However, you will be surprised to discover that much of the Direct Navigation Traffic for Palm Springs golf is pre-qualified even before it enters the site through the front page.

The reason is because, in the Geodomain world, PalmSprings.com is considered the Primary Geodomain for Palm Springs (PalmSpringsGolf.com, PalmSpringsHotels.com, etc are valuable Secondary Geodomains).

Many people will go straight to the Primary Geodomain even if they already know the sub-category they want. In other words, people interested in Palm Springs golf will go directly to PalmSprings.com first over PalmSpringsGolf.com, PalmSpringsHotels.com, PalmSpringsRealEstate.com, etc.

We also see this with Nashville.com, Acapulco.com, LagunaBeach.com etc.

Didn’t mean to go off topic. My original point that I’m trying to get at is that rationalizing a high purchase price of a name with little type in traffic by saying it could result in a big $ sale is a bit illogical.

Even if PPC and SEO converted at a 10% rate of the type in traffic, you could still create that traffic on any domain for a fraction of the price through other methods.

I rationalize the purchase price in a case like this in being able to own the category.

I’ll take a break from this argument for a while

***SMO***

I understand your point of view now. And this is still not arguing. I agree with you, you can create the same quality traffic on any domain with effective content on a budget. It really just comes down to the amount of work you are willing to invest as an enduser. A domain with direct navigation gives you additional visitors for no extra work, adding value to a domain. There is more than one way to skin a cat to acheive online success, that is what makes the domain industry so interesting. Thanks for sharing you insight!

Good info.

One question though, when you say traffic through PalmSprings.com, where were those people coming from and going to?

People who were on palmsprings.com and who then go into the reservation center have prequalified themselves based on their surfing around your site. If you owned the domain name palmspringsgolf.com that would be a better comparison in this specific case.

Maybe I don’t understand how the system worked so I may be off.

As far as the traffic from a domain, some of these domains that started the conversation have little to no traffic (4 word real estate domains). My generic I referenced has been built out and on some days gets 2,000 visits, 90% from natural search, 6% from other sites and 4% direct (and i don’t trust the google direct numbers for a second). PPC is indeed gone forever, but natural SEO pays dividends (for my sites at least) far greater than type ins.

I do agree with your point about the psychology of the type in and the advantage it has in that sense.

***SMO***

Gordon,

I am a bit confused with your comment here. I gave an example of TaylorTexasRealestate.com (with little traffic) to give readers an understanding of quality traffic converting to big dollar transactions, where as PPC failed to convert. It was a post about the quality of traffic geo domains deliver. I have much better examples I can give with much better geo domains, but that is not the point. This was an undeveloped domain that was redirected and converted. I thought the message I was communicating was clear, maybe not.

Natural search engine traffic was never discussed in the original post. What you are talking about is a developed domain with SEO and natural search engine traffic, which is a completely off topic subject. SEO definitely pays dividends, and great content will deliver even more quality traffic that will convert.

Either way, your input is welcomed, but please do not mislead the conversation in a different direction as to confuse readers. Please stay on topic.

The deciding experience for us was when we had the GolfClub.com reservation center. For three weeks, Michael and I decided to pay Google and Yahoo to have the #1 listing for the phrase Palm Springs Golf. It cost us about $3,000, but it was an eye opening experience.

Simply put, there was no comparison in the conversion ratio between Google, Yahoo and the traffic coming from PalmSprings.com. PalmSprings.com blew them both out of the water at a 150% higher conversion rate.

As far as organic search traffic vs direct navigation goes, it gets a little better, but (in our 12 years of experience) direct navigation still easily wins. Why? My answer is psychology. When someone goes directly to our Nashville.com or Whisky.com there is a pre-expectation of what they’ll find. Satisfy that expectation (through content) and you instantly become the “authority” for that name. I would take 100 type-in traffic over 100 search traffic any day of the week. To attain search traffic all you need to do is learn SEO. But type-in? That’s a world of difference. That’s the public voting that you own the brand.

Lastly, there is branding and ownership of an asset that never stops giving (and whose intuitive traffic can easily be compounded through content and SEO). Whatever you pay in PPC is gone forever. Trying to stamp a brand into the public’s consciousness through PPC is ludicrous. It would cost millions (if it were possible). On the other hand, with PalmSprings.com we owned the brand from Day 1.

***SMO***

David,

Very well said!

Steve, can you elaborate whether the transaction numbers you gave for your wife was pre 2006 or post ‘06. AND, if these are pre 2006 numbers how do they compare today. Thanks!

***SMO***

Alex,

Thank you. These stats were late 2005 thru 2006. She left Austin to join me in North Carolina, so I have no stats to provide for 2007. I can tell you that all the geo domains I bought for her have increased type-in traffic, which continues to amaze me. We will head back to Austin soon enough and plug back in to an already proven system. That is the best part about industry geo domains if you are in the business. They continue to keep giving. Now the names are earning a few dollars on PPC, which would take a 1000 years and more to earn what they did when things were live.

Thank goodness the realestate market is not going anywhere for a long time! As you already know, that is where my true passion is with geo domains. I recently (last month) completed a transaction for 50% of RealestateClassifieds.com and RealestateClassified.com and as the manager of the domains future development. It was a good deal for both of us involved in this deal and I am very pleased with the negotiations that took place to make it a reality. As I have said many times before, 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.

I love generic names. I love geo names. But I love them for different reasons.

We obviously disagree, but I honestly don’t think there is a big difference in the quality of the traffic between type-ins to a domain and a hyper targeted PPC campaign. Give me a google campaign on exact match, no content network, no “lookie-loo” type terms and add in some geotargeting and I think you can do just as well. The difference imo is that by owning the domain you appear to be the leader in the field / area and you have credibility.

Here is one of my (admittedly non geo) examples.

Consumer product super-generic domain.

Bounce rate from direct traffic: 42.43%
Bounce rate from google natural search of generic term: 28%

Based on the above example, natural search traffic is significantly better for me than type-in traffic.

Don’t mean to just come over here and argue with you over this, as you have obviously had success here. I just see so much hype sometimes on people thinking that 100 type in visitors is somehow so much better than 100 search engine visitors (which can often be had for a small fraction of the price) I need to share my personal experiences as well.

***SMO***

Your view is more than welcomed Gordon, this is an open forum to learn from each other. It is not arguing, unless you say something about my momma

I think you misread my post. I did not say PPC does not work in general. (I agree with you that PPC can work better than the domain traffic in many cases, even in conjuction with a generic domain) PPC oviously works on many, many, other fronts(otherwise google.com would be lying about revenue gains this quarter), but does not do so well with the realestate industry for the small business owner. The major brokers and realestate companies do great at PPC because they have the staff to work every lead even if it is a dead lead. Agents are eager to get anything for free and work it until it converts or until it is dead because getting clients your first year is very hard. Most realtors never make it past the first year. Those who do, found a system that works for them. Additionally, big RE companies have a large budget and can afford window shoppers. I am not talking about corporate America when I am discussing PPC in this post and the realestate industry. I talking about the small business owner in the realestate industry.

PPC ads are science projects. You have to consistently experiment with words to find what works best to draw the most qualified lead/buyer, not just traffic. They definitely deliver traffic, but the potency level is what brings value, not eyeballs.

I guess my question to you is out of your experiences, What percentage of your PPC traffic converted to a transaction? How much converted with direct navigation to your domain? I think you will find the true answer to your scenario and what works best by answering and comparing the answers to these 2 questions. Traffic is useless if it does not convert into a transaction for a product or service being sold, I think we can all agree? PPC definitely works with the right platform/industry/service/product.

Additionally, a generic domain is great/outstanding and very valuable, but in the real world, branding, content, site design, and customer service will determine if you are the leader of an industry on the internet, not the domain name. Domainers are not in touch with reality in alot of ways when they assume a generic domain puts you as a leader of the industry. A generic domain only levels the playing field to compete with the big boys/gals. Society has proven they could care less about a generic domain, the only thing they care about are the things outlined above(branding, content, site design, and customer service).

In the end, you are the only one that can decide which works best for your online strategy. For me, PPC did poorly (Even though I tried a variety of science projects) for the realestate industry after spending thousands. Location is another factor. I am sure I would do outstanding with PPC in a small country town, versus a very competitive market. I guess I should have stated that, because this is an important factor when dealing with PPC success.

This is why we have purchased GEOs and high quality targeted vertical keywords for the new company. BanquetFacilities.com, BanquetRoom.com, EventCatering.com, CateringServices.net, Videographers.net, WeddingPhotographers.net, PortraitPhotographers.com, Photographers.TV, FitnessTrainers.net, HomeImprovementProjects.com, TermiteInspections.com, LandscapeContractors.net, LawnMaintenance.net, BathroomRemodeling.com, ReceptionHalls.TV, DiscJockeys.TV, PestControl.TV, Contractor.TV, Landscaper.TV, and the GEO .TVs we own.

Tougher to develop, because we need to build out each site instead of developing one large site.

But the ability to micro-target each vertical with optimal SEO and content has reduced the business risk of being 100% dependent on buying clicks.

Now we can optimize each vertical and go deeper than we could with enhanced parking pages while targeting better than a single site.

Same concept would apply with GEOs or verticals.

The real winner strategy is overlaying GEO and vertical owning LLL.com and BaltimoreLLL.com