How much is it really worth?
With so many people nowadays likening the domain market to the modern day equivalent of the cyberspace real estate division, coupled with my own recent attempts at buying another house my mind has started to wonder at how accurately we can place value against a particular name or indeed a portfolio…
I have the luck of living in the sunny state of Florida and can happily say as I sit at my laptop top by my pool I enjoy year round sunshine which suits me just fine as I happen to hate the cold. I have got to say though the real estate estate market is pretty lousy and despite having renovated my house from top to bottom over the last four years it is barely worth what I paid for it, so it seems where I live your house is only actually worth what the last house in the neighbourhood sold for. Ok yes I live in a typical family style cookie cutter house but it would be nice to think all the changes I made to my house to make it stand out from the others would have some impact on its value, to my disappointment this does not seem the case. So can the same be said for my domain portfolio..?
Free Valuations – What’s the catch?
So straight off the bat there are websites out there which will quickly, convnientley and in many cases for free give you a very high level and to be honest crude valuation of what your domain is worth www.valueate.com and www.estibot.com are two of the most popular. Crude? A bit harsh of a description maybe but probably just a little justified. Every Realtor I know dismisses the automatic property valuation given by www.zillow.com so really how are these sites any different when assesing the value of an expired domain?
It has long been preached that very specific, tangible and measurable list of features will impact the value of a domain….
The older the better!
Overall it is felt that domain age is an important factor when considering value, with the thought process being the more history the domain has the more likely the new owner will enjoy residual traffic and loyalty from previous owners. Always remember a domain is not just a name, it is an entity which grows and expands over time depending on how much it’s owners invest and care for it. Think of it like a garden – there are those that have been landscaped and cared for over hundreds of year and have established plants and trees and others that are bare lots of land. History can though be problematic with domain names, if previous owners have employed black hat techniques in the past to drive traffic to the website most notably a tactic called link bombing this will have a negative impact on the value of the domain most notably because it will continue to be penalized by Google until these links are removed.
The shorter the better!
Much like a specific zip code or address in the real estate industry the length of a domain name really counts and adds value and it is generally regarded that the shorter the better, with a one word domain name more often than not having the ability to command a premium price tag. The caveat being the word must be an easily recognizable and spellable.
Yes .com is really better..
Despite their being an influx of new gtlds on the marketplace this year with the likes of .club, .xyz, .guru and .ninja it is generally still regarded that the old faithful .com extension is where the true value in domain names exists. At this point in time most people who directly type in a domain name automatically will add .com to the end of the name – hence the value of this gtld is so high because of the traffic it generates.
Keywords are key!!
A keyword is a search term which is used to find your website in Google search. A few years ago domains that met the criteria of being an exact match domain i.e. the domains name was the same as the main key word were hot property. Google apparently has changed its algorithm now and has placed less weightings on EMD’s but those that represent a high traffic keyword will always be a more attractive proposition for investors than non EMD’s.
Google PageRank = $$$$$
Domains that command a high PageRank or even have a PageRank are important when assessing a value of a domain. PageRank is Google’s seal of approval and is extremely difficult to obtain. PageRank is tied to the domain name and not the owner/business therefore has significant impact on the value of a domain.
Ok so where does all this leave us…? All of the above I have no doubt will add value to your domain but what really makes a domain worth $1 million dollars versus one that sells for a $1 thousand dollars..? The answer is a lot less scientific than what many people will argue and much more difficult to value than any property in the real estate market. A domain is essentially a shopfront to a business, the value of this domain can be extremely subjective and niche to your particular business or it can have global appeal like the likes of www.whiskey.com which sold earlier this year for $5 million.
When buying expired domains follow the rules : age, length, .com, keyword and PageRank and you should have some sound investments but beware it really is hard to hit the jackpot..!
For the full list of today’s expired domains, pre release auction domains and thousands of high quality dropped domains please go http://www.expired-domains.co.
Clare Coggins
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