Make Money With Your Unused Domains

Domain names are used to provide web sites with an identification on the internet. Just like with telephone numbers, a domain name is a unique identity and can only be owned by one person. Once it's registered, no one else can use it. However, many of the millions of domains that have been registered are never used. This is a huge mistake - there are several ways that you can earn money with your unused domain names.

If you find a domain name that is not being used, start doing some research before contacting the owner. What does the name mean? Does it contain keywords that can be useful for search engine optimization? Can you resell it and make a profit? If you think the domain name is worth purchasing, look up the owner's e-mail address by performing a WhoIs search and make an offer to buy it. The current owner might not even be aware of how valuable the domain is, giving you a great opportunity to make a lot of money.

As discussed above, searching for unused domains and offering to buy them from the current owner can be a profitable approach, but it may not work every time. Sometimes the owner might not want to sell or is asking for too much money. What you also can do is to focus your attention on unused domains that you already own. Consider selling domains that you have registered but never gotten around to use. There are many auction sites online where you can put your domains up for sale. Some of these sites are very popular which means a lot of people will see your listing. The downside is that while it's usually free to list your domain, the site takes a small fee when the domain is sold. Instead, you could try to sell it for free by posting your ad on Craigslist or on message boards for internet marketers.

Another option is to use the domain yourself. You could make a web site with some articles that are relevant to the domain name and make money by adding Google AdSense ads or by promoting CPA offers. If you don't have a hosting account, you can use the free blogging platform Blogger.com and attach your domain to a blog. That way you don't have to spend any money on hosting.

If you can't use the domain to build a web site and you have failed to make a profit in any other way, the final option is to let the domain expire. Of course, this is not a very good option and you should make one final attempt to sell it. Even if you get only a couple of dollars, it's better than nothing.