I recently added a couple ccTLD’s to my smallish ccTLD portfolio. I am excited about these pickups as they are strong keyword domains that I was able to acquire at a good value.
Domain: AcneRemoval.us
How acquired: eBay NR auction
Gsmv: broad = 40,500 exact = 8,100
3 Month Goal: noomle minisite $3/mo ppc + affiliate
Domain: SportsTherapy.us
How acquired: Hand register
Gsmv: broad = 60,500 phrase = 33,000
3 Month Goal: End user sale
Domain: PokerChips.tv
How acquired: NamePros (price withheld)
Gsmv: broad = 450,000 exact = 201,000
3 Month Goal: undecided (development w/ branding or resale?)
I don’t personally think these are good investments because the .us country code is not popular like other country codes.
In other countries, country codes are king, but in the U.S., .com is king and takes the place of the country code.
I have been watching the number of registrations of .us domains for about 5 months and comparing them with .info registrations. The .info domains are being registered almost 5 times as much.
I like the .TV suffix but don’t know how popular they will become. I think this suffix is ideal for creating television networks online but the registration fee is steep.
Thanks for the honest feedback Allen. I agree United States does not utilize it’s ccTLD quite as heavily as many other countries. That does not mean that it won’t though. The internet is still young, so are country code TLD’s.
Hey Mike:
I agree with you, just because a suffix isn’t popular today doesn’t mean it won’t be popular tomorrow. This is exactly why I have invested heavily in .info; I believe this is the ideal suffix for directories. It can tie all of the suffixes together into one worldwide directory.
The web is supposed to be worldwide in nature and it should be easy to find things around the world quickly. The generic terms under .info should be turned into targeted directories and businesses should pay on a pay-per-click basis to get traffic from these directories.
I put my money where my mouth is. Tell me what you think of this theory. But before you do, look at some of the directories I have created and then comment. Go to the following website: http://www.WebDirectory.info.
Once you go there, look at the directories under the statement: “Please Make A Selection”.
Allen,
Thanks for sharing! I never really saw the purpose of .info being for directories, however I understand your thinking. Do you have any businesses paying per click on this model? I like what you have done with your .info portfolio in building a nice network of portals on excellent generic domain names!
My concerns with building directories for ppc is that search engines usually find what you are looking for, faster. Honestly, if I land on a directory site after from clicking a google search my instinct is to click the ‘back’ button and keep searching via google. The other problem is the enormous amount of legwork it takes to recruit customers, site updates, drive traffic, etc..
Anyway, back on track.. I am glad we agree that just because a suffix isn’t popular today doesn’t mean it won’t be tomorrow. Good luck!
Best,
Mike
Mike:
Thanks for your input. To answer your questions, I do not have customers yet; Here is my plan.
1. I am going to put a “News & Articles” prompt on each one of these sites. This will give personnel in those industries up to date news information and articles.
2. I will then offer customers free listings to build up traffic and awareness. This should be especially effective on the Restaurant Equipment website. It is designed to be a central market-place for restauranteurs to list their equipment for sale.
3. Once traffic builds up, I will then charge for premium listings.
With respect to people back clicking once they see a directory, that is interesting to me; I don’t think everyone is like that. I think the key to my concept is to build high-quality sites that are easy to find at a central location: the WebDirectory.
I think these directories will be very effective because I am concentrating on building dirctories in fields that don’t have directories (most of them anyway). Furthermore, they are designed to serve as directories for the world.
I hear what you say about it being easier to find information using Google, but I don’t think everyone honestly feels the same way. Searching for information via Google can be time consuming and people are in a hurry.
-Allen