Consumer Media Network: Smart Category Killer .org Domain Strategy
While I am not ordinarily a huge fan of .org’s (the only .org that we have is a home loan calculator website) I did recently stumble across what I think is a very smart use of a number of category killer .org domains by the Consumer Media Network.
Ordinarily, .org domains can seem a little off in ordinarily very commercial niches if not done right but one of the reasons that I like Consumer Media Network’s strategy is that it appears like they are:
A) Choosing domains with high search volume in very competitive niches.
B) Positioning the sites from the “consumer” angle and not adding a lot of monetization to the sites so that they can justify the use of the .org from a common sense point of view and more importantly so that they can potentially attract some links that a more commercially oriented site would not be able to get (then they will more than likely monetize the sites up the wazoo if they are able to attract enough links to start ranking high).
C) Offering unique designs and high quality images with surprisingly high quality content as well (from the limited articles that I read).
Here is a listing of some of the websites in their portfolio from their home page:
MotorcycleInsurance.org
TravelInsurance.org
PersonalLoans.org
HomeownersInsurance.org
TermLifeInsurance.org
RentersInsurance.org
PaydayLoans.org
MedicalInsurance.org
HomeLoans.org
BoatInsurance.org
All in all, they seem to have a very good grasp of one strategy that could work well for .org domains. What do YOU think?
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I did not spend much time on their sites but I am wondering how they actually make a profit. They paid 37,000 for HomeLoans.org but I don’t see how they are generating any income from it. Any ideas?
I think that what is going on is what I mentioned in “B” above where they are using the “consumer” angle via the .org extension and then going very light on monetization (at first) to try and attract links from places that ordinarily would not link out to a very commercial site.
For example, here is a nice link that they got to PersonalLoans.org by offering a nicely designed infographic to a blogger that may not have been as likely to link out to them right now if their site was full of affiliate offers or gave off that over the top overtly commercial vibe: http://manvsdebt.com/too-much-credit-graphic/
Once they are able to attract a bunch of links and potentially rank high for a lot of the big money commercial keywords then it would be easy for them to add affiliate offers, advertisements, etc. and really monetize that traffic to the hilt.
In a nutshell, one of the advantages to using a .org is that you can APPEAR to have non-profit intentions from the beginning (and thus get people to link to you a lot easier than if your site is overtly commercial in nature) if you play your cards right and then once you get enough links then its easy to turn that .org into something more commercially oriented.
What do you think? – Joel
If that is the case then I think the owner is a very patient (and smart) guy. If he can get each of those sites on the front page of Google for the main keywords using that approach then he will be very well poised to make a lot of money with lead generation making only a few minor alterations to the site at some point in the future.
Yea, I like the strategy and I think it is being executed pretty well so far at least as far as on page factors go but the toughest part will still be attracting the amount of links that will be needed in rank in any of those ultra competitive niches. Non-commercial looking sites or not getting the necessary links to rank will still be no small feat.
I think it’s a great idea. Unique content, exact match domain names for high paying and highly searched keywords, quality links and “trusted” extension are all positives going for them.
I liked the concept so much that I went and reg’d 4 “Insurance101.com” names including HomeOwnersInsurance101.com, TermLifeInsurance101.com, WholeLifeInsurance101.com and BoatInsurance101.com. Thanks for the post!
Yea, I like 101 names too although they are definitely not exact match domains but can make for a great brandable domain play if you are willing to put a lot of time and energy into them and really know what you are doing.
The .org names will give them the exact match bonus they need to crack the top 10 if they can generate enough unique content and even more importantly if they can acquire a ton of links. The site layouts for each property are unique and high quality so they should accumulate a few natural links (though that’s not enough) and if they get out and make some friends they’ll be up and ranking top 10 in less than a year for a couple of those phrases.
They certainly will get some kind of exact match bonus with the .org’s but not near as much as the bonus given for the exact match .com. I agree though that it will help somewhat but regardless they will still need quite a bit of links and unique content. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
nice domains kist
keep it