I was never aware that a domain name owner at GoDaddy had the option to obtain the amount of whois searched done for domain names you own at GoDaddy but I had noticed a thread at NamePros.com explaining on how to obtain the amount of Whois searches at GoDaddy.com for domain names you own. This is some pretty interesting data and it can be very useful. Why? When somebody does a Whois search at GoDaddy… domain names are listed in the data and yours can be listed with in the Whois data! Using the Premium Listing option, your domain name can be displayed for sale which can greatly increase your chances of selling!
Here is how to obtain the amount of Whois Searches for your domain names at GoDaddy.
- Log into your GoDaddy.com account.
- Click My Account and then on the upper left side bar, select the Domain Manager link.
- On the top of the screen, hoover over the Tools tab (green, top of screen) and select the last option Exportable Lists.
- On the following page, on the far right of the screen, click the Add New Export button.
- A 3 step process drop down box will appear:
1a: Select domains: I choose All My Domains, click Next
2b: Select Whois Searches – Previous Period and Whois Searches – Current Period and click Next
3c: Name the file to your liking, I use GDWhois. Select None for compression and for file type, I left mine as CSV. Click Finish
GoDaddy will then email you a notification that the download is ready. You will need to go back to the tools/exportable lists section to download the list. You will see the Whois searches displayed in 6 different formats that include the previous day, week, month and current day, week and month.
The above image is a screen shot of the domain manager page showing the tools tab as well as the exportable lists.
The most valuable and useful reason for seeing whois is search data at GoDaddy is because of the Premium Listing option you have with your domain names at the registrar. Listing your domain this way at GoDaddy will display your domain name when a matching or similar whois search is done as well as a domain name look-up. These are very targeted parties that do these searches and it doesn’t hurt having your domain displayed in front of those eyes that the domain is for sale. Now could GoDaddy do a little better job at displaying the exact match domain a little better? I think so, but it is displayed if you have your domain listed with the Premium Listing option.
You will notice in the above Whois Search at GoDaddy for the domain name Huffing.org that Huffing.org is displayed in the Premium Domain Names section for sale. As I said, it is a little hid but is there. I have that domain listed on GoDaddy as a Premium Listing. Based upon the amount of whois searches for your specific domain names in the download you do, it may be a very wise idea to list any of domains in the Premium Listings section for those domains that have a fair amount of Whois searches. The highest amount of searches for one of my domains was 28.
It does not appear that partner AfternicDLS domains are listed in this section for Whois searches. If you have your domain names listed with AfternicDLS, priced and expanded promotion selected, your domain name are listed on GoDaddy but based on the searches I did, I didn’t see any of my expanded promotion domains listed in Whois searches.
This is pretty valuable information that GoDaddy is providing to its customers!
Hat Tip to "Nathan King" and EG.domains of NamePros for posting about this process. I added in the facts about the Premium Listings and tried to explain the process a little easier. Enjoy!
I also think this data will display some trends and can display some value in domains you were not thinking were all that valuable. The more interest in a domain, the better for you. The biggest thing is, you have to put the domain name you own that people are searching for, in front of them so they know it is for sale. Currently, it appears the Premium Listing is the only option you have via GoDaddy whois searches but this doesn’t mean a lot more are searching via Whois.sc, Whois.net and other popular whois providers. (Adam mentions in the comment section that all whois searches are pinged for GoDaddy registered domain and these are included in the "number" displayed in the report) Even though the number is displayed, clearly the people that use a different service other than GoDaddy, will not see the Premium Listing. It is also likely that many people are doing registration checks (to see if the domain is available) for these domains as well. If somebody does and you have your domain listed with the Premium Listing service GoDaddy offers, it again will be shown.
Not to be greedy… but it would be nice to see the data on the amount of availability searches done on domain names you own as well. I hope other registrars allow this data to be available to its customers (whois look-ups) and the availability searches as well for domains you own. These are two very valuable areas that can greatly increase sales if those who are searching have an easy way to know the domain is for sale and purchase the domain!
Paul J. Kapschock
Jamie,
Nice info….something new everyday…thanks for sharing.
Paul
Ollie
Thanks Jamie
Greg
This is an interesting tool. I guess I just need to figure out how to utilize it.
I had one name that is parked and has minimal visits this month (5) but has 13 Whois views this month. Interesting!!!
Jamie Zoch
@Greg,
Also keep in mind that is 13 at GoDaddy. There are a lot of whois providers. Trying to figure out who and why those searches are taking place is the important but hard part.
*See comment by Adam. The above info I provided was incorrect.
Leonard Britt
I was not aware of this feature though it would be preferable to see this within one’s premium listings account. In either case the premium listings feature did produce quite a few sales in January & February but none since then. I suppose at the start of the new year, people want to get in shape, find a new job and buy a domain
Adam
Jamie I think you might want to verify that info about whois counts you gave greg. I think the number is total whois views. For example, if someone looked up your name at another provider like domaintools , Godaddy has to send that whois information request to the third party. That counts as a view as far as I’m aware.
This is what my rep said “We aggregate ALL WHOIS look-ups, not just just whois look-ups at Go Daddy.”
Also, if someone searches GD for your exact domain, it displays the domain as a premium listing in a different way for me. Not sure if you are logged in and seeing it different but I’ll send you a screen grab of what I see.
Lastly, it’d be awesome if GD would give those front-page searches (or availability search data) . My rep told me a year or so ago “We’re planning to ad Avail checks to this at some point.”
Jamie Zoch
@Adam,
Thank you for that added info. I didn’t even think of the other whois providers getting the data from the registrar. Thanks for asking your rep that, as that clears that up.
~
The screen shot I provided was during a Whois Search and not during an availability search. I’m not sure if that is why you were seeing it displayed differently? I was not logged in at the time of the screen shot but I just tried it and the page is the same logged in or not.
John
I’ve been using this feature since last year. Do not rely on it to make pricing, or renewal decisions. I haven’t found any correlations between my sales and whois searches.
REMEMBER: Your whois count will show up even with bulk searches which means they weren’t just looking at your name but yours may be in a list of hundreds. Spammers and sploggers do bulk too.
It’s a “neat” feature but very skewed. Enjoy it but don’t rely on it to make decisions.
I never mentioned it on my blog for the fear of a huge wave of renewals of garbage domains by others who think that a whois hit means an interest in the domain name.
Godaddy will benefit from your renewals but you may not…
BTW: If anyone tries to sell their domain names in the forums with the line: This names has gotten 100 whois lookups this month, they will really look like an idiot
Jamie Zoch
@John,
Are you using GoDaddy’s Premium Listings with some of the domains that have higher search numbers?
Adam
@jamie I follow you now. I’d venture to guess that most people are going to use the homepage search over the whois search. GD should change that layout to display the exact match as for sale better, you are absolutely correct on that one.
@john Regardless if some of the searches are bots or bulk searches, it’s nice to have one more data point like GAWKT searches, alexa rank, inbound links, PR, etc. and it’s data we didn’t previously have about our domains. Use it with caution like any other data.
I’ve seen upticks in the lookups when names are coming due for renewals, so that’s obviously the drop services, or bots at work. I’ve also seen upticks in lookups on names right before I sell them.
Oh and if GD is reading this. It’d be nice to get these reports on a regular basis. Like a way to schedule the report to be sent every month without having to manually do it
John
@Jamie, no, I don’t use the premium listings at godaddy. All my domains go to a very simple custom sale page which gives me the ability to see who is interested in the name. I’ll post something on the blog shortly to give you guys some useful information regarding whois, etc.
@Adam – It would be nice if GD could split the whois info with how many are bulk/bot and how many are individual lookups. That would give me a better idea of the interest in the names.
mr. ako
Is there a option or any other service of that kind, that would give us statistics for much LONGER PERIOD?
Godaddy provides just a “month ago” stats, it would be nice if there was option for last year or even ALL TIME stats, beginning with date of registration of the domain!
Thanks,
Marko