Domain Parking

Overview

Domain parking occurs when a person registers a domain but does not join any domain name server of the hosting company. Domain parking allows website owners to display customized pages. While the domain is parked, it remains reserved for you. As a result, nobody else can purchase the domain name.

Your domain can park to an "under construction page" or a series of advertisements. When visitors click on these advertisements, the domain name owner can earn a referral fee. If you choose, you can leave your domain parked to display advertisements. For example, you may only want to use your domain name for e-mail. Otherwise, you can choose to develop a website and host it on a server once it's ready.

Domain registrars will typically offer domain parking free of cost. Services include an initial account set up, account maintenance, account management, free landing pages, themed landing pages, and account optimization. You may need to pay a small fee for .com, .net, or .org addresses. At very minimum, your domain could cost $10 per year. You will not have to pay hosting fees until you activate the domain.

Benefits

You can register a domain and use it to attract customers and generate ad revenue. By parking a domain, web entrepreneurs can monetize their domain names and profit from the immediate revenue gained by it. Domain parking can also be a valuable tool for those who are planning to buy a popular domain names, as there is a thriving resale market for such domain names.

How It Works

Domain parking is classified in two ways: monetized domain parking and non-monetized domain parking. With monetized domain parking, you make money from your parked domain through various methods including affiliate advertising, reselling, and buying expired domain names to resell. With this method, it is unlikely that you plan to launch a website.

Non-monetized domain parking describes situations when you reserve a domain name with the intent of creating a website. You do not intend to make money from your parked domain. You just have an idea for a name, and you do not want that name to be taken by someone else. You may choose to display an "under construction" or "coming soon" page.

Companies/Brands

Many people have made successful businesses out of domain parking. Sedo, Google, and Domain Spa offer domain parking.