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Domain name tasting a profitable concept every domainer, acquiring a large number of domains, should be involved in. This method can save a lot of money and prevent the acquisition of non-profitable domain names.
What is Domain Tasting?
According to ICANN, domain tasting is “a monetisation practice employed by registrants to use the AGP to register domain names in order to test their profitability. During this period, registrants conduct a cost-benefit analysis to see if the tested domain names return enough traffic to offset the registration fee paid to the registry over the registration period.”
In short, with domain tasting you can register a domain name, after it expired,
and over a period of 5 days test its profitability. If the domain name is
profitable in terms of traffic and income, you can keep the domain. If not, you
can simply cancel the registration and receive a refund on the registration fee,
minus a small service fee recently implemented.
Domain name tasting is not a new concept, but was limited to only a handful of
experienced and hardened traders, who conducted this practise unethically with
the cooperation of certain registrars. This lead to many unhappy newcomers and
concern by ICANN and other related domain authorities.
Recently ICANN imposed a service fee on every domain registered in the domain
tasting practise. This fee is paid when a domain name is registered and then
cancelled within the 5 AGP period. Eventually domain name tasting was made
available to the general public upon implementing this fee.
The fee imposed is a nominal fee and varies between registrars, some charging a
small fee of $0.03 per domain name cancelled and others up to $1 per domain name
cancelled. Despite this fee, it still makes this a very profitable practise to
test the profitability of a domain name before acquiring it.
Which Registrars Supports Domain Name Tasting?
Not many registrars support domain name tasting. It is advised that you study each providers terms, conditions and FAQ’s or contact them personally to determine whether they support this practise.
Current registrars supporting domain name tasting are:
Tip: Contact Moniker.com support and request them to lower the
fee from $1 to $0.25 for domain tasting. Quote code “dnf” as reference for this
special.
How do I 'Taste' Domains?
Firstly, very important, you only have 5 days in which you can taste a domain. If you decide not to keep the domain, it has to be cancelled before the 5 day period expires.
Your first step is to register the domain name as normal. You will also be
charged your registration fee for the domain as normal.
With immediate effect you should create a landing page for the domain name or
make use of a parking service provider. Here you should be in a position to
track the traffic to the domain name and also have the parked or landing page
monetized with advertising programs.
You also need to point your domain name immediately to the parked or landing
page.
Over the 5 days to follow you need to look at the statistics to determine the
daily unique and returning visits. You need to look at where visitors are coming
from, is it search engine traffic, links from other sites or type-in traffic.
Also take a look at the income generated from the advertising on the landing or
parked page. Do you have a good click through rate?
If you do not experience good traffic and little or none income, you will need
to cancel the domain before the 5 day period expires.
You will then receive a refund of the domain registration fee, minus the small
service fee charged by your registrar.
Note: Often these refunds are not returned to your credit card, but rather added as credit to your account at your registrar. This credit is always good when you register the next domain name.
