Best ways to develop a domain name (without much effort)?

[denniss]

Hi folks,

I'm looking into a few strategies of domain development... I recently got my hands on a bunch of good generics, and instead of selling them right away I've decided to develop them first to the point where they will have stable traffic...

So what I was looking at essentially, is a good and not too time consuming way to develop them...

So far I came up with a few ideas, could you maybe tell me whether they're viable, and whether I've missed something?

#1 - I thought about setting up a forum related to the generic keyword each site is using, with subsections and automatic news posting bots that will grab articles from RSS feeds of related sites.
#2 - Setting up wordpress or other similar blog software, and making a blog on the frontpage, automated as well.
#3 - After #1 and #2 are done, send out a press release through some free newswire services.
#4 - Add the site to some free submission web directories.

What do you think about the ideas above, and are there any other ideas I could use to build up the sites without spending too much effort on them?

 

[Rarethings]

Those are all nice ideas but they all focus on promotion rather than actual content or development.

 

[denniss]

Those are all nice ideas but they all focus on promotion rather than actual content or development.

Well, actually #1 and #2 are directly linked to content development

If I have automatic news-grabbing bot for the forums and blog, that means I can automatically accumulate content (the beginning of each article will get reposted, with a link leading to the original article, thus creating a new page of content on my site).

But is there anything else I could maybe use? I've established a list of the top 25 generic domains I have, and obviously there's not enough hours in a day to update them all, let alone take care of new ones or sales

 

[dreamant]

i think it sounds like a good idea... but then again.. i know nothing at all. But i like to learn along the way if somebody could show me the way also?

 

[denniss]

But i like to learn along the way if somebody could show me the way also?

Ditto I know there's some knowledgeable people here, don't be shy to show off your knowledge

 

[leo]

Your ideas are very good actually..but as the question comes where to get your content? I make automated blogs and i know that if you use rss feeds google can penalize you so make sure your blog is very SEO friendly + looks good thats very important.

2ndly most of the internet when webmaster runs out of ideas for content they turn to the worlds biggest provider "User Generated Content" make your users write stuff for you give them credit and see things going beyond the control of a single human lol

Best of Luck with your Projects.

 

[Creature]

Let the users make the content. Social networking, file sharing scrips are really cheap these days.

 

[Rarethings]

Well, actually #1 and #2 are directly linked to content development

They kinda fall under promotion, since it's not "real" content. Sure it's content, but its not the kind of content that is going to bring a user back and forth.

 

[hugegrowth]

I am experimenting using Ning.com to build up some forums. It's free but to take over the advertising section costs $20 per month. Not too bad if you can build a good community, and not have hosting fees etc. You can add a blog, forum, photo and video uploading, and a few other features. Instant social community. I'd try it free and if it starts getting members/traffic, then pay to take over the advertising.

 

[Simsi]

Just my thoughts: if the key is to get SE listings, #1 and #2 may work over time and get some passthrough traffic. If you want returning users, then the content needs to be either a) unique or b) uniquely presented (ie easier read than elsewhere). I don't think Blogs work unless they are very "individual" - I can count on no fingers the number of blogs i read regularly - some are fun, but not very "sticky". I use forums more, but only when there is active debate, not to read news generally.

 

[denniss]

Thanks for the input folks! The idea about community building is very good, but my only concern is managing the boards on each site with the limited time I've got...

And you're right, I suppose it's more promotional than anything, since what I want is #1 accumulate some links #2 make some pages on site that are related to my topic. My idea is mostly to build up and catch google search traffic directly related to the keywords I have for starters... So mostly, I suppose, it's an SEO thing until traffic starts coming naturally.

I know how to optimize the blog and forums to minimize PR leaks, however I still wonder whether there's some other ideas I could try?