Should I buy product domain names to make money

I got a reader question asking me about whether it is advisable to buy product domain names to search for amazon products and make money. The answer is: it depends. Depends on what is your objective, buying product domains can be a viable strategy to make passive income.

For readers who don't understand the power of domain names, here is a short explanation. Google gives some weight to what is contain in your url in its ranking algorithm. As to what is the weightage, nobody really knows.  The closer your domain name matches the keyword you are trying to rank for, the higher the chance of your site ranking even when it is new. For course, in the long run, it is not really important as there are always ways to put your keyword in your url such as through your post titles. As you site gains authority and trust from google, this will be enough even when your domain itself does not contain your keywords.

 So, coming back to the question. Having exact product name as your domain will help you rank faster in the short run. This is great for amazon as people searching for exact product phrases such as amazon kindle fire are more likely to be a buyer compared to people searching ebook reader or multi media tablet.

However, there is a legal issue with using trademarked names in your domain. There is always the possibility of these companies issuing a cease and desist letter to you if they happen to found out that you are using their brand names without their notice. Of course, in the true spirit of trademark laws, there might be a chance of you retaining the domain if you are not using the domain name to compete with the brand but do you really want to enter into a legal dispute with a big corporate company?

My advice is this. If you understand the risks and is prepared that your product domains might be taken from you anytime, do it for the Christmas season. You can make tonnes of money if you manage to rank these product domains and get people to Amazon. During the year end, people go crazy with amazon purchases and your online income will increase like crazy.

However, if you want to build a long term site, avoid using brand names in your domain. It is better to build a general consumer review site and try to rank for the individual brand names. It is safer and you can target more than 1 brand. The downside is that the site might not gain enough authority during these few months to bring you any sales from the Christmas buying frenzy.

Posted in: How to make money with amazon