What is domain parking?
Domain parking is a service (usually free) that domain registrars offer to their clients (people who got themselves a domain name) to have a simple, non-interactive, single HTML page, where the clients can put their contact information and a short text message with more details about the future of the domain name.
In some cases, the registrar could permit ads on the parked domain so that the client can get income from them. In other cases, the registrar puts ads that it manages and collects the profits.
Anyway, betting on ads revenues from an empty site is not a strong bet, so don’t expect to become a millionaire with this strategy.
So, to make it easy!
Let’s make an analogy with the real world. Imagine you have bought a land that has nothing on it. The land is your domain name. Currently, there is nothing — no business or building (no website related to it). If somebody wants to find out who’s land is, they must go to a governmental registry office and spend time searching (in case of the domain names, this will be the WHOIS inside the domain registrar). It is not that easy and practical to search this way.
It is a lot easier to put a sign on the property – for sale, for rent, a business is coming soon, or so on. The domain parking is the option to put a sign directly on your land, so everybody can see your intention and how they could contact you.
When and why use domain parking?
1. Use domain parking when you are not ready with your site yet. A “coming soon” domain parking page will show people that you have already started developing the website. You can leave a generic message like “coming soon” or write a month or exact date when the site will be available. This way, you can start to create hype about your business, a specific product, or service.
2. Put a message if you are going out of business. Maybe your luck ran out, and you are closing your online business. If your hosting is expiring first, you can leave a message after that, so your clients can learn what is next for you.
3. You are changing the domain name. Maybe you found a better domain name, or you change the name of your business. You can buy a new domain and leave the old one with a message for your visitors. That way, they can find you at your new domain name. Another option is to put a web redirect for the old to the new domain, but this is a topic for another time.
4. Domain flipping. Domain flipping is the business of buying domain names and selling them, cashing in the difference between the price you paid to get it and the price you sold it. Many people buy multiple domain names. They create a portfolio of many domain name options, and they wait for buyers to come. The domain flippers use the domain parking services to put their offer and contacts without paying for web hosting and creating a site.
Conclusion
Domain parking is a simple way to announce your intentions regarding the domain name that you hold. You can use it to show your contacts, list a price, or put a temporary basic landing page that will give extra information about this domain’s future. In some cases, you can even put ads on your parked domain and get some extra money while the domain is still parked.