If you have not heard anything about typo domains yet, let me explain what it is. It’s when you buy domains which are common typos of another known domain, so that you can either redirect it to your affiliate link or simply steal traffic from your competitor. 😈
I have tried this already, but I haven’t explored the whole of it yet. I only tried it to make some web hosting affiliate sales. A few months ago, I owned typos of the domain “hostgator.com”. I think I had three or four. Guess what? I managed to refer 7 people in one month (that’s $75 per person for a total of $525), and I spent less than $40 for the domains!
Instead of killing myself by writing persuasive sales letters and sending numerous e-mails to everyone I knew, I went the “effortless way”. I bought domains and… ta-da! Profits rolled in.
The use of typo domains is not limited to gaining affiliate sign-ups; you can also use it to steal visitors from your dreaded competitors, redirect typos of your own domains to your main sites, and so on. Actually, the only limit is your creativity on how you’re going to use them!
So, I think some of you are already going to buy dozens of domains right now. But wait! Let’s weigh out the pros and cons of this method before you do so. I’ll let you decide later whether it’s worth implementing or not.
Why They’re Worth It
First, typo domains have the potential to reel in BIG profits. As I had mentioned a while ago, I owned some typo domains of hostgator.com. Sure, I could have just marketed my way into getting sign-ups, but I chose to sit back, relax, and wait for people to bring themselves to my domains.
You can easily convert big sites’ traffic into your own traffic. Imagine if YouTube didn’t have a policy about typo domains (I’m not sure if they have.), you owned yiutube.com, yputube.com, toutube.com, and youyube.com, and then you redirected them to your own video site. I reckon hundreds of thousands of people would be flocking over your site in a day!
You can STEAL your competitors’ traffic. I know this is an evil thing to do, but usually marketers are evil so… you get the point. If your competitor’s domain is bum-marketer.com and he’s getting 10,000 visitors a day, maybe you should get bun-marketer.com or something similar to steal around least 10% of his visitors. 😉
You may be able to sell them for more than 100% profit. I strongly believe that there are people who want to own all typo domains of their sites — and they pay a fortune just to get them! If this is the case, then more typo domains equals more money for you.
Why They’re Not Worth It
You never know, a lawsuit can be filed against you! There are people who can file lawsuits if you buy certain typos of their domains, so I guess it’s better to not get the $100 you can earn from the domain than to shell our $x,xxx for a lawyer.
Some typo domains just don’t bring in conversions. Even if you buy all the typo domains of a certain site, you might be unlucky and not get even a single conversion. I’m sorry to say this but sometimes, this just happens. So if you bought 10 domains (that’s around $80), and you get nothing in return, then you would lose almost a hundred bucks. That’s not something to be happy about!
Net surfers tend to stay away from sites on typo domains. Let’s say you bought bun-marketer.com, a typo domain of your competitor’s bum-marketer.com. I don’t know why, but some people get angry when they see people trying to steal visitors from other sites. Maybe they’re so loyal to “bum-marketer.com” that they will curse your typo domain and your site forever.
What Do YOU Think?
Now that we’ve taken down some advantages and disadvantages, I’m throwing the question to you: Are typo domains worth it? Share your insights with me through the comment form, and I’d be glad to concur… or maybe have an interesting debate with you!