Domain names cost anything from nothing to a few dollars per year or even hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. They are some of the most interesting digital assets available, and highly valued domain names are not always the short and snappy ones. Product phrases, brand names, and clever plays on words tend to be the most expensive domain names to get your hands on.
The value of domain names can also fluctuate a lot. If a new brand or product is looking to get a domain name that will strengthen its online presence, this could easily increase the value of the name that is related to it. For example, Insurance.com sold for over $35m, Internet.com sold for $18m and Hotels.com sold for $11m.
Whether you’re looking into buying a new domain for your brand or want to figure out how much your current domain name is worth, it’s important to understand all the factors that go into working out the value of a domain.
The Type of Domain:
When it comes to domain types, there are low, middle, and top-level domains available. Top-level domains are the best ones to have and will usually cost the most. They typically have a .com extension, are highly relevant to the brand, and are easy to remember.
Keywords:
Highly valued domain names also tend to include relevant keywords to the brand. Keywords are therefore an important consideration to make when figuring out the value of your domain name.
Popularity and Traffic:
If a domain name is currently in use for a specific website, the amount of traffic that the website receives will play a part in determining the value of the domain. When an existing audience is aware of and attracted to a domain name, it will instantly become more valuable since it is easier for a buyer to immediately leverage traffic and can help to strengthen SEO.
Spelling:
A domain name that is valued highly will usually always be spelled correctly. Not only does this reflect the company’s level of professionalism but it can also have an impact on the amount of traffic that is attracted to the site due to the domain name being easy to spell and remember.
Brandability:
A brandable domain name is often one of the most valuable and these tend to be sold for substantial amounts of money. Brand name domain names that are memorable, catchy, and unique tend to be the most noticeable and the most in-demand.
Length:
As a general rule, shorter domain names usually do better than longer ones. However, simplicity should also be taken into consideration. A short yet complicated domain name is likely to be valued at less than a longer but simple and easy to remember web address.
The Main Characteristics of a Valuable Domain Name:
If your domain name is valuable, there are certain characteristics that it will always have. A domain name that is easily remembered by customers tends to be more valuable than those that are difficult to remember. Domain names that can help to position you as an industry leader, demonstrate authority, high credibility, and trustworthiness to your audience, and helps you increase click-through rates and organic search rankings are typically classed as high-value domain names.
How to Determine Your Domain Name’s Worth:
There are three things that you can do to determine how much your domain name is worth.
Find Out What Potential Buyers Are Willing to Pay:
Going straight to potential buyers is one of the best ways to find out more about how much you could get for selling your domain. After all, asking potential buyers will help you avoid mistakes made by research tools and help you determine if your domain is actually relevant. Bear in mind that even if your domain name ticks all the boxes when it comes to the right characteristics, if it Is not in demand or relevant to anybody’s website, it may not be worth a lot. On the other hand, your domain name might end up being much more appealing to potential buyers than you initially thought. You could also try putting your domain name up for sale with a reserve price, which gives you the chance to find out what buyers are willing to pay without the risk of making a loss.
Research Similar Domains:
Finding out how much people are paying for domain names that are similar to yours is another good step to take when finding out how much your domain name is worth. It is not recommended to consider how much you paid for the domain since the value of domains can fluctuate a lot over time and you might find that your domain name is worth a lot more or less compared to what you paid for it. Using domain sites to search for names that are similar to yours and find out how much they are being sold for can help you get a clear idea of what you might expect to get.
Use an Appraisal Tool:
An appraisal tool allows you to find out information on a certain domain name. It is a great way to find out more about the estimated value of domain names that are similar to yours. The tool will do all of the hard work for you and present you with results that are as close to the true value of your domain name as possible, making it one of the best ways to get an accurate answer.
Domain names are essential for every website, but with some available for free and others for sale for millions of dollars, what is the difference? High-value domain names can fetch a huge amount of money because they can significantly impact a business’ traffic, reputation, and profit.
Whether you are thinking of selling your domain name or are simply curious to find out how much it is worth, it’s important to consider all the factors that make up a high-value domain name and determine which ones apply to yours. If your domain name is short, easy to remember, has no errors, and is highly brandable, you could be on to a winner.