7 Year Itch

On August 19th 2000, I launched David-Carter.com. Back then I didn't know what I would do with the domain, or whether I could ever make a living online.

This site has been the backbone of my domaining work, though I don't pay it that much attention and don't put much effort into it.

I think that the fact it's been around so long is the key to it's high ranking in Google and other search engines, but it's not what it used to be - in the early days of it's launch, I could get this site top ten ranked for just about any search term I wanted.

I was just looking back at an archived page (you can too - www.archive.org) and though embarrassingly amateurish, there is no doubt that this site laid much of the foundation for what I learned and put into practice along the way.

On the old front page, I asked this question;

"What is the number one site on Alta Vista for the search term, "Domain Name Resales"?

The answer was David-Carter.com because at that time, it was easy to get top ranking.

I remember being number one for "search engine placement" and "top ten search engine placement" at one time too - which must have really pissed off those people who made a living at that kind of thing.

Somehow, I doubt that I could replicate this now in such a competetive market, which is why I now concentrate on specific vertical markets where I know there is little SEO educated competition.

All along, I have held the belief that domain names hold the key to making a successful living online.

Each one I own represents a business opportunity - either right now or at some point in the future.

This is the reason that I won't sell my names cheaply. Unlike many of the tyre kickers who come enquiring after my names, I have already seen the potential in them. I also know how to develop them, promote them and get them highly ranked in search engines.

So why sell that cheaply?