DomainTools Blog

FreeCreditReport.com is a website that focuses on reporting credit ratings directly to consumers. Their primary audience is consumers that watch TV. I have seen these commercials so much that it makes me wonder, what the conversion rate is on their website and why they are so successful? Their recent commercial states that they have served over 20 Million customers so far. I thought I would examine their success and break it down for everyone to learn from.

One of my biggest things I preach about domain names is that the word “Free” or “Cheap” in front of a category converts MUCH better. Imagine a consumer reaching for his wallet, he is about to pay for something. Instead of hitting confirm on the purchase page, he decides to do a quick Google search for “Cheap” and the thing he is about to buy. The money is about to fall out of the consumers wallet. This is why Free and Cheap convert so well. If I could go back to 1996 I would be buying Free and Cheap domain names. But then again I would be buying a lot of things if I had a time machine. The Internet is still very young and a lot of people understand the power of the “Free” keyword. But over the next decade it will become even more well known. I can see college professors teaching entire courses on the power of “Free” and “Cheap” as a marketing tool. Compete estimates that they have 4,743,218 in U.S. visitors per month. I would estimate higher. People are not finding the site because of traditional SEO or SEM, they have found a brand they can market offline and it converts really well. There is a call to action, run to your computer and get something for Free. I think we will see a lot more commercials in the future that advertise free things.

A very interesting side note is that FreeCreditReport.com is owned by Experian and that Experian is an official ICANN accredited registrar.