February 20, 2017
Ten Top Tips for the Domain Marketplace
The 1990s’ domain name gold rush has receded into folklore, but there’s still plenty of activity across this vital industry. From domain names auction specialists to traditional resellers like UK2, the buying and selling of web addresses remains big business.
These are our ten top tips for the domain marketplace for helping buyers and sellers to achieve the best price – whether they’re setting up a new company or using domain names auction firms to dispose of unwanted addresses…
Domain Names Auction Tips for Sellers
- Monitor traffic levels. If you’re fortunate enough to have a sought-after domain, you can bolster its value by using a package like Google Analytics to monitor site traffic. Collate statistics, and list them on the site to encourage other people to bid for it.
- Calculate a value. Combine the previous step with a degree of detective work into the value similar domains fetch at domain names auction houses or with corporate sellers. People will be more likely to make a bid if your expectations are fair and justifiable.
- Promote alternative uses for the site. If you once created a Leonardo DiCaprio fan site called leorules.com, you could potentially sell this domain to astrologers, lion-tamers or Da Vinci fans. A little explanatory text on the homepage can also help attract buyers.
- Advertise the site on the homepage. We’ve all seen websites with a “This domain is for sale” message on the landing page – the equivalent of advertising a house or car with a sign in the window. Combine steps 1-3 to maximise the ad’s effectiveness.
- Sell to a commercial buyer. If the domain name has any perceived value, you’re in a good position to negotiate a sale to a domain trading company or a marketplace seller. You’ll typically pay up to 10 per cent of the sale price in commission, however.
Domain Names Auction Tips for Buyers
- Keep things short. It’s been scientifically proven that shorter website addresses are more memorable. Although every possible combination of four-letter addresses has now been claimed, there are plenty of brief addresses still available.
- Consider resale value. Whether your site is a long-term acquisition or a flip-for-profit purchase, evaluate its future popularity. Maximise the possible pool of future buyers – rentaflatinlondon.co.uk will be more sought after than rentaflatinshoreditch.com.
- Save money with less popular TLDs. The top level domain is the suffix of a web address, and has classically been .com for companies, .org for charities, etc. There are now over a thousand TLDs, and the less common ones are often very affordable…
- …Or combine your chosen name with an obscure TLD. If the obvious TLDs for your preferred web address have been reserved, use a niche suffix like .biz or .me. People may confuse you with your .com rivals and visit their site instead of yours, though!
- Trust the experts at UK2. We know all about domains, and we can quickly set you up with a website and matching email accounts.
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February 20, 2017