Every day I use several domain name scripts, software, tools etc. and many of those cost money. So I thought I would share the tools that I think are worth your hard earned money! This list is not in any specific order and not every tool exactly related specifically to "domain names" but can be used with domain names.
DomainTools
DomainTools has a wealth of domain name information at your fingertips. They are much more than a whois provider. This is a free/paid service but if you are a domain name investor, a company that owns a fair amount of domain name etc, DomainTools.com paid membership is a must have and well worth your hard earned money! I have a Silver Membership myself which I think they call "Standard" now. Price is $29.95 per month.
What I use most?
Domain Name History look-ups (unlimited) I use this to see if a domain name has changed ownership mainly but it can also be helpful for many more reasons.
Reverse IP: See what other domain names are hosted on a server. Many companies put A Lot of domains they own on one server, so using this you can spy.
Domain Monitor (1,000 domains) I monitor some domains that are about to expire, some of my own domains and some domains that recently sold but whois had not updated yet. You get email alerts on changes.
Buy Domains tab is full of useful tools. Sales History, Domain Suggest (which I use to look for available domains) and Dropping Names. The dropping names section has data like domain age, DMOZ, Yahoo and backlinks.
Domain Research Tool
This software has been around for a long time, but if you analyze domain names in list format (you should do this) then DRT is your ticket! The software allows for BULK scanning and retrieving data like Creation Date, Expiration Date, DNS. You also have the option to obtain many metrics like Google Term Rank, Google Searches, Backlinks, Alexa, DMOZ and many, many more!
I use this software every single day and have for many years! The software is a one time fee of $129 (DotWeekly Pricing). Out of all the domain stuff I own, I feel that I "got my monies worth" out of this purchase.
I use it to analyze PendingDelete domains, GoDaddy Auction domains, Pre-Release NameJet domains and many more domain lists!
Estibot is a DRT alternative as they have run metrics on all the popular lists already BUT it’s $99.95 a month for the package you would need. Estibot has other tools as well that DRT doesn’t. I had used it recently for a month but didn’t feel it justified the $100 bill a month of my money.
GoDaddy Auctions
Yes, GoDaddy charges to use its auction service, but it will be the best $4.99/yr that you will ever spend! I use it daily and you can find some exceptional deals on expired domain name auctions. Use my GoDaddy Goodies lists and the work is done for you!
Hostgator
I have used the web hosting provider Hostgator ever since I started developing sites. I signed up for Hostgator when I launched DotWeekly back in 2008 and have been VERY pleased ever since. I have paid the same price since 2008 ($9.95/mo babycroc) and very rarely have any issues. If I do have a question or issue, the live chat 24/7 always helps me out.
I don’t know much about hosting, but Hostgator provides me with tools that make me seem to know what I’m doing! The one click install of WordPress is something I use often, so that was something I was looking for. Great pricing and reliable! If you have been thinking of starting to build some sites, I wouldn’t question signing up with Hostgator! You can also read the article I wrote awhile back to help guide you along on how to install a wordpress site and the tools I use.
TrafficTravis
This is a software that I started using and now use daily. It is an exceptional piece of software for doing keyword research! This is a very valuable tool to optimize domain name parking pages (so your not guessing what the best keywords are to input), optimize keywords for websites and SOOOO much more. I use the Research / Keywords tabs the most out of the software but also have set up several of my websites in the tool to best optimize those. I am still learning that part but really enjoy researching keywords. It provides you many things the GAKT tool does, but much more!
I also use the SEO / Competition tool a lot! Great way to see what ranks for specific keywords! I use this when I am writing about something specific! (nice advantage)! It can also provide helpful tips to tweak a page/article you want to rank higher.
If you are interested in SEO, keyword research and getting your sites to perform better, I would suggest purchasing the Traffic Travis software. You can test drive the free version first, so why not give it a try.
Freebies
Here is my list of Free tools that I use daily!
The BEST thing I every found!!!!!! I would suggest the self-hosted version but if you haven’t built a website, ever… but you really want to, use WP! I never built a site before either and I forced myself to learn the ins and outs of WordPress. With all the amazing free plugins, themes etc, it really is amazing and easy to use. This is a domain tool because it allows you to develop your properties! (checkout FreeHeaderMaker.com if you are looking for a nice free header maker software). This comes in handy if you build a lot of sites big or small.
You can read one way that I use DailyChanges.com here. This is an extremely powerful free tool for research and spying! If you want to break news in an industry, this is an amazing tool to do it!
I use TasteReports.com in conjunction with DailyChanges. Since DC is DNS based, it will often miss newly registered domains due to them being on a different DNS, TasteReports.com was made to track domain names that were tasted but since that industry pretty much died off, it can still be used to track newly registered domain names! Use the Search Tab, Select Newly Registered. Then pick a date and either enter in a keyword and search, search by registrar or leave the registrar blank and the keyword blank and see all the domains.
This is a sick tool! It is a FireFox plugin that works in-line with several popular tools like Google Adwords Keyword Tool. It takes the keywords and shows if the domain name is available or not in .com, .net and .org . I wrote about the FireFox Plugin Here, which also provides a link to download the plugin, FREE!
DP offers several free softwares for domain investors. The one I use the most is the Domain Name Filter Tool that I described in that article but I know many that use several of the DomainPunch.com softwares.
Do a whois search for any domain name, but then click the Site Profile tab as it’s a quick, easy and free way to check if a domain may be getting some traffic. DT provides Alexa, Compete and Quantcast all in that section. The numbers are not set in stone but give you a good indication of at least some traffic.
Copying a domain name list and cleaning out everything except the domain name couldn’t be any easier with tool. I use this tool often when I copy directly from a website. Sedo auctions for an example. Just copy everything on the auction page and past it into DnCleaner.com and click Process. The tool removes everything except the domains. Use a little caution as the tool only works with specific TLD’s.
If you are into chasing expired domains, this site is dedicated to what you are looking for. Totally free and packed full of great tools. Sign up for a free account and get more filtering options that are worth your time! Newly added domain lists for many of the top domain name auction services like SnapNames, NameJet, Sedo, Pool and GoDaddy!
I use a couple other little scripts that I had built for personal use that are currently not for sale but I am working on having one of them for sale. If or when that happens, I will be sure to let you know. So that is what I use for paid and free services daily!
RH
Excellent post Jamie. Great job.
BullS
I won’t pay for anything ….
There is one tool you forgot to mention which is free and is God’s given. It is called
Common Sense
Joel Skretvedt
Great info – thanks for sharing as always!
Luke Summers
Thanks Jamie, a very useful list of tools.
Cheers
Luke
Sukh
Jamie
Thanks for this excellent resource post. DRT looks an excellent piece of software. What is one thing that DRT doesn’t have but Estibot have which you think is very important in domaining?
Do you know or aware of any software/script that does the followings?
1. Input list of domain names
2. Software split the domain name to keywords
3. Software gets no of google GKT searches for that keyword and no of pages in Google searches
Thanks
Jamie Zoch
@Sukh,
Estibot doesn’t allow you to input your own list and get metrics the way DRT does.
~
I am aware of a couple tools to do that, but they are separate.. The Traffic Travis tool allows you to input keyword sets and get the amount of searches, competition (ads), ppc and SERP’s. The only problem, it doesn’t only provide what you put in, as it suggests “other” keywords related.
Josh
I use Traffic Travis as well, and the fact that it gives you suggested keyword stats is really frustrating… You can even choose the amount of keywords you want to see in a list, but if you enter 100 keywords of your own domains, and choose to view a list of stats for 100 keywords, Traffic Travis will give you stats for 50-75 of your keywords and the rest will be suggestions.
It’s pretty good software, otherwise, but stuff like that is maddening. There should be a place to specify whether you want suggestions or not… Anytime I use it, I find myself flipping-off my computer screen.
GiftedDomains
Nice List.
What about FreshDrop?
I think its worth mentioning too.
Jamie Zoch
@GiftedDomains,
I didn’t mention it, because I do not use it. Mainly because of the monthly fees to use it I think are too high.