By Keith White - Marketing Associate, Sedo.com
Having provided customer support at Sedo in the past, I know that a lot of people – both beginners and seasoned pros – don't realize the full potential of many products and services Sedo offers. Since this is the 10th month of 2010, I've compiled a list of – you guessed it! – ten practices you should work into your domain plan. Whether you buy, park, or sell with us, read on for ways you can do more with Sedo.
Tip 1: List and park to sell (for free!).
Sedo has over 1 million active members, so it only makes sense to list ALL your domains for sale on the world's largest international marketplace. With no listing fees and no obligation to use Sedo exclusively, I'm surprised when I talk to a member who doesn't take advantage of this free service. If you want to sell more, then also park ALL your unused domains. Parking is one of the smartest ways to help buyers find your domains and to possibly make some extra money or build up your rainy day fund. After listing your domains in your account, simply redirect traffic to Sedo, do some optional tweaking, and voila – a hopefully happier, healthier wallet!
Tip 2: Prepare and promote your domains.
I've heard time and time again from buyers that it can be tough to make an offer on a domain when limited information is available. As a seller, you should help buyers by making sure each of your offer pages has 1) a clear, reasonable, and accurate listing price; and 2) a description outlining relevant information such as registration costs, potential uses, etc. If you want even more success, try setting a fixed price that stays in range of the average sales price of the domain you're selling. Studies show that buyers prefer an easy buy it now option.
As a seller, you can also generate more attention for your domains with featured listings. Choose a homepage listing for maximum exposure to a wide audience, or choose a category showcase to place your domain in front of a more targeted group. Our stats show that a featured listing can improve a domain's chance of receiving offers by up to five times. And buyers: always start with featured domains, because sellers who feature their domains are usually very responsive to reasonable offers.
Tip 3: Search to the max.
You may have heard that Sedo recently raised the bar on domain marketplace search. While maintaining many of the features you love, the improved tool offers a few new goodies:
• Saved search: When you complete a search, you can save it for later. Like the slice of cake from the restaurant that you just couldn't finish, when you return, all the goodness is still there. Use this feature and find domains on your terms and schedule.
• RSS: If you aren't using RSS, and even if you are, this is one feature you shouldn't miss. Your RSS reader or browser takes a saved search and updates it regularly so you can easily find new domains that meet your criteria without repeating your search.
• Auto-updates: Domain auctions can be wildly successful, but tracking bids can also be daunting. To address this, we've built auto-updating of bid prices directly into the search results. Now you don't even have to visit an offer page or refresh your browser to see all bidding activity in real time.
• Semantics: Everyone – from students writing high school essays to savvy domain professionals – needs a thesaurus from time to time, and now there's one designed with only one purpose: to help you find exactly the domain you want.
Tip 4: Trust the negotiation experts.
One question I've seen and heard repeatedly from both buyers and sellers is "How much is this domain worth?" As the industry-leading marketplace for domains, you can bet that we have the answer. Sedo's paid appraisals give you an overview of the quantitative and qualitative factors that affect a domain's worth and are a necessity for sellers AND buyers who want to reach a fair agreement. If you've listed domains for sale, you may have overlooked Sedo's Price Suggestion Tool; this handy, free tool is built into your Domain Management console and recommends a price range or an exact price for each domain.
Speaking of appraisals, nobody knows the domain industry better than my colleagues on Sedo's brokerage team. When you find that a domain is not listed for sale, don't lose hope! My advice is to request the assistance of a broker. Your broker researches the domain and negotiates on your behalf with the current owner. The same is true for those of you who find negotiations difficult or a bit out of your skill set. All it takes sometimes to get an owner and a buyer to find common ground is a bit of assistance from one of Sedo's brokers.
Tip 5: Buy domains for bigger business.
I cannot say it enough: domains are hands-down a fantastic way to grow your business with more traffic, more leads, and more value for less money. You may not know it, but your business needs at least one solid domain name to flourish. Most domains cost less than common forms of advertising, such as billboards or print ads, and can dramatically improve search engine optimization (SEO) with less or no additional spending.
Consider the story of Fly.com. When Travel Zoo acquired the domain in 2009, 85% of the domain’s traffic came from direct navigation (meaning of 33,000 visitors, 30,000 found the domain by typing "fly.com" into their browsers). Generic domains like this are the Internet's wunderkinds; search for "fly" on Google, and you'll see why this investment – and ones like it – are valuable for any business. It's no wonder other companies like Bank of America (loans.com) and Barnes & Noble Booksellers (books.com) rely on descriptive domains to drive traffic and produce leads.
Tip 6: Join the GreatDomains, Premium, or Themed Auction action.
If you're the seller of a short, generic domain, you should apply for one of these auction events (just remember that not all domains will qualify). If you're a buyer, especially one looking for a domain for a business, you should keep a close eye on Sedo's auctions. All domains in one of these auctions have reasonable reserve prices and are hand-picked to be relevant for businesses or portfolios of all sizes.
Sedo's Low & No Reserve Auction this month is just one opportunity for buyers to find business-ready domains without "breaking the bank."
Tip 7: Watch domains and subscribe to updates.
Domain and Keyword Watchlists are built into Sedo's search tool and your Buyer Control Panel. You can track individual domains, or keep tabs on new additions to Sedo's marketplace based on keywords you select. Both are easy to set up and can keep you from missing out on the perfect opportunity.
If you want to stay on top of what's happening at Sedo, you should also make sure you receive promotional emails concerning auction events and other specials. If this article was forwarded to you by a friend or you found it on Sedo's website, you should sign up for Sedo's future monthly newsletters. We make sure that every email we send is geared to help you make smarter investment decisions and take full advantage of Sedo's services. Adjust your email preferences today by visiting My Sedo > My Account > Account Settings.
Tip 8: Get paid (faster) with direct deposit or PayPal.
Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a lot of other things (such as more domains or featured listings). If you park or sell domains with Sedo, consider using faster, more reliable payment methods to get more of your money sooner. If you're located in the US, you can sign up for direct deposit for nearly-instant and extremely secure payments.
If you're not in the US or don't feel comfortable sharing your bank details, try PayPal. PayPal is fast and available almost everywhere, and Sedo covers the fees to send you money. Just imagine it: no waiting for checks to deposit, and no hefty fees.
Tip 9: Protect yourself with Domain Escrow.
If you buy or sell domains through Sedo's marketplace or brokerage services, you're already blessed with the protection of our secure domain escrow. What you may not know is that we also offer external escrow services, or escrow for sales or purchases outside of Sedo. Think of this as a guarantee against loss and a way to help make sure everyone walks away from an agreement happy. Better yet, external escrow is available for only a 3% fee based on the sales price.
Tip 10: Stay savvy, Sedo member.
Get in the know with at-a-glance marketplace activity, including sales prices, current auction bids, featured domains, and more, all on the Market Activity page. It's the place to be if you're new to domains or want to gain a better understanding of the marketplace right now.
Or, if you agree that sometimes hindsight is 20/20, check out the Market Trends page for a breakdown of past sales. We also archive Sedo's Quarterly Market Studies, more thorough reports of market activity.
Do some light reading at Sedo's Customer Support Center (CSC). Think of the CSC as your companion guide to everything Sedo. Our FAQs are managed by our in-house support specialists and contain a wealth of knowledge about all of our products and services that you won't find anywhere else!