Average parked domain earns £8-45/year in UK. Premium generic domains (single keyword) can earn £200-2,000/year. Earnings depend entirely on traffic and keyword commercial value.
What Is Domain Parking
Point unused domain to parking service. They display ads. You earn revenue per click (PPC). No website building required. DNS change takes 5 minutes.
UK Parking Services
Sedo (largest, best for premium domains), Bodis (good UK support), ParkingCrew (aggregates multiple ad networks), Above.com (premium domains only).
Revenue Share
Sedo: 90% to domain owner, 10% to platform. Bodis: 80/20 split. Above.com: 85/15. Higher traffic domains negotiate better revenue share.
Traffic Sources
Type-in traffic (people typing domain directly), existing backlinks (if expired domain), brand confusion (typo of known brand - legally risky). Zero traffic = zero earnings.
Legal risk: Parking typo domains of known brands (ammazon.co.uk for Amazon) is trademark infringement. Expect cease and desist or UDRP action.
Realistic Earnings
New domain, no traffic, no backlinks: £0-3/year. Aged domain, some backlinks: £10-80/year. Premium keyword domain with type-in traffic: £100-2,000/year. Most fall in first category.
Setup Process
Create account at parking service. Add domain. They provide nameservers. Update nameservers in registrar control panel. DNS propagation takes 4-24 hours. Ads appear automatically.
Ad Optimization
Parking service tests different ad layouts, keywords, networks. Optimization is automatic. You can set categories/keywords manually for better ad targeting.
Landing Page Types
Click-through page (one ad, forces choice), ad grid (multiple ads), search box (user searches, results = ads). Service tests and picks best performer for your domain.
Payment Terms
Minimum payout: £25-50. Monthly payment if you exceed threshold. Below minimum, earnings accumulate. PayPal or bank transfer. Net-30 or Net-60 terms (earnings from January paid in March).
Tax Implications
Parking income is taxable business income. Declare on self-assessment tax return. Deduct domain renewal fees as business expense. Keep records of parking revenue.
Portfolio Strategy
Don't buy domains solely for parking income. Economics don't work (£10/year revenue vs £12/year renewal cost). Park domains you already own but aren't using yet.
Domain parking works as holding strategy (earn while deciding what to build) or for premium domains with natural traffic. Not viable as standalone business model.
Parking vs Development
Premium domain earning £200/year parked might generate £2,000-20,000/year if developed into proper business. Parking is opportunity cost.
When to Park
Good for: Domains awaiting development, defensive registrations, aged domains you acquired with traffic. Bad for: Fresh registrations with zero traffic, domains you'll never develop.
Trademark Lens checks domain availability for UK businesses - if you register multiple variations defensively, parking unused ones offsets renewal costs.