftermarket.com, where potential buyers can facilitate the sale right within the platform. The great thing about Aftermarket is that this site allows you to list your domains for sale in several places at once. Some selling platforms do not offer this in their terms and conditions. You can also make your domain “for sale” within the public WhoIs or within your parking company’s domain page settings.  Domain inquires will then be directed straight to the email address you registered when you bought the domain name.

It’s easy to “aim high” when you put your domain up for sale. Of course, you, as the owner, believe it is worth a certain amount and attempt to price it accordingly. However, you must do your research before you try to slap a 6 figure asking price on it. There are so many domains that are priced unrealistically, therefore making it impossible for sellers to sell. There are free tools out there that can help guide you in the pricing process. We recommend Estibot, a free domain appraisal tool that can give you a rough idea of a realistic price range.

With any hobby, domaining takes patience and persistence. You may make mistakes, but learning from them is the key to perfecting the craft.  Best of luck to you on your domaining journey!

For any additional questions, please contact support@trafficz.com

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Expand Your Domain Visibility with Aftermarket.com’s Opt-In Feature

May 11th, 2011

 

If you haven’t logged into your TrafficZ account in several months, we’ve added a new setting for any domains you have listed for sale. This setting, should you opt-in, is linked directly with our sister company, Aftermarket.com and allows these domains to be posted to the Aftermarket site and made visible to potential buyers.

If you are not familiar with Aftermarket.com, Aftermarket is a full service platform that allows users to buy and sell domains. The easy to navigate and user-friendly interface provides the necessary features and tools to market your domain to buyers.  Since launching in November 2010, Aftermarket has sold a plethora of listings and received industry acclaim for its usability and layout.

If you have not logged into your TrafficZ account since November, you may notice a pop-up message upon log-in asking you to opt-in to Aftermarket’s services. If you choose to opt-in, any domains that you have listed “For sale” within your TrafficZ manager will be listed on Aftermarket as a “Make an Offer” listing. Once an end user clicks the “inquire about this domain” link within your domain page, they are re-directed to Aftermarket.com where they can make an offer. Any offers made will be communicated to you though your personal email address listed in the account as well as your TrafficZ messaging center. If you decide to take action on the offer, follow the link in that offer message to sign up for your free Aftermarket.com account. From there, any domain transactions can be conducted easily and efficiently within the Aftermarket platform. Partnering up with Escrow.com ensures that any and all transactions are safe and secure.

Should you decide to opt-out of the Aftermarket feature, but still want to keep your domains for sale, any parked TrafficZ pages will still have the “inquire about this domain” link, users will just be directed to TrafficZ’s domain inquiry form. Here, the interested party can make an offer to the seller, ask a question or conduct any other communication regarding the domain. The sale will then need to be facilitated offline.

If you are unsure about whether you are opted into Aftermarket’s domain services, you can find out by logging into your TrafficZ account. Once you have logged in, select “Account” from the top toolbar and scroll down to see if the opt-in button is check marked.

We hope that you will utilize Aftermarket’s great services for selling and buying domains!

If you would like more information on Aftermarket, please visit www.Aftermarket.com. As always, you can contact TrafficZ’s support team for additional questions or issues at support@trafficz.com

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TrafficZ’s NEW Monetization Models are LIVE!

April 22nd, 2011

Last month, we officially launched the beta versions of several new monetization models, CPA and Zero Click.  If you are tired of the same, old standard PPC payouts, our new monetization models could give your domains the potential to breathe new life.   These new models allow you to diversify your monetization streams and provide more revenue generating options for your domains.

CPA Model

Our CPA model (Short for ‘Cost per Action’) allows for multiple streams of monetization on one single template. This model grants you the ability to earn revenue when a user clicks and takes an action on a CPA advertisement. This action could mean submitting a form or filling out a survey.

The first image below is an example of a CPA landing page. If a user clicks on one of the following CPA ads, they are directed to that advertiser’s site and may be asked to take a certain action from there. If the user completes that action, that is considered a conversion and you get paid!

The second image is an example of our CPA template displaying both PPC and CPA monetization models. This page is displayed when a user clicks on one of the menu terms from image 1. From here, the user is fed both PPC and CPA advertisements.

Below are the various CPA Model categories that we offer. If you are a domain owner with domains that fall under any of these areas, this model could be beneficial to you.

Animal

Arts

Business

Career

Dating/Relationships

Education

Events

Finance

Food

Gambling

Games

Health

Legal

Lifestyle

News/Politics

Real Estate

Science

Shopping

Sports

Technology

Transportation

Travel

XXX

Zero Click Model

Our Zero Click model generates revenue by directing traffic straight to an advertiser’s site. First, advertisers scan your domain name and decide whether or not it qualifies. If it does, users will be sent directly to that particular advertiser’s site. You can activate all of your domains for this model. If the domain is not selected by an advertiser to go to our Zero click providers, it will default to our PPC and CPA landers.

Access to our new models is granted on a case by case basis. Clients who are interested can apply for a TrafficZ account and if approved, may inquire about approval through their TrafficZ rep.  If you have any additional questions regarding our newest monetization models, please contact support@trafficz.com . We welcome any comments or feedback and look forward to providing you with more options for your domain portfolio!

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Aftermarket Pre-bidding

February 28th, 2011

Domain Roundtable will kick off in the Bahamas in 24 hours. If you’re hoping to catch a last minute flight to the Bahamas…Good Luck! As for the rest of us, there’s always next time. Whether you’re attending DRT or sitting at home managing your portfolio, there will be an opportunity for you to take part in Aftermarket’s domain live auction. The Aftermarket auction will take place on Thursday, March 3rd at 2pm Eastern Standard Time. You don’t have to wait that long to take a good look at the domain list Aftermarket has to offer.  You can view the domain auction list through this link http://bit.ly/ei0Njx. Since March 3rd is just days away, pre-bidding will start today and end  15 minutes before the  live auction. There are some great names that are up for auction, dropped.com, energize.com, and homeowner.com just to name a few. Get your check books out, and get started on the Aftermarket pre-bidding!

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Domain Roundtable 2011 Trivia Contest

February 18th, 2011

Domain Roundtable is excited to announce their very first social media contest! To show their appreciation for all the support, DRT is giving away ONE FULLY PAID (+ Welcome Gift) and ONE HALF-PRICE conference ticket to Domain Roundtable 2011 in the Bahamas at the beautiful Atlantis Resort. Join them for informative panels, innovative speakers and ample networking opportunities in a pristine tropical setting!

Trivia is the name of the game!

For one day starting Thursday February 17 at 5PM PST, send us an email at info@domainroundtable.com with the answers to the following Domain Roundtable/Domain trivia questions along with your FULL name, email address, postal address and phone number.

1. What year was the first DRT conference and what city was it held?

2. Name one keynote speaker at the 2006 DRT Conference. Hint: There were four speakers in total

3. What country code is the .YT TLD?

4. What Year did Thought Convergence, Inc acquire The Domain Roundtable conference?

Once you have emailed us your entry, you must post a wall comment on our Facebook or Tweet us on Twitter and share the news that you have entered!

We will compile all submissions and the winners will be chosen at random on Friday, February 18 after 5PM PST. Participants are allowed unlimited entries per person and must answer all questions correctly.  Each winning conference ticket is only good for one person, and does not include entry for guests, airfare tickets or hotel accommodations. If you are chosen as the winner of the ½ price ticket, please be prepared to cover the remaining DRT ticket fee.

For more information on Domain Roundtable 2011 and The Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, check out http://www.DomainRoundtable.com

We are looking forward to seeing you in the Bahamas! Good Luck!

*official rules and regulations below.

OFFICIAL RULES AND REGULATIONS

ENTRY:

No purchase necessary to enter or win.  Contest starts Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 5PM PST and ends at Friday, February 18, 2011 at 5PM PST. Open to all US and non-US entries. Any employee, stakeholder, or family member of an employee or stakeholder of Thought Convergence, Inc or any of its subsidiaries are ineligible to participate in the contest

PRIZE:

One winner will receive ONE paid ticket to the Domain Roundtable Conference at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas good for Mar 1-4, 2011 + Conference Welcome Gift (Value: $895)

One winner will receive ONE ½ price ticket to the Domain Roundtable Conference at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas good for Mar 1-4, 2011. (Value: $447.50)

WINNER NOTIFICATION:

1.        Winners will be notified on February 18 after 5PM PST via email.

2.        Winners have until midnight PST 3 business days following the end of the contest to claim his/her prize; if the prize goes unclaimed, another winner will be selected.

USE OF CONTEST INFORMATION:

By entering, entrants give Domain Roundtable permission to share the contents of the Twitter message on the TrafficZ/DRT blog, newsletter, Twitter accounts and other channels as desired.

Domain Roundtable reserves the right to use any and all information related to the contest, including submissions provided by the contestants, for editorial, marketing and any other purpose, unless prohibited by law or relevant 3rd-party Terms of Service agreements.

CONDUCT:

All contest participants agree to the contest’s official rules. Domain Roundtable reserves the right to disqualify any person to be in violation of these rules.

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