| everything from logo design, color scheme to every graphic element on the page has
been carefully analyzed. We use data that we have internally to determine what kind of design elements should be put in place to increase conversion ratios. We are able to take a lot of the guess work out of it and it becomes almost a mathematical equation.
All of that critical analysis carries over into the planning and execution in the site build and SEO planning. One thing that isn’t provided by internal tools or metrics is the team here at
Domain Holdings. A huge asset for me and one thing that is so great about DH is the core team of founders and their experience. John Ferber and his experience and wisdom with regard to what was accomplished at Advertising.com comes into play on a daily basis. Many people don’t grasp that John and his brother essentially developed the tools that made display advertising profitable for
all parties, not just the publisher.
|
Chad
Folkening, Co-Founder
Domain Holdings Group, LLC |
Jason Boshoff, our CEO, has been involved with creating some of the most successful commercial websites launched within the last five years. That’s invaluable insight and experience. And Chad Folkening, having him as a sounding board is amazing. Chad is someone who is so in tune with consumer behavior it is uncanny. But I think that’s reflected in his incredible portfolio of domain names. I think a lot of people don’t know about the names that he’s sold off and that have been turned into monster websites.
So my job directing the development on project like these is much more manageable having the three people mentioned above on my team as well. Then the rest of the team at DH are all leaders and experienced individuals who each play a major part in bringing this project from concept to completion.
DN
Journal: I’m sure this
domain receives steady traffic,
though the .com version would
obviously get more. Some would worry
about bleeding traffic from a
developed site to the .com
counterpart, but do you see some
branding and service possibilities
with the .org version that could
balance those scales? |
Sean Sullivan:
It isn’t something we didn’t take into serious consideration. But we have put a plan in place and some measures have been taken with regard to design and branding. Mortgage.com is a developed site owned by a major bank, in fact a competitor to our client.
That being said, just because Citibank owns the .Com, I don’t think that means everyone else essentially should pack it in and let them dominate. Our goal is to build Mortgage.org in a way that completely separates it from any other lender in the marketplace. We’re doing exactly that. This is not going to be some run of the mill mortgage lead gen site.
Additionally our client (and this is quite fortunate for DH because it makes our job easier) is not your average mortgage lender. They are involved in a lot of
charitable causes and education programs. In short they are an advocate for American property owners and prospective property owners, many of whom are struggling. It is a very important thing for them and something that is a major part of their corporate culture. They’re taking on some new initiatives with the goal of helping consumers avoid falling victim to a lot of the bad advice and information that is out there. Our client is a for profit business, but because of their initiatives they are presently involved with and the new ones they’re taking on I think that the domain Mortgage.org is going to work out perfectly for them.
From an SEO standpoint there is no issue there at all. In fact we are very confident that this domain is going to do incredibly well in all search engines. We truthfully feel that we should have no issue with being able to rank above Mortgage.com in time.
| DN
Journal: I understand the
development of the site will be an
ongoing project that will continue months
after the launch date. What can you
tell us about those plans?
Sean
Sullivan: If you are a major lender re-branding to a new name is not an easy as updating your records with SunBiz. There are a lot of regulations and red tape. So we’re launching the site and continuing on with the development and SEO. In late June our client should be ready to make the official announcement of the corporate rebrand under the name Mortgage.org. Until then it is business as usual and the SEO and development moves forward.
Specifically with regard to the continued development, our plan is to do everything in our ability and our clients budget to make Mortgage.org an incredible success. Our goals for this site are quite aggressive. That being said, we feel that in
12 to 18 months Mortgage.org will be a site that is ranking within the
top 10 of all major search engines for most if not all of the terms associated within this industry.
DN
Journal: This is an
interesting point in time for your
client to be investing in
this name and |
Development
will be an ongoing process. |
| category.
Home sales remain stagnant and
mortgages are hard to come by. Did
they have any reservations about
pouring resources into this category
given the current state of the
market? |
Sean Sullivan:
Our client recognized that a generic keyword match domain name is an asset with a quantifiable value. A value that with effort will
increase moving forward. A business owner can’t go and resell his or her yellow page advertising from two years ago. A website built off of a domain name like this, you could sell very quickly even in a down economy.
Two years from now I believe that our client is going to be in a very unique position. They will own a domain and website that accomplishes two significant things for them. Number one, the site will
generate leads on a daily basis that will help increase their revenue for their core business as a mortgage lenders. And two they are going to have an asset that is going to generate revenue from the lead flow that comes in from the states that they are not a lender in. My prediction is that this site becomes a major target for acquisition in two or three years by any number of financial institutions or lead generation companies.
DN Journal:
When it comes to developing a domain
owned by a partner, like Mortgage.org,
how are costs, revenues & equity
divided up?
Sean Sullivan:
Well in the case of Mortgage.org, our role
is solely as the developer. Our client
retained us in order to find the best
possible domain and then implement the best
development strategy to meet their specific
goals. So that’s been our role, to acquire
and then develop this domain. This is
certainly a property we would like to have a
piece of, but that's not always an option as
is the case here with Mortgage.org. But we
respectfully recognize and accept that.
Regardless if we have equity in a project or
not our efforts are always 100% and
equal.
|
John
Ferber |
John
Ferber who has obviously had great
success in past businesses and
truthfully has no financial need to
start another company always tells
us the following: "Our reputation
as a company and as individuals
within it, that is more important
than anything else. That is why
we do everything within our
abilities to deliver on the goals
and expectations set by our
clients."
That is a corporate mantra that
is carried and followed through on
daily by every single team member at
DH. I know this can sound a little
like an advertisement, but it is
not. We all love our roles and this
is the first company that I have
ever worked at where I've seen such
passion, energy and general
enthusiasm on daily basis.
With respect to partnership
arrangements it varies. We have many
domain owners who come to us seeking
to develop their assets beyond what
our Rapid Domain Builder
platform can offer. In some cases we
will take an equity position and the
terms of ownership it can vary
greatly. I can tell you that we are
extremely fair and we want to
structure any deal so that the
domain owner benefits more than
anyone else. We’re going to be
around for a long time, and |
| we’re
more interested in taking on a large
number of great projects and having
a smaller piece in them then trying
to get a huge piece of just a few
deals. I think that we wouldn’t
have the respect and repeat business
of some of the most successful
individuals in the business if we
were too aggressive in our joint
venture relationships. |
Sometimes we will take a position where
we do all of the development (and defer all
costs) in exchange for equity. In some cases
we take a very small percentage in exchange
for remaining on as the entity that will
continue to manage the domain asset. However
the deal is structured there’s always
transparency, deal terms are straight
forward and Domain Holdings is incentivized
to make the domain/website more successful.
DN Journal:
Do you have any other development projects
of this magnitude in the works?
Sean Sullivan:
We do in fact. We’re taking on a number of
high profile sites as a joint venture,
straight development or simply as for an SEO
campaign. Not all of them I can talk about
just yet. One I can discuss is that we’re
in a partnership with Domain Capital
on Podcast.com.
I’ve personally been working extremely
hard on that one. We’re going to re-launch
the site with an entirely new monetization
model and some major design changes as well.
I can tell you that we haven’t even
officially announced the product offering publicly
and we’re already on pace to increase
revenue by 50%. 60 days from now the
site and the amount of traffic and revenue
will see explosive growth.
| On the smaller end of
things, LLC.Net
has recently contracted with DH to
run the life cycle management of
that asset. The vertical presents a
lot of challenges because of the
complexity, but DH was able to
deliver a site that is unlike any
other. To my knowledge it is the
only example within this space that
is a white label solution for LLC
and incorporation services.
Certain verticals don't give you
much ability to create a turn
key |
|
| solution.
We had to do a lot of business
development and research to make
this one work, but we accomplished
the goal and our client is very
happy. It’s a project that
looks extremely promising and I can
confidentially say that the site
will be one of the top providers of LLC
incorporation services in the US
very soon. It’s also another
example of something other than a
.Com being a great success. |
There’s
another one that I can’t get into just yet
but it’s going to be huge. This is 100%
about the life cycle management of an asset.
In this instance a huge corporation
approached and said we own “X” domain.
“Y” and “Z” represent the current
earnings and the approximate intrinsic
value. Take two weeks, all our data and
figure out how we can do better.
Because in some cases it isn’t about
immediate monetization or how you flip a
switch and earn 10% or whatever amount more.
It is about doing a ton of research and
finding a path, one that will increase revenue,
increase overall value and ensure
longevity of that revenue and the asset's
value. That is the 30-second pitch of domain
life cycle management. That’s becoming a
big part of our business and focus. |
