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GoldBullion.com: From Parked Domain To Developed Site That Is Profitable @ Launch

Posted by admin on Monday, March 5, 2012 · Leave a Comment 

On Friday GoldBullion.com launched and we could not be more pleased with it’s early success. It’s been a long time in the making and internally we’re referring to it as the GoldBullion.com BETA launch because there’s so much more coming with regard to the site. Currently our business model is to be the premiere precious metals directory on the internet. We offer individuals who are interested in investing in gold, silver and platinum with access to top precious metals dealers nationwide. We carefully screen all companies before accepting them into our directory. We also limit the amount of precious metals dealers to two per US county. The reason being is that by offering exclusivity, it allows us to focus our efforts on finding the best and most reputable precious metals dealers, instead of just trying to sign on as many as possible.

We also offer just three premium placements to national metals providers. In our research we have determined that there are two types of precious metals investors. Some individuals have no issue with and are comfortable ordering precious metal coins or gold bullion over the phone or through a website. Then there are the individuals who absolutely refuse to purchase anything without first being able to see it in person. That is precisely why we’re building a localized directory with highly screen precious metals dealers.

We’re really just scratching the surface here with what GoldBullion.com will offer consumers. There are a lot of other features that are in development and going to launch within the next 120 days. One thing that I think is really beneficial information for you the reader who might be interested in developing your parked domain into a real online business is the following.

GoldBullion.com while it has been in development for some time now, is officially just three days old. That being said I’m extremely pleased to announce that it is officially in the black (as in generating positive cash flow) already. We have not even started to market the directory to national advertisers yet, but regardless of that fact we were still quickly able to sign a few advertisers prior to launching. If you’re not seeing more than one ad or any listings in the local precious metals dealer directory when you visit the site, that’s because they’re pulled via GEO IP. Which means unless you’re in the county where one of our advertisers is, you won’t see their ad.

Now you might be asking yourself, how did you do that, just launch and yet still be profitable?

Well the directory business model has one glaring problem. It’s the chicken and egg scenario for sure, how does one attract advertisers to a new website that most likely does not have a massive amount of organic traffic because it is, well a new site. You could always do paid search campaigns, but that traffic is very expensive and often cost prohibitive especially for any new web based business who is just starting a campaign from scratch and competing in a crowded marketplace. Although I will say that there are often ways that with a flat rate monthly advertising model you can actually do paid search and not go into the red. But that’s for another post, or an SEM professional to explain to you.

In my opinion one of the best ways and what has worked well for GoldBullion.com is to lease highly targeted (re-direct) traffic from other sources while you build up your organic search rankings. The difficult and time consuming part of this scenario is that often you can’t find one or two sources who can provide you with the tens of thousands of visitors each month. Instead it’s usually five hundred here two thousand there (maybe). It’s a lot of research, emails and phone calls and sometimes it is just as cost prohibitive as paid search can be.

Also if you are able to acquire already existing websites with highly targeted traffic that will convert for your audience at an affordable price, well owning is much better than leasing. Be sure to research the proper way to handle turning that traffic over to your own site, because it’s not as simple as just doing a 301 at the domain level. I spent a lot of time finding keyword match domains, websites with traffic and leasing opportunities before I was able to secure enough traffic to ensure that it would not only back out for us but more importantly your advertisers. Currently we receive ten’s of thousands of unique visitors a month, much of it thanks to what I’m describing.

Posting today or tomorrow on Domain Sherpa is an interview I did with Michael Cyger where I go into further detail about my experiences with the process of finding the right traffic and securing it for your website. There are a lot of variables that can make the process difficult and in some cases not an easy solution. But in my opinion it’s well worth the effort and it certainly has allowed us to go to market immediately and offer advertisers a great solution even before we have a large amount of organic traffic.

One thing that I need to make very very clear is that you must make it your number one goal to find traffic that will convert for your advertisers. Because if you are leasing traffic or purchasing domains and or websites with loosely related traffic you won’t have advertisers for long. It needs to convert not just for you, but your advertisers well.

I’m always cracking stupid puns around the office so I’ll leave you with this one since it’s applicable to the scenario here.

With any business where you have actual clients and customers don’t cut corners just to make more money immediately, instead apply the “Golden Rule” (<——- There’s the pun) to anything you do and treat your customers exactly how you would want to be treated.

Thanks to my grandparents for teaching me that rule a long time ago.

Best of luck with your endeavors and if you know of a reputable precious metals dealer be sure to tell them to check out www.GoldBullion.com

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