Happy New Y.E.A.R (Year End Account Review)

I’ve spent 17 years at GoDaddy across nine different roles, before finding my professional home on the Partner Seller Team. What keeps me engaged isn’t just a love of the work, but the distinctive qualities of the clients I partner with every day.

Domain investors are a rare breed. Most entered an industry with no guardrails, learning through trial, error, and personal investment before resources like Domain Academy existed. Above all, they’re deeply passionate about what they do and that passion continues to inspire me.

Ironically, some of the traits that make successful investors stand out also make ‘portfolio maintenance’ feel underwhelming. Chasing the next acquisition or refining a sales strategy is far more exciting. However, regularly auditing your portfolio and sales can surface new opportunities and provide valuable insight into your business’s performance.

As the year comes to a close, it’s an ideal time to get things in order before setting goals for the year ahead. So, let’s make a list and check it twice.

1. Get Everything Listed

Sometimes names slip through the cracks. If you don’t already have a master list, create one by exporting your domains from all registrars to capture your full inventory. Then cross-check that list against every platform where your domains are listed and add any that are missing.

Pro tip: It’s worth repeating this process a day or two after your initial review, as some domains may still not have been added or could be removed again. Some of the domains may have been flagged by an automated check and may need to be reviewed manually. You can head to afternic.com/contact to have the listings reviewed via live chat.

2. Nameserver/DNS Audit

With your master list in hand, run a bulk DNS check to confirm all domains are pointing correctly. Buyers come from a wide range of technical backgrounds, and a domain that doesn’t clearly indicate it’s for sale may be assumed unavailable. If any domains aren’t using the correct nameservers, update them at your registrar(s).

Pro tip: Separate any domains you’re actively using for personal/business use. You don’t want to accidentally update nameservers and take down the website/email services.

3. Sales Audit

Tracking the level of your success is important in scaling a healthy portfolio. Calculate the totals you have invested and sold. Correlate your costs (cost per domain) and sales (revenue per domain) on a yearly basis to ensure your portfolio growth matches your investment/sales goals. If you are investing heavily in the quality of your portfolio, you want to ensure the revenue per domain continues to climb in future years.

Tracking your success is important in scaling a healthy portfolio. Calculate your total investments (cost per domain) and sales (revenue per domain), and analyze costs versus revenue annually. This helps ensure your portfolio growth aligns with your goals and that revenue per domain continues to increase as you invest in higher quality assets.

4. Identify Shed Candidates

The end of the year is a good time to review your portfolio and identify any domains that may be on the chopping block for the upcoming year.

For any domains you do not plan on renewing, turn off auto renew at your registrar so you don’t accidentally renew a domain you didn’t plan on renewing (cost per domain hit). Segment out these names so you can start your shed process sooner than later (discount domain pricing/promote as wholesale).

Your Afternic portfolio can help you identify domains that you may want to drop. Renewal signals can include:

• Offer count
• Lead count
• GoDaddy searches

To start the new year strong, also consider:

1. Catching up on unpriced domains: In your Afternic portfolio, use the BIN filter to quickly identify any domains that don’t yet have a Buy Now price set. These often get overlooked after acquisition and can limit sales opportunities.
2. Reviewing Lander settings: Review your lander configuration directly within your Afternic portfolio to make sure it still reflects your strategy. Consider setting up structured Afternic lander experiments.
3. Checking LTO settings: If you offer payment plans, use the LTO filter on your Afternic Portfolio page to confirm which domains still need activating.

If your domains are listed on Afternic, the Partner Seller Team can help with your year-end audit. Send your master list to PartnerSeller@Afternic.com and request an account audit. We’ll compare your portfolio against your list, run a bulk nameserver check, and provide your 2025 sales data.