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Sometimes, the most valuable part of your Web site is your name itself – particularly if you have a keyword rich domain name that’s only a handful of letters long. That’s how domainers make lots of money. People like the “Domain King”, Rick Schwartz started buying up valuable domains in the mid-1990s, and he was quickly able to turn those domains into dollars.

Interestingly, he didn’t do it by filling his Web sites with content. He did it by waiting for users to type in Web addresses directly in the address bar (circumventing search engines altogether). Inside the industry, this is something known as “domaining,” and it’s a multi-billion dollar industry.

Domaining can tell us a lot about what people search for online, too – that is, if the owners of the domains are willing to share their data. Turns out Rick Schwartz is pretty generous with his stats. In a recent blog posting titled “Welcome to over 36,000 new Readers! Welcome Consumer. Time to SoundOff,” Schwartz talks about how much type-in traffic he gets. As I reprint these stats, remember that the people visiting his sites aren’t doing it because of his content, they’re simply typing in a web address to see what’s there:

  •  Porno.com 33,000 Web site visitors type in porno.com every day.

  •  eGold.com: 1,500 Web site visitors type in egold.com every day.

  •  Homemade.com 400-500 Web site visitors type in homemade.com every day.

  •  Specialities.com 75-150 Web site visitors type in specialties.com every day.

Combined, Schwartz is getting 35,000+ visitors to those sites every day, just by virtue of owning them. It’s the sort of traffic most Web publishers dream about! It’s evidence of just why keyword-rich domains sometimes sell for thousands of dollars+, and it’s evidence that you might want to pay for more a premium domain if you’re truly serious about making money online.

In many ways, domains that generate type-in traffic are like having a powerhouse PR firm on your side. You can focus on your content, and people will find your domain on their own. Check out Moniker.com, Great Domains and Sedo to find premium domains that might boost your brand new site’s traffic just by virtue of a name.

To learn more about domainer Rick Schwartz, visit my post, “What is Domaining and How Can It Help Me Quit My Dayjob?“

In March of 2007, I was fortunate enough to drive to Boca Raton and interview Domainer Rick Schwartz, one of the industry’s heavyweights and the founder of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference and domain auction. At the time, I was a reporter and technology columnist for the Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Fla. I didn’t fully understand what domaining was, but Schwartz’s blunt explanations made it clear: being a domainer is a lot like being a real estate mogul. You buy up Web domains, and you fill the pages with ads, then wait for people to type in your domain name and click on the ads.

One of the original 'domainers,' Rick Schwartz is among the few willing to talk about what he does.

That is what domainers do. They own lots and lots of keyword specific domains, and they fully circumvent the process by which most Web users find Web sites: search engines. Instead they rely on type-in traffic; people who type a Web address directly into a navigation bar in order to find information or products they want. A good example of this is someone who types in televisions.com, when they’re thinking about buying a TV. They might not know what’s on televisions.com, but they can be pretty sure it’ll point them in the right direction (indeed if you navigate to televisions.com, you’ll find that the page is filled with ads — and the owner probably makes some decent money off the click-throughs).

Rick Swartz himself owns more than 5,300+ domains. He’s so well-known in the industry, he feels comfortable calling himself “Domain King” or “Webfather.” There’s even a “Webfather” name plaque sitting on the desk in his office. Among the gems in Schwartz’s portfolio? Candy.com and Tradeshows.com. During my interview with him, he likened himself to William Tell. “I am for a domain and get it.” Indeed, he’s not afraid to pay large sums for quality. Three years ago, he bought Property.com for $750,000 (a domain he sold recently for an undisclosed sum to Foreclosure.com).

Schwartz bought his first domain in 1995: Lipservice.com. When it returned enough to pay for itself, he realized there was a future in the Internet. He started buying domains with abandon, focusing first and foremost on the adult industry. “The porn industry,” he said, “is the innovator in every field, from VCRs to telephones to the Internet. Follow it, and you’ll make money.”

Among his more modest domains is Porno.com. “It gets 25,000 to 30,000 visitors every single day of the year,” he said. Enough for him to pull in $1 million a year off it alone.

Almost two years later, I’ve only just begun to understand the impact the interview with Rick had on me. It would eventually lead to me buying my own domains, throwing up content, and trying to understand all of the pieces that add up to a successful site, and I’m learning today.

Rick’s advice? You’re going to have to pay for quality, but there are still lots of great type-in domains for sale at auction with prices that hover around $500. Learn more about domaining on Rick Schwartz’s blog. If you’re thinking about buying your first domain, check out my post, “How To Pick a Domain That Ruins Your Web Site,” or return home at WebPublishing.me.

There are a lot of web publishing sites that offer you tips on picking domain names, but not many of them point out the pitfalls that you need to avoid. Rest assured I’ve been in your shoes before. I’ve got a degree in creative writing, not Internet publishing. That means I’ve made almost every mistake on this list, and I’m still learning today! If you’re not quite sure what a domain name is, read my post, “What is a Domain Name?” If you’re ready to buy your first domain name (or your 100th), here’s what not to do when picking your very first domain name:

1) Never buy a domain name that infringes on someone’s copyright. Not only is this is a slimy tactic, but there’s actually a Federal law against it in the United States (the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999). Still, what exactly does it mean to infringe on someone’s copyright? Laws are murky on this, but, in general, cybersquatting refers to the act of purchasing a domain name with the intent of profiting off the brandability of the name and/or reselling the domain to the owner of the copyright. A good example of this might be someone purchasing www.google.net (a name that’s actually owned by Google.com), then throwing a search box on the site so people believe they’re visiting the real Google. When a user types in a search on the fictional site, they might be shown a number of ads relating to their site. That would definitely be illegal. On the other hand, if your site offers reviews and/or criticisms of Google’s policies, you’d be allowed to include the word, “Google” in your domain name. A good example of this is www.google-watch.org.

2) Don’t bank on typos when picking your domain name. This concept is similar to cybersquatting, but it’s actually called typosquatting. As in cybersquatting, there’s blatent bad faith on the part of the site owner to capitalize on the brandability of a copyrighted term. An example of this would be buying a domain like www.frigedare.com, then filling the site with ads related to refrigerators. Not cool. This will likely lead to a lawsuit (one you definitely won’t win). That said, there are instances where typosquatting isn’t illegal. If you discover a domain for a generic word (say, “donkey”), and  you’re convinced a lot of Web users interested in donkeys might type in www.donkee.com instead of www.donkey.com, you’re more than welcome to capitalize the traffic you get. There might be a few instances where this type of approach might work, but I tend to think it’s not worth the effort — especially since it looks like you don’t know how to spell the word that’s the very subject of your site.

3) Avoid names that sound cool but don’t really mean anything. This is a very common rookie mistake. Rookies like to think that if they create compelling content, Web users will automatically find their content. Having tried to find audiences for my work on other sites since 2005, I can attest to the fact that content isn’t everything. You’ve got to have a basic understanding of search engine optimization (the practice of optimizing your site through your HTML metadata — and the use of other technical tactics — to get the most out of your search engine ranking). One of the basics of search engine optimization (or “SEO”) says you should include keywords in your domain name. That means a site about organic restaurants would best be served by picking a domain name that has the words “organic restaurants” in the title (even if it’s something long like www.bestofthebestorganicrestaurants.com). That’s an extreme example, but it illustrates the basic principal beyond domain name selection: choose words that MATCH your content.

4) Don’t pick a domain name that’s difficult to remember or difficult to spell. Ever since the advent of spellcheckers, our ability to spell out complex words has deteriorated (that’s my theory anyway). So, if you decide you want to buy a domain name, stick with something that’s spelled phonetically (the way it sounds). That way, people won’t get frustrated when they try to revisit your site. You’ll be lucky if they try more than twice. The same concept applies to domain names that are hard to remember. If your user can’t remember your domain name, they’re not going to come back.

5) Don’t choose short domain names over quality domain names. If you’ve been researching how to pick a good domain name, you’ll likely run across articles that say things like, “stick with a dotcom name no matter what, and make sure it’s short and snappy.” I even ran across one article that recommended only buying dotcom domains with seven characters or less. Welcome to 21st Century. That’s not really plausible anymore. Finding a dotcom that’s remotely related to the content of your site is going to be HARD — even with 15 characters or less. If you want a domain that’s seven characters or less, you’re going to have to pony up some cash. So, I say ditch that advice. Pick a domain that has valuable keywords in it, even if that means it’s going to be long. My last word on this? Definitely avoid names that include excessive hyphens or numbers. Getting a user to remember lots of hyphens or numbers (i.e. www.babyreptiles4less.com) is like asking them, “Who was the 12th President?”

6) Don’t be afraid of domains that have extensions other than dotcom. Have you ever heard of the dotnu (.nu) extension? Probably not, but it ranks in Google alongside any dotcom site. In fact, the lifestyles blog www.haha.nu receives roughly 160,000 visitors a month. As the Web grows, domains with extensions other than dotcom are going to become a fact of life, and I’ve heard nothing definitive that says Google penalizes such sites. Other factors like incoming links (links to your site from other Web sites) are infinitely more important than your domain extension. In any case, you can see that I’ve put my money where my mouth is: I’m running this site on a dotme (.me) domain — www.webpublishing.me — and you found it, didn’t you?

7) Don’t register a lot of domain names then duplicate your content. This tactic is picked up by search engines, which might delete your sites from their rankings all together or else add only ONE of your domains to their index. You also shouldn’t buy a bunch of domains then use them to link to one another in an attempt to get higher search engine rankings. This will likely to your sites being labeled “domain spam,” and you’ll again be punished by search engines. As a caveat, it is possible to do this for legitimate reasons (i.e. protecting your brand name by buying domains with different extensions — i.e. .biz or .net — or buying common mispelling or common search terms). Linking those legitimate sites your main Web site will require a bit of technical savvy. You’ll have to use an “IP funnel.” IP funnels push all of your registered domains to a single single server and hosting account. Then, you can push all of these redirections to a different server and hosting account without being penalized by search engines. I learned a lot about this particular tactic at BruceClay.com.

8) Don’t rely on your business name to determine your domain name. A lot of people make this mistake, and they damage their chances for widespread traffic by using their business name when they pick their domain name. Business names are often associated with difficult-to-spell names, cutesy phrases or hyphens and apostrophes. Always think about what people are going to be searching for when they try to find your service. For instance, if you own a dog washing business in Cincinnati, Ohio, chances are, someone’s going to type “dog washing, cincinnati, oh” into a search engine. Knowing that, www.cincinnatidogwashing.com, would probably be an excellent domain name (if it’s available — in not, pick something similar).

9) Don’t pick a domain name without doing some keyword research. One of my favorite tactics when trying to pick between a handful of domain names is to visit Google Trends and determine which keywords are the most common. Google Trends won’t show you actual search quantities, but it will show you which search term is used more on a percentage basis. Simply visit the site and type in two sets of keywords separated by commas; Google Trends will take care of the rest.

10) Don’t be afraid to pay for quality. There’s an entire online industry called “domaining” that’s devoted to buying domain names simply for the “type-in” traffic — people who type diamonds.com directly in their browser navigation bar instead of going to a search engine and seeking out a site on diamonds, for example. If you’ve got some cash, you can buy one of these high-traffic keyword domains and exponentially increase the traffic to your site. Two of the most popular auction houses for these domains are Afternic.com and GoDaddy.com.

Hopefully these tips will help you on your way to making money online. If you have further questions, email me at fred(at)webpublishing.me. If you’re still a Web newbie and you need advice on building your first Web site, visit my post, “A Guide for Newbies: How to Build a Web Site in 6 Easy Steps.” Want more ideas for making money online? Return home, or sign up for our email newsletter.