The Benefits of Collecting Domain Traffic Statistics

If you made the choice to sell your home, your real estate agent would take photos of the property; research similar recent sales; make notes about its best qualities; and create an appealing listing for potential buyers. You would explain what it’s like to live in the neighborhood.

If it’s quiet, you’ll mention that, as your home might appeal to older buyers.  If it’s near a great shopping center, it could be perfect for a family.  And a home with busy traffic activity could unfavorably affect the value of your home. Many people have made the comparison between physical real estate and domain names.  However unlike homes, your domain is one-of-a-kind and you can’t replace it with exactly the same domain in a different neighborhood. So how do you show potential buyers the benefits of owning your particular domain over others?   Traffic is one good reason. At Media Options, we do a lot of research.

A good domain name broker understands that each domain is unique, and there are just as many unique end users for them.  We use our trade knowledge of practical applications and brandability for each premium domain and we think outside the box.  You, as the owner, can help prepare for the sale by informing your domain name broker what it’s like in the neighborhood. You do this by monitoring traffic in the area.  And thankfully, that’s one area where domains differ from physical real estate.  We want traffic!  We love it!  The more the better!

Traffic statistics can give us more information with which to sell your domain.

Potential buyers may want to know: Who is visiting?  Where are they coming from?  What are they looking for?  By having this information at the ready, we are armed for such questions. We can further educate a potential buyer about your domain name value.

You can collect statistics for your domain in one of two ways:

I need to discuss the domain I own!

1.  You could set up a site with a domain host, and publish a static page with some custom content related to the domain’s main keywords.  Then you can set up free Google Analytics on the site to collect traffic statistics while the domain is being marketed.  Outsourcing is a great way to get this done with minimum expense and time investment. 2.  You could park your domain with one of the many parking companies that will place ads on the site, from which you make revenue for each click produced.   If your site generates revenue, that could be an additional selling point for a potential buyer.

Which Stats are Important?

There are three areas for which many buyers request stats:

• Total traffic – number of visitors to your site.  This will fluctuate from month to month.
• Keyword searches – what are people typing into the search box on search engine sites to find your domain?  Are they branded or non-branded keywords?  One-word domains and non-branded keywords create a higher domain name value (think “domain brokers”) over branded keywords (think “Media Options”) due to the stiff competition against other sites vying for the same general keyword.
• Referrers – which sites are sending visitors your way?  Are there any recurring themes from those sites?  Are they related to a subject commonly associated with your domain, or are there some verticals that could be further explored with respect to potential buyers?

All of this information can help us, as your domain broker, to valuate and create a sales strategy for your particular virtual property.  Just like you don’t have to paint your front door to sell your home, you don’t have to have this info in order to get started with Media Options. But, it gives us a snapshot of what it’s like in the neighborhood, and could help us sell your domain to the perfect end user for the best possible price.