Monetisation is the best use of a generic domain

[Shane]

One, rubbish seems a bit harsh. financialplanners.com.au ranks 3 for the keyword financial planners and it seems you at least got some interest plus as you say some seo benefit.

How many referrals would you need to make your $200 back?

How do you reckon it compares cost and benefit wise to other advertising you did?

If the directory isn't on the first page of Google then the cost should be a hell of a lot lower which is probably why hotfrog is free. Naturaltherapies you will notice also does a lot of ppc where they don't rank.

As always cost v benefit. A couple of hundred is peanuts compared to yellow pages though I'd rather spend a couple hundred on a mini site.

It's all good and well that they're on page 1, but it doesn't mean a thing if it doesn't provide any leads. Not a single contact in almost a year...

Compare that to my own website (which I built entirely myself) which has been consistently delivering around 8 leads every day!

So I stand by my statement - the OMG directly listing has been rubbish.

 

[Timmy]

Was gunna say, ROI on $200 at least involves 1 sale

 

[Bacon Farmer]

It's all good and well that they're on page 1, but it doesn't mean a thing if it doesn't provide any leads. Not a single contact in almost a year...

How do you know how many phone calls or website visits came from financialplanners.com.au?

So being a financial planner you charge about $250 per hour, how long did it take to put your website together?

8 leads a day is fantastic well done - I'm not taking the piss. The search numbers for financial planning aren't huge so that is really good.

I just had a quick squiz and it seems your site is listed on multiple (probably hundreds) omg sites including business.com.au - do you think the seo benefit might be why your site gets so many?

 

[Shane]

How do you know how many phone calls or website visits came from financialplanners.com.au?

So being a financial planner you charge about $250 per hour, how long did it take to put your website together?

8 leads a day is fantastic well done - I'm not taking the piss. The search numbers for financial planning aren't huge so that is really good.

I just had a quick squiz and it seems your site is listed on multiple (probably hundreds) omg sites including business.com.au - do you think the seo benefit might be why your site gets so many?

I ask every single person I speak to how they heard about my business, right down to how they found my website. I get plenty of different responses, but I've never had one from an online directory.

Furthermore, the website that is listed on the OMG sites is not where all my leads come from, so the SEO benefit isn't really relevant.

76% of my leads come from Google organic search, with the remainder being split between word of mouth and referral partners.

I'm not concerned about the money, because in the scheme of things it's nothing, but I'm just saying that from my personal experience it's been a waste of time.

 

[Bacon Farmer]

Ok I see where you're coming from, you get lots of traffic from keywords - "occupation" + "product". Whereas financialplanners .com.au, whilst being number 3 in google for financial planners, gets bugger all traffic in comparison.

I'm not surprised you are kicking arse. Nice work.

 

[Shane]

I would guess that their site gets 100+ times more traffic than mine, but at least mine is mine.

 

[Shane]

I just had a look at financialplanners.com.au and now my business is listed on the front page as a featured listing! Haha, is someone from OMG reading the forums?

 

[snoopy]

I'm just putting this out there, you can throw rocks at me after.

I believe that monetisation of a generic domain, in the form of PPC or directory listing model is a fairer use of a domain than a single 'related business' owning said asset for self promotion.

Eg. If Plumbers.com.au was owned by someone who allows all plumbers to advertise / be listed (for a fee or otherwise) it is fairer than AAA Plumbing Co of Victoria* using it just to advertise their business who only service the Melbourne CBD area.

I really hate how the term 'monetisation' is used and seems to be a dirty word when talking about domain names.

I believe every .com.au website is created for the purpose of monetisation no matter what you do with it, because if you were a business legitimately buying under policy, then no business spends money making a website just for shits and giggles, every website is created to make money (which by 'make money' is my interpretation of the term 'monetisation').

Can anyone give me an example of a policy compliant, .com.au purchase they consider not to be "monetised"?

*Fictional business

I agree with most of what you've said, but who cares about the concept of "fair", owning good quality domains is all about trying to get some sort of "monopoly like" advantage, by getting a high ranking on google, by having the best name in the area, by getting type in traffic that others can't compete with etc, by owning a domain that many people will really want to buy as opposed to lesser quality domains.

People should be able to do what the heck they like with a domain as long as it doesn't infringe TM's in my view. Who knows why AUDA feels the need to have a debate about monetization or leasing, very behind the times. Actually I think I do know why, I think it is a legacy from the nanny state system that .com.au has and I think continues to reside under.

 

[cherrytron]

Oh of course Snoop, don't get me wrong, I am no way against 1 person/business/entity owning a domain like plumbers.com.au for shameless self promotion.

I was just going on about how some people "hate" monetisation and directory type sites, but that is a legitimate business model and still quite a level playing field if people miss out on the domain, they can still buy ads on it if they think it is valuable.

Realistically, people should be more mad about a single company/entity "hogging" the best generics just for themselves, rather than companies like OMG "monetising" premium generics with directory sites.

I guess the actual question that comes out of my belief, do you think it is better for the Australian public that One (no pun intended) financial planner to own financialplanners.com.au for self promotion or is it better for the community as a whole if it is a directory that lists a lot?

All I am saying is, there is nothing wrong with monetisation, I don't know why it is a dirty word.