I have been flipping domains for nearly 10 years now and along the way I have made mistakes. These tips should help you avoid my mistakes and give you an insight into the industry.
Typos
Typo domains can be very tempting when you first start out flipping domain. They are easy to find unregistered and it’s easy to convince yourself that a Reebok are going to buy the domain Reeebok.co.uk of you for £10,000. Honestly, they probably won’t. Most people navigate to sites using search engines and typo domains are becoming increasing irrelevant.
This crosses into a niche called “Typosquatting” where a typo domain is bought with the prime objective of redirecting the user through affiliate links or adverts. (e.g. Reeebok.co.uk being redirected to an affiliate site selling Reebok trainers) This is a slightly dodgy area to operate in and I can’t imagine this will be a very long-term income stream.
American spelling
I have fallen for this on a few occasions. You start by seeing a great domain that is coming-up for suspension and drop. It ranks highly for search traffic and keywords. You register it quickly and soon realise you have bought the American spelling version of a .co.uk domain. (e.g. Theatre.co.uk vs Theater.co.uk ). It’s always worth double checking before pulling the trigger on a domain purchase.
Trademarks
Please don’t be tempted with Trademark domains and always check for trademarks before purchasing a domain. If you start registering trademark domains you can quickly find yourself getting legal letters or Nominet disputes landing on your desk. Take my advice – it’s not worth the hassle.
Dashes/hyphen domains
Hyphenated domains may look tempting at first glance. They can tick a lot of boxes. Full of juicy keywords and usually free to register, but they’re free to register for a reason. Nobody really wants them for their business. Don’t waste your time or your money trying to flip domains with hyphens in. Simple.
Forgetting to renew domains
Once you start domain flipping regularly you will build-up a portfolio of domains. These may be listed for sale and not yet sold or you are waiting to sell. Be careful with organising your portfolio and check the renewal dates on your domains. These little tips have helped me keep my domains renewed regularly:
- Register for 2 years or more if you are worried about renewals
- Keep your payment card details up-to-date with your domain registrar (e.g. Namecheap, GoDaddy etc)
- Review your portfolio regularly to ensure domains are not expiring or suspended.
