Youve decided to start up your own website. Youve weighed all of your options, and have come to the conclusion that you want to purchase web space for your site. Good job; youre one step closer to having your name on the world wide web.
Youve looked at different hosting companies, comparing all of the plans and packages they have to offer, and have chosen the perfect one for you. Youve filled in all of the important information pertaining to you and your site, and have come to the screen where youre asked to come up with a domain name for your site.
Now what What are you supposed to put in the box Do you choose a .com or .net .org, .biz, .info--what are you supposed to do So you decide to move on and choose that later. Maybe one will sound better with the domain name youre about to choose.
What next If your websites titled My Super-Duper-Brand-Spanking-New Site, are you going to have a domain name like mysuperduperbrandspankingnewsite.com No. That would be ridiculous to type and even harder to remember. You want something that is catchy and easy to remember. Something thatll stand out, but is still relevant to the content of your site.
You decide that superduper.com would be perfect for your site. But lo and behold, its already been taken. Now what do you do You spent hours deciding that superduper.com was the best domain name for you. It just doesnt have that same zing to it when you say superduper.net or .info. So now what are you supposed to do Try adding a hyphen in between the words to see if the names taken that way. Its a little harder to type because the hyphens a little awkward when ones typing in a URL quickly, but itll do the trick if you really want certain words.
So now youve come to the conclusion that super-duper.com is the perfect domain name for your site and buy it. Congratulations, and welcome to the world wide web, super-duper.com!
Alisha Annas is an 18-year-old student at California State University, Fresno. Shes currently pursuing a Bachelors degree in Music Education. Shes used computers since she was two years old and has been designing her own websites since the age of ten. She likes music, reading, writing, and surfing the web.
Q: Id like to buy a domain, but I discovered that its already registered by a bulk domain buying company (just check negres.com). I tried to contact them but I have received no answer.
Do you know how much these companies charge in average for a domain Or are they focused on the traffic and clicks and will not let it go
Any recommended approach to bid for the domain
A: This is a tough one because domain names, unless you have a legal claim on them, exist in a pure commodity marketplace. What I mean is: the value of a domain is defined solely by its perceived value to the buyer.
If you wanted to buy one of my unused domains (for example, BABY.NET which is for sale, actually) then I might ask $20 for it, or I might ask $200,000 for it, or, who knows, $2mil. Whats it worth Well, that depends. If youre a huge company with a massive marketing budget and are passionate about obtaining this exact domain then $500,000 might be a fair market price for it. But then again, maybe $100 would be more than its worth.
Economics books talk about pricing strategies where you charge what the market will bear, and you can see where in domain names, well, thats almost impossible to figure out without a specific buyer involved.
Theres no third party, no standards organization, no reference point for what domains are worth. Ive bought domains from others for $200 and Ive paid $8000 for one domain. My most recent domain purchase, BLOGSMART.COM, was about $500.
I should note that I have never bought a domain from a scalper (some people call them squatters, or domain squatters) or domain resale agency, however: My impression is that domain resellers encourage domain owners to set unrealistic prices and hold out. For the individual domain owner who doesnt know any better, it seems like a good deal and if offers at lower price-points roll in, well, theyre easily ignored.
Then, three, four or even five years later, the domain owners with dozens or even hundreds of domains suddenly realize that they really arent worth much after all because its clear at that point that the market isnt valuing the domain the way that the reseller is.
But even without that disconnect, domains arent typically worth what you may think they are. To see what I mean, pop over to AfterNIC, one of the top resellers in this space, and browse their recently sold and featured domains lists.
A few tips on valuation, before we get there, though: .com are worth more than other top level domains, dictionary words are worth more than multiple word amalgamations (think car.com versus myfavoritecartodrive.com), and that domain names with hyphens are worth less than those without. Further, remember that if you get a singular name, you need the plural, if you get a hyphenated name you need the unhyphenated too, and so on.
Unsurprisingly, the closing bids for tiny-treasures.com, yourbetterhalf.com, onenet.us and 2EB.com arent very impressive, but there are a few that shine as particularly good domains: america.org (sold for $20,000), maple.net ($5,000), x360.com ($5,000), itoldyouso.com ($15,000) and searchme.com ($15,500). Based on that, baby.net should certainly be worth at least $20,000, dont you think
I believe that the best domains change hands in private transactions, however, and that if youve a third-party involved, it will unquestionably complicate the situation.
Anyway, back to your specific situation, I would try one more email message to the domain owner, and if they dont respond, well, its probably time to do some creative synonym brainstorming and come up with a different name entirely. If they respond, but are asking for far more than youre willing to pay, keep dickering: Ive been surprised how quickly potential buyers vanish, when Im just negotiating a price.
Good luck to you!
Dave Taylor is an internationally recognized expert on business and technical topics and is the author of 18 different books and thousands of magazine articles. His Q&A Web site is