You probably have some parked domains, probably quite a few of them. Have you taken the time to look at what is on those pages? Have you looked at the parked page of other people’s domains?
On parked pages, you will usually find a list of related topics or related searches, related to the topic of the domain name. These can be useful hints for domain name ideas. It is likely that those related topics have ad inventory which is why the parking company show them.
Take for example energydemand.com, a parked page. A list of related searches on the page suggests:
- Energy Discussion
- Demand Response
- Utility Bills
- Energy Forum
- Energy Info
- Global Energy
- Energy Demand
- Energy Supply
- Energy Star Home
- Energy Solution
Copy the list into a domain registrar which can handle lists e.g. Moniker.com (look for the link for multiple domains at the end of the register domain page). If it doesn’t paste properly, usually pasting to notepad first will get rid of any formatting that is getting in the way. Copy from notepad then to your registrar. In these examples, the names are all taken.
The parked page hopping game
You can now put in another domain name you are thinking of or you can play the parked page hopping game. This involves taking the list of domain names that are already taken (example: last one in list above - energysolution.com) and then looking at those in the browser and making lists from them if they are parked. If they are not parked, then look through the pages for phrases and terms that could be used for domain names.
Not all parking companies are the same
You will probably find a lot of parked pages using this technique so either you will stumble across a term or phrase that hasn’t been taken or it will inspire you to come up with a unique name. As a byproduct, you will also see how the quality of parked pages varies and it varies a lot. How relevant are the links shown to the domain name topic? You will learn that not all parking companies are the same and not all parked pages are the same. Exercising some control over what appears on your parked pages can help optimize your CTR. Do not be afraid to change parking companies and look at examples of their parked pages before you sign up.
Pass it on
You may find you are quickly going to new topics playing this game. Like the game Pass it on or Telephone, where a phrase is whispered from one person to another and the phrase changes through errors to give amusing results, you will find topics changing quite rapidly. Here how related the topics are determines how fast you will switch topics. My journey took me from the energy topic above to insurance to photos to pets. Pets are hugely popular and social networking is big so what about combining them?
This yielded MyPetRabbitPhotos.com, MyPetHedgehog.com, MyDigitalPet.com and MyPetMice.com as available. Not good type-in domains but they could be good niche websites. This was over a period of 20-25 minutes exploration.
Domaining is often about being creative and when writers get writers block they use various techniques to get around it. This game of domain name “pass it on” can start to inspire you again.
Maintaining creativity
Another trick is to not censor yourself when exploring. By dividing the process into uncensored exploration and then critical evaluation, you will find many more opportunities over time. Initially write down all the names you come up with that are available and don’t judge them. Keep writing until you feel you have run out of time or you have run out of ideas.
Take that list and now start going through the names. Yes, there will be a lot that you can just throw away. You will look at some and wonder what you were thinking but it is OK. Keep prioritizing until you have some that you think are keepers. Now put those away for one day - sleep on it and then come back and re-evaluate. If you still think they are great, register them. Why wait? Well the excitement can result in impulse buying which you will regret later.
If you do find a real gem, do register it immediately but these are rare finds.
Happy domaining.
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