Are Domain hacks worth the Investment?

**richface** · 10-26-2011, 08:41 AM

I am curious to hear from experienced Domainers. I recently passed up portfol.io while searching for a domain for a client a few days back. The domain was then registered by someone else a few hours after. Are domain hacks a worthy investment? my worry was marketing and getting them to rank in search engines wasn't sure if visitors will get confused. Anyone on here have any experience in developing or selling these? After reading a few articles on the internet I am getting tempted to buy a few. Big mistake or worthy investment?

Many Thanks

**rngrdanny22** · 10-26-2011, 08:49 AM

I don't think they are always mistakes. Your type in traffic will probably be less than if it were portfolio.com, but most traffic is gained by great content and a high ranking with search engines. As long as your content is respectable, I think you wouldn't have a problem being highly ranked for the keyword "portfolio".

Now, on the other hand, if you could lock down both the hack and the .com, you'd be in business. This type of domain CAN cause confusion, so there is risk involved.

**Adam Dicker** · 10-26-2011, 08:52 AM

They are a complete waste of money unless you have a specific marketing plan for the domain, and it will have to be a heavy marketing plan.

Adam

**rngrdanny22** · 10-26-2011, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by Adam Dicker

They are a complete waste of money unless you have a specific marketing plan for the domain, and it will have to be a heavy marketing plan.

Adam

Agreed. That's what I was kinda trying to say... I just suck with words... LOL

**Bill Roy** · 10-26-2011, 09:59 AM

I disagree, but then again being the owner of several domain hacks I would wouldn't I.

Firstly there are two main kind of hacks:

1) Where the suffix is part of a word of domain site, examples would be 'li.st', 'Tex.as', 'fla.me'

2) Where the suffix is a meaningful and relevant word in its own right, here examples would be, 'love.me', 'help.us', 'fly.to'

Both the subsets above are hacks, some prefer one type over the other, and others like Adam think they are all worthless without a huge budget for marketing, and even then question their value.

The strongest dislikers of hacks are of course those that say the .com is the only type of domain worth anything, but then again I guess they would walk past a hundred dollar bill on the floor if they thought they might stand a chance of getting a thousand dollar bill by not picking up the hundred. Strangely enough hacks seem to be doing OK on the aftermarket, especially when you consider just how few of them there are, but as always it is a case of matching seller and buyer, as it is with any domain - and that is not always easy, but the great thing for hack domain owners is that they can hold out as their domains are literally unique.

Downside is that a developer will have to know how to market the hack domain website. The other downside is that many established businesses are yet to realise the uniqueness of a hack, especially with the old guard of nay-sayers saying they are worthless. But slowly the number of hack sales rise and they continue to increase in value generally. The upside will be when an advertising agency suddenly realises the visual impact a hack can have and runs with one, then we will see hack values shoot skywards. It is indeed surprising just how backward looking some of the industry is, never seeing that our industry is constantly evolving and refusing to evolve with it.

NB. (I would just like to say that I do not own, have owned, or have any connection in any way with any of the domains I have used as examples.)

**biggedon** · 10-26-2011, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Bill Roy

Firstly there are two main kind of hacks:

1) Where the suffix is part of a word of domain site, examples would be 'li.st', 'Tex.as', 'fla.me'

2) Where the suffix is a meaningful and relevant word in its own right, here examples would be, 'love.me', 'help.us', 'fly.to'

i don't consider your #2 example like "love.me" as hacks

those are just domains that fit/sound well with the extension

however, true hacks like 'tex.as' may have value to those who like them

**Acro** · 10-26-2011, 02:16 PM

I have a handful (literally) of domain hacks. Investors need to diversify. I would not invest in 100 domain hacks, the same with every new TLD or domain concept.

**katherine** · 10-26-2011, 04:03 PM

I think the base value of a domain hack is zero.

Yes, sometimes they sell but you're too dependent on luck. It becomes more a gamble than an investment. I don't like it.

Nothing wrong with owning a few.
After all, I own domains that are valuable to nobody else but me.
I admit to being biased, but I am only biased toward domains that sell

**Acro** · 10-26-2011, 04:08 PM

Turned down an offer of $1k for poe(.)ms - my investments are long term. Domain hacks serve their purpose, be it Web 2.0 companies or creative use. A fellow DNF'er is making a great use of Doma.in

**letsgo** · 11-01-2011, 01:07 AM

sometime its worth but with great seo

**richface** · 11-02-2011, 02:39 AM

Few days ago Burge.rs sold for 3k euros on sedo. I might just buy one domain hack to experiment with search engines.

Thanks for all your comments

**letsgo** · 11-02-2011, 03:45 PM

sound good, i got one. insan.es

**rngrdanny22** · 11-02-2011, 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by richface

Few days ago Burge.rs sold for 3k euros on sedo. I might just buy one domain hack to experiment with search engines.

Thanks for all your comments

I saw that. I wonder who bought it... maybe McDonald's or Burger King? Would make for an interesting ad campaign.

**Acro** · 11-02-2011, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by letsgo

sound good, i got one. insan.es

Adjectives have no plural.

**Adam Dicker** · 11-02-2011, 08:41 PM

I hate to go against the grain, burge.rs or not, these domains have no value.

Adam

**Bill Roy** · 11-02-2011, 09:19 PM

Adam, please explain why in your opinion these domains have no value. Surely if domains sell for more than the registration fee they have a value.

**HomerJ** · 11-02-2011, 09:22 PM

i just registered BurgerMeisterMeisterBurg.er

.... just kidding

I own one domain hack. I had a decent offer on it last year on sedo but it fell through in negotiation.

**Tom K.** · 11-02-2011, 10:37 PM

Value of domain hacks is in the development and marketing. Once a success the dot com is almost guaranteed to be picked up.

**Skinny** · 11-02-2011, 10:45 PM

I'm not a fan of them either. Sure their cool and I wouldn't mind owning one if I wanted to create a simple site or something, but I think I'd still want the .com.

Del.icio.us worked well (but even as I wrote this I had to pause and remember where the heck the dots go).

There would need to be a ton of marketing as mentioned and honestly besides del.icio.us I haven't seen one other domain hack being advertised outside of this forum (besides doma.in) that I can remember.

Skinny

**Gerry** · 11-03-2011, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by Adam Dicker

They are a complete waste of money unless you have a specific marketing plan for the domain, and it will have to be a heavy marketing plan.

Adam

Ditto. As an investment, not wise (unless you are paying reg fee). But the market is not huge.

If developing, then possibly not a waste of money. But, a huge time consumer in branding and this is where the budget gets eaten up.

I have a few hacks simply because I like them, not necessarily for sale but just for the cleverness of them.