What Is Domain Parking?
Parking serves pay-per-click (PPC) ads on an otherwise blank page. Visitors arrive via direct type-in or old backlinks; you earn a share of ad revenue without building a site.
Eligible Names
Generic keywords with commercial intent (insurancequotes.com) and typos of popular brands (gooogle.com) generate the highest click-through rates. Brandable made-up names earn almost nothing parked.
Setting Up Parking
Change nameservers to parking company (Sedo, Bodis, ParkingCrew). Within minutes their algorithm scans the domain for keywords and injects related ads. You can choose templates: lander with search box, lander with banner, or zero-click redirect.
Revenue Split
Typical rev-share is 60-80% to domainer. Sedo pays 70% monthly via PayPal once balance exceeds $50. Bodis offers 80% and faster payout ($20 minimum). Compare RPM (revenue per thousand visitors) across platforms and optimize.
Traffic Quality Filters
Bot traffic and forced pop-unders violate Google policy and can get the parking account banned. Use parking company’s built-in bot filter and never buy cheap traffic packages—earnings will be clawed back.
Click-Through Rate Optimization
- Use lander with local geo-targeting (shows “Cheap Car Insurance in Texas” if visitor is Texan)
- Disable adult ads unless domain is adult-themed
- Set related keywords manually if auto-detect misses niche
Small tweaks can raise CTR from 8% to 18%, doubling income.
Alternative Monetization
If PPC is too low, lease the domain to an end-user for flat monthly fee ($50-$500). Use a simple landing page “This domain for lease – contact form” and park the traffic during vacancy.
Tax & Accounting
Parking revenue is ordinary income, not capital gain. Track each domain’s monthly RPM to decide if renewal is justified. Drop names earning <$1/year to free up capital for better acquisitions.
Risks & Compliance
Trademark typos can trigger UDRP and parking income can be used as evidence of bad faith. Limit typo exposure to <5% of portfolio and set landers to non-infringing generic ads.
Exit from Parking
Once you sell or develop the domain, remove parking nameservers 48 hours before launch to avoid Google indexing the ad page instead of your new content.