Update 6/03/07:

WhyPark works. I moved all of my unused or poorly developed domain names under their roof a couple of months ago. Then I did about an hour’s work of en masse linkbuilding to get them all re-spidered and left it all to simmer. My “WhyPark” AdSense channel is now my second most profitable, averaging about $5 and growing. If you’re like me - a compulsive domain hoarder - put some of the little buggers to work and see what happens.

“What shall we do with a parked domain name?
What shall we do with a parked domain name?
What shall we do with a parked domain name - ear-lye in the mor-ning…”

Jeepers, I think I had a little too much rum while swabbing the decks today. But it’s a heck of a good question, and one I’ve asked myself a lot lately. If you’re like me, and you’ve registered what you think is the best domain name ever thought up by humankind on a weekly basis since 1999 - you’ve probably amassed quite a collection by now. And I bet more than half of them aren’t being used at the moment, but you just can’t seem to let go because you’ll get around to building that amazing website someday. Listen, nobody likes a squatter - but those domain names were an investment and this is business.

2 Revenue Streams for Parked Domain Names

GoDaddy’s Cash Parking: A few months ago, I took a large number of dusty domains, all with some amount of existing organic traffic, that have been percolating for 2-4 years and moved them all over to GoDaddy’s Cash Parking section. In terms of ease, if you have your domains hosted with them, it’s as simple as checking a box and hitting submit. You can choose the template of the page and the specific keywords that will trigger the Yahoo ads generated there. I’ve made a few bucks, but nothing to write home about. This may be a great option for an older, established domain but would be like useless for something you’ve just registered.

WhyPark’s Content Domain Parking: This is the sort of service I am most interested in experimenting with. The service is similar to traditional parking in that they will host a page for you after you point your DNS in their direction and then host ads relevant to your domain. The major differentiator here is that you keep 100% of the Adsense revenue and can use your own code. You can host up to 100 domains for a one time fee of $100, and they generate all of the content automatically based on your custom parameters (presumably via RSS feeds, etc.). They also give you the ability to sell text links and even let you choose your own title tags (unlike GoDaddy). In theory this could work for domains which are established and those which are embryonic. A great model which will be loved by some and absolutely reviled by others, but the bottom line is - will it make more money than traditional parking services? I think… yes.

The way I see it, it can’t hurt to kick the tires on a few of these services. I am a firm believer that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is - but I also believe that an objective resource with good content (even if that content isn’t super-original) will attract relevant search engine traffic. I’ll get back to you after I have some personal success or failure to share with you, and I welcome your comments and advice in the meantime. What sites am I missing here? Admittedly, I am a rookie parker, and perhaps even a drunken one.

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If you’ve been using press releases for direct online marketing and search engine optimization, you probably have a few favorite networks bookmarked by now. Some are pretty pricey (PR.com, PRWeb.com), but pack a lot of SERP punch depending on the keyword phrases you link back to your site with. Other sites aren’t quite as effective (SanePR.com, PRLeap.com, PRLog.org) but allow you to post releases for free, with as many outgoing links as you want, making them a sensible part of a comprehensive SEO strategy. Every time I create a press release for a client, I utilize a combination of these paid and free sites/networks - with great results.

There’s one important thing to remember - take it easy on the outgoing links. I follow a rule of thumb that I only optimize for one phrase per press release, and never have more than two outgoing links. It is generally agreed that the more outgoing links a web pages or a press release has - the more diluted their effect becomes. So call your shots carefully and don’t get greedy.

This logic also applies to valuing paid links. If you contact a webmaster about purchasing a text link and they have already sold links to 100 other websites - the value of that link is greatly reduced. The potential influence of a text link from a page is lessened the more links there are on said page, so don’t get taken for a ride.

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