There is no doubt that mainstream domain marketplaces that have been established for some time receive huge amounts of traffic. This is mostly due to their SEO, advertising, and the fact that so many domainers are sending them free traffic (hope you’re not making this error). As such it makes sense to utilize these sites to promote your domains. The right buyer may come through one such service. However, instead of you sending them traffic, you want those sites to send you traffic. How can this be accomplished?
The primary way is to ensure that all of your domains are forwarding to your portfolio marketplace: either domain landing pages or sales pages. This is because if any of your domains are found via a mainstream marketplace, the interested party may likely type the domain into the browser. If the domain resolves to your own marketplace then you are much more likely to convert that visitor into a lead, instead of the originating site. You may want to also check out this article on how to build trust with your domain shop.
If your domains have prices, make the prices on your own marketplace little lower (or a lot lower, it’s up to you) than on the mainstream marketplace. Include incentives like discounts or value-added services. Your goal is to convert that visitor into a lead or a buyer on your site.
Always be conscious of branding your marketplace. If possible, use your marketplace domain or name anywhere you can: as username, in description(s), logo, in links, etc. This has the potential of peeking interest and contribute to building your brand.
If you can convert a lead on your own marketplace you have all the advantage when it comes negotiating. You won’t be blind like you’d be if an offer comes through one of the mainstream marketplaces.
Some newer marketplaces are showing up that force domain investors to point their domains to those marketplaces as part of the terms of listing on their site and may even charge just for listings. Whether you decide to use those services or use the money for advertising your own marketplace is a business decision you will have to make for yourself. We recommed the former.
In upcoming articles we will discuss some of the ways mainstream marketplaces are marketing their sites that you can use as well for your domain marketplace.