Domain name values
Why did ToysRus pay $5.1million for toys.com, or REDC(Real Estate Disposition corporation) pay $1.7million for auction.com, or ESS data recovery pay $1.69million for datarecovery.com, quite simply because these domain names define their products or services perfectly and are some of the main keywords that they are targeting in the search engines. That is to say that when someone types, data recovery into Google, ESS want to be at the number 1 position in the search results.
But this is not the only reason, there is a growing trend towards what we call “direct navigation’, simply meaning that the search word or phrase is entered directly into the address bar. Try it, enter only the word, toys into the address bar, no http, no .com, nothing else… and where do you end up… on the ToysRus website… no search results, straight to the website. If you type a phrase, a list of search results will appear as if you had entered the phrase into the search box on Google. More information on who owns premium domain names
Now that in short is the value of a single word.com address. But, I hear you ask, who types the search queary in the address bar…. Almost 30% of all searchers. I also hear you ask, what about the other extensions like co.za, co.uk, .de etc, well these domains are of great value for similar reasons, and you should try a few searches for yourself. If you are in South Africa, Google.co.za will give you some surprising results.
Try a few of these for arguments sake, search for cookbook.. the number 1 position is occupied by cookbook.co.za, search for attorneys… the number 1 position is occupied by attorneys.co.za. These are just a few examples of many and if the results do not reflect this trend, the likleyhood is that the domain is undeveloped and either.
- Parked at an advertising provider
- The website is relatively new
- Has been penalised for by Google for some reason(duplicate content, black hat techniques etc.).
There are more than 50 billion webpages indexed in Google which grows by a few million every day and with this in mind, it is evident that good desciptive domain names will only increase in value over time. It has been said in the industry “The only way to own the name is to buy the company”.
the important aspect of selecting your domain name or names is to research the search volumes for words or terms that your business needs to be found in the search results. While you may see little difference between a series of names or terms, the search volumes may be dramatically different.
Read “What’s in a domain name” for more information on this topic.
Contact us to discuss the domain name selection and acquisition opportunities available to you that will give your business the competitive edge online.