Many savvy business owners have found that their unused domain names need not present a wasted expense. On the contrary, a perfect opportunity exists for you to monetize your unused domain names: domain parking. If you’re an active Internet user, it is highly likely that you’ve stumbled upon a parked page before even though you might not have known what it was called. Basically, it is a page that is filled with pay-per-click links. The domain isn’t being used for any particular purpose yet.

As a domain owner, you may be holding on to your unused domain names for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you are anticipating a buyer, or maybe you want to start your own site in the future. Domain parking gives you the opportunity to generate passive income until you are ready to use the domain. It is true that a lot of people may find parked pages annoying, but for the owner they can be a goldmine.

So if you’re a domain owner, how much income can you realistically expect from this endeavor? As usual, the dollar amount depends on various factors. Earnings are based on a combination of the domain name itself, the ads it generates, and the amount of traffic it gets from the search engines. The “quality” of your domain name seems to be the most essential factor in higher profits.

If nothing else, parking your unused domain names is a great way to get them indexed and “aged.” Search engines prefer older domains and will generally award them higher PageRank. Get the domain name combinations right, and you could be looking at long-term profitability from this initiative.