Best way to test for traffic?

[whitebark]

When testing domains for traffic levels how long should the test run and what is the best method or place?

I know how to grab stats from my own servers, but I mean more for checking parking related traffic. Are the parking companies able to tell a client if a parked domain is suspicious without canning their entire account? I would hate to test a domain before buying only to see my entire account banned and money owed go out the window for the sake of determining stated traffic/revenue levels.

Hints and tips much appreciated.

 

[SuccessClick]

Just give any parking service at least 30 days. The more domains you are going to park there, the better percentage of the "take" they'll give you. Hook up with one of the big players to see if you can get a "referral" so your parking percentage payouts are higher.

I don't know what you mean by a domain being "suspicious" but I can tell you NEVER do any type of click fraud, as in having buddies click links on your domains all day long, or even a few times. You'll be banned across the board.

If people are letting you park their domains to test them on your own server, or at their other parking accounts, that's a big step and usually you will have to put up some sort of agreement or seed money to move forward.

It's not easy, but if you find the right solutions, financial rewards are sooooo enjoyable.

 

[DNjet]

you would have to put the domain on your own hosting and determine the traffic origin yourself before sending it to a parking company if you want zero risk, usually 3 to 5 days is the norm for a traffic test.

 

[droplister]

Best is to send it to your server first, then forward to parking. Use multiple stat programs on your server to compare. I think a week is what is usually used. If your afraid of being banned, dont forward the traffic to the parking site for a day or 2, look at the countries and referers.

 

[whitebark]

I want to test a domain before purchasing it from someone else to verify the traffic is real and not pumped. That's why I am leery about putting it on one of my parking accounts in case it is inflated traffic and I get nailed for it, when all I am doing is testing it.

On my own server what is the first thing I should look for when it comes to pumped traffic?

 

[DNjet]

referers, IP addresses, countries, you will be able to tell.

 

[droplister]

look at ips, country, referers. You could always take a screen shot of stats, post it on the forums, edit out the domain and ask, but its usually obvious when traffic is fake.

 

[whitebark]

Thanks everyone - so far the traffic overview shows 60% Europe 25% America with the rest spread out. I'll have to take a look at the IP and referer data as well.

 

[whitebark]

Well I will never know if the traffic was pumped - though I suspect it was - the seller found someone willing to give them more than BIN which I agreed on first. I suspect there is no buyer, only the fear of being caught out. He also only allowed me to test the domain for a few hours.

I suspect this person posts here as well - another new user(at least at another forum).

 

[B.King]

Create a seprate account for testing domains

 

[David G]

you would have to put the domain on your own hosting and determine the traffic origin yourself before sending it to a parking company if you want zero risk, usually 3 to 5 days is the norm for a traffic test.

Agree. 3 to 5 days is more than sufficient time, especially if you combine weekends and weekdays due to sometimes major traffic diffferences on weekends, depending on the domain category. Most often you can tell if there is traffic in only 1 or 2 days which is why the short domain tasting time of 4 or 5 days works so well.

Stats from parking firms are usually insufficient in detail so your server stats from programs like Welblizer or AWstats are much better.

 

[whitebark]

Well this person knew I was on to them and quickly pointed the dns away from my server. I can't say for sure, but if you read my other post on this thread you will see why I am so suspicious.

But thanks for the hints everyone!

 

[NameMatters]

Any idea how to find out the forwarded or redirected traffic info? Because, mainly forwarding or redirection will be used to pump the traffic I guess, right?

Example:
'Domain A' is redirected to 'Domain B', in this case, will I be able to know how many visitors are coming from 'Domain A' while I look at the report for 'Domain B'?

Thanks in advance,

 

[David G]

Any idea how to find out the forwarded or redirected traffic info?

Yes, look at Http Status Codes (using AWstats or Weblizer) and review the number of Status Code 301's and 302's. 404's may also come into play.

That data is likely not available from ppc and parking firm stats as it requires access to the server log file.

 

[NameMatters]

Yes, look at Http Status Codes (using AWstats or Weblizer) and review the number of Status Code 301's and 302's. 404's may also come into play.

That data is likely not available from ppc and parking firm stats as it requires access to the server log file.

Thank you!