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Domain Themes and Niche Lust

In honor of Associated Cities Geo Domains Expo going on right at this moment, I wanted to comment on the burgeoning importance of geo-specific domains in this industry. I won’t delve into Marchex, Local.com and other geo-specific companies already on their way with their ideas for providing local information. Let’s just look at the concept in general.

Several of my clients are owners of niche-based domain portfolios. Many of them have secured a large amount (anything over 1000 domains) towards their geo-niche. Some are good domains, some are bad, others are blah. However, their focus isn’t on the domains so much as the purpose of those domains to complete a business site in order to provide a continuing “source or service”.

Many new domainers overlook this simple theory, which is “commanding a domain niche”, and then building out a series of websites, or a specific website that they point all their relevant niche domains back their “Central Hub” site. Some potential moneymakers are hidden in sites like these, especially if you’re picking up a niche category of domains describing mechanical or electronic parts, food items, and “how to” sites. The biggest drawback is development of these sites, with the time and money involved. Additionally, how soon will it be when the public at large looks at name direction as the ultimate way to find the item/service/product they need?

Investing in the keyword generic descriptive domain name of every product/service in your niche can get expensive and almost pointless if you don’t feel that someday, a manufacturer or distribitor of these product/services that has a BNM (Brick N Mortar) presence will pay you handsomely for setting up a perfect conduit to their catalog. This is a choice you have to make. Get advice if you’re unsure about how many or what type of domains to buy to command your domain niche.

As for the cost and time building out a niche site or network, especially in geo-domains, there are an ever-increasing amount of new companies or services being offered to help a niche domain developer, either for minimal costs or sharing the revenue (the latter depends on how strong your domains and niche are in bringing in traffic). I have several niches in which I’m experimenting with, and I think that the overall concept, even in the variety of ways each niche site can achieve profitability, is strong. You can monetize your site with adlinks, affiliate offers (amazon is good), ebooks can be incredibly profitable, especially if you’re an expert in the field, “how to” books, banner ads, and even subscription-based services.

I will discuss these issues in the next few months, and you’ll hear some great advice from some power players involved in successful niche category buildouts and geo-specific buildouts. If you have an experience or detail you’d like to share, we welcome your comments.