The easiest way to park your domain is to open two windows, so you can bounce back and forth as needed.

Click here: www.GoDaddy.com to open a window to GoDaddy, and here: www.Sedo.com to open a window to Sedo.

In the GoDaddy window, login to your account using the login name (or customer number) and password you saved earlier, when you registered your domain.

A green menu bar runs across the top of the GoDaddy site. On the left is the Domains menu. From that menu select “My Domain Names.”

You should see your domain name listed in blue on the left side of the page. Click on the domain name and a check mark will appear in the box to the left of the name.

Now switch to your Sedo window. In the upper-right-hand corner is a “Register” link. Click that link and provide the information requested. Once you’ve registered and logged in, you will see a green menu bar running across the top of the page. Gee, there must have been a sale on green menu bars. But I digress. On the right side of the menu bar is the “My Sedo” menu. From that menu select “Add Domains.”

On this page you will see a white box labeled “Enter Domains.” It has “yourdomainname.com” in the box already, as an example of what to enter. This will disappear as soon as you click in the box. Go ahead and enter your domain name in the box.

Before proceeding you need to check the box stating that you have read and agree to the User Agreement. I suggest you spend a few minutes and do just that. There are two other links that pertain to the sale of your domain, should that situation occur. You should probably read these as well.

Now that you’ve done your recreational reading for the day, check the box and click the gray “Next” button at the bottom of the page.

On this page you have the opportunity to select a category for your domain and optionally set some prices. Start off by checking the box next to the domain, and using the Category pull down menu, pick a category that is as close as possible. This really isn’t very important, because in a few minutes, we’re going to set up keywords. So for now, pick a category that is close.

I don’t fill in the Asking Price or Minimum Offer fields for the following reason. The most important thing I’ve ever learned about negotiation is to let the other guy go first. If I make the first offer, one of two bad things could happen. I am way too high, and that ends the negotiation or I am too low, and I leave money on the table. So, let the other guy go first. If someone likes your domain and wants to buy it from you, let them make the first offer. You never have to accept an offer, and this way you’ll find out what the market will pay for your domain.

So, click the gray “Next” button.

This final page shows you what DNS servers to point your domain at. A complete discussion of DNS and Name Servers is beyond the scope of this Website, but let’s just say that when you click on a link on a Web page, it’s the DNS servers that tell your browser how to find the Website referenced by the URL in the link.

At this point in time, your domains are parked with GoDaddy. You can see this by entering your new domain in your browser’s address bar, like this: http://www.mydomainname.com/ Of course you will use your real domain name.

Now we’re going to point internet traffic to Sedo, instead. So, go back to the GoDaddy page. There is a chance your login has timed out, if so login again and get back to the “My Domain Names” page and click on your domain name.

On the right side of the page is a box labeled “Domain Details.” In that box is a section labeled “Nameserver Summary.” Click on the “Click here to see details or modify” link.

On the right is a box labeled “Set Nameservers.” Make sure the “Custom Name Servers” radio button is selected and enter the “Primary Server Name” from the Sedo page into the “Name Server 1” field on the GoDaddy page. This value is most likely NS1.SEDOPARKING.COM., but use whatever is on the Sedo page. Then enter the “Secondary Server Name” from the Sedo page into the “Name Server 2” field on the GoDaddy page. This value is most likely NS2.SEDOPARKING.COM., but again, use whatever is on the Sedo page. Leave the “Name Server 3” field blank. Click the green “Save Changes” button.

Back on the Sedo page, click the gray “Next” button.

That’s all there is to it. It can take up to 48 hours for the change to take affect, but it usually happens right away. Wait a few minutes and enter your domain in your browser’s address bar, you should see the Sedo Park Page instead of the GoDaddy park page.

One final bit of housekeeping before we move on to the next topic. I mentioned before that we would be setting up keywords for your domain. On the Sedo page, under the “My Sedo” menu, select “Domain Management.” In the upper left portion of the Domain Management page you will see a pull-down menu marked “Please Choose.” Select “Standard overview.” Here you can see just how much traffic your domain has gotten. The “Unique Views” column is probably set to “Parked?” It will stay that way until someone visits your Sedo park page. After that it will reflect the number of visitors you’ve had. If someone clicks on an ad, that will show up in the “Clicks” column. And the amount of money you’ve made so far will show up in the “Revenue” column.

One word of caution, don’t click on the ads. Don’t have friends or family click on the ads. Don’t go to the library and click on the ads. If Sedo figures out that you’re clicking on the ads, they can close your account. Plus, someone is paying every time an ad is clicked. It could be a small business that can’t afford to pay for clicks from someone who has no intention of buying their product or service. So be a nice guy/gal, and leave the clicking to those that are genuinely interested.

Now select “Parking optimizer” from the “Please Choose” menu.

In the “Current Keyword” column, it probably says “not set.” So, let’s set it! Pick a keyword that is appropriate for your domain. Something like “dog grooming.” The keyword can be more than one word. I wouldn’t use more than three words. Enter your keyword(s) into the “keyword optimizer suggestion” field. You can see what that park page will look like by clicking on the magnifying glass icon. If you are happy with the ads on the page, make sure there is a black check in the little white box to the left of your domain name and click the red execute button at the bottom of the page. It may take a couple of days for this change to take effect, since the Sedo staff reviews your keyword suggestions.

It will probably take a long time to get any revenue from your domain. But you should start to see some visitors, fairy soon. My advice would be to check your visitor count and revenue no more than once a week.

That’s all there is to it. Now we can concentrate on building a great Website.