I have kept an eye on new monetization opportunities and the recovery of the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) industry for some time. You may be surprised to hear that I have not parked a single domain name in years. I decided to challenge myself this week to design a dream parking page; the ideal website framework for deploying landing pages for a portfolio of keyword domain names.
[Image: Nic McPhee, Wrapping one's head around the data, via Flickr Creative Commons]
I set out with a goal to create a page that hits-home on three of important aspects of domain development:
- Unique Content and SEO
- Automation
- Maximum Revenue Potential
My Dream Parking Page
The following mock-up shows my vision for a perfect domain parking page. A solution like this is what it would take to get me back in the game.
I created this concept page using a nifty application called MockingBird and will continue to edit my Dream Parking Page as new ideas and monetization opportunities present themselves.
Click image for full page mock-up.
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Unique Content and Search Optimization
It may not look like it, but this page can contain a large amount of unique content. The trick is that not all of it is displayed to users at once. Using well-formated list-styling with a little XHTML and CSS magic, the tabs can contain extensive resources, apps and information for visitors on-demand.
Parking pages and mini-sites face an SEO dilemma in that we would like to be more like a single landing page to convert as much traffic as possible into revenue through PPC or acquiring leads. The problem of delivering unique and fresh content to stay relevant on search engines then becomes an issue. For this reason, my dream parking page would be mostly one-page of content aside from an added Q&A application to take advantage of user-generated content.
Customization of navigation and other website element text is key to be able to include the domain keywords where appropriate. As you can see in the mock-up, there are keywords in all the major elements of the page including the title, slogan, tabs and search bar.
Automation
The main tabbed section can contain interactive applications such as the Amazon product feed shown. These popular products would update automatically based on a master keyword and can then be refined by the visitor.
Affiliate promotions and more content can be featured within the other tabs. I’ve shown an example of connecting to a daily deals network such as Groupon or LivingSocial affiliate programs.
All of the site elements would ideally be editable through a WordPress theme options panel or plugin. One could then use WordPress multi-site to create and manage pages for all of your domains.
Maximum Revenue
It doesn’t look like it, but almost every clickable element on my Dream Parking Page leads to a revenue generating source. Whether it’s referrals to Amazon products, Google AdSense or an affiliate offer, all exits lead to profits.
I have additionally included a prominent notice at the top-right of the page stating the website or domain may be for sale.
The are three advertising positions placed strategically for exposure and page flow. Most mini-sites typically use just two alloted AdSense units. The third position can be used for affiliate banners, direct advertising or an alternative ad network.
Additional site elements such as video and social buttons compliment and balance the advertising so that it isn’t overwhelming.
What would your dream parking page be like?
I would love to receive feedback on my mock-up. Maybe you have first-hand experience with domain parking optimization or can give advice from a user perspective. Any suggestions at all are welcome.
Let’s crowd-source the perfect domain parking page for 2011 and beyond. Please leave your suggestions and ideas in the comments area below.