The Domain Game

We have all heard the statement in Real Estate – Location, Location, Location. Well, I have a new statement for you – Domain Name, Domain Name, Domain Name. This is the Domain Game. The cyber real estate of the 21st century is domain names, and it is quite clear that the value of a domain name is at an all-time high, with expectations that it will continue to grow.

A domain name today is either a direct brand (your company name) or it can be synonymous with search words—and the closer that name is to a key search word (an obvious word that someone would type into a search engine), the more traffic that website will receive, and thus the more value that website has.

Your Website as a Virtual Storefront

Today a domain name is quite often the actual brand or the most visited and viewed location of that brand. It is interesting to think that walmart.com has more visitors to its website than any one Walmart store could have (in actual fact, more than many Walmart stores combined).

This is a good analogy because it really emphasizes that association between a store—a physical place you go visit and shop at—and a website—a virtual place you go visit and shop at.

Physical Limitations vs. Online Growth

In ten years, unless someone rebuilds the physical store, it will still offer the same stocking capabilities it has now. Demographics and demand might drive more product sales, and pricing might increase, but the store’s physical structure and size will continue to limit it.

On the other hand, walmart.com may have 10 million more visitors ten years from now, and it may sell millions of products directly from that website. The website has no physical boundaries and will most likely continue to grow annually simply by the growth and proliferation of the Internet.

The Value of a Domain Name

I think this example helps to clarify the long-term value of a domain name and how important walmart.com is to the Walmart company.

But I’m a Small Business – Is My Domain Name Still Relevant?

Of course, many small businesses may say to themselves: We are not Wal-mart. No you’re not, but you probably have the same aims as major companies do. You want to attract more customers, sell more products and services, and grow your business annually.

Your domain name and your website should be a key part of your business plan.

Choosing the Right Domain Name

The basics of choosing the right domain name is to match your actual business name if you can—e.g., BeareWare – beareware.com—but this is not always possible. Then you have to become creative and come up with a domain name that fits into your marketing concept and is easily identified as yours.

This could include slogans or identifiable phrases. If Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee owned www.beer.com, it could well be that their primary marketing would always include www.beer.com. This is a good example of an identifiable phrase used for a domain.

Domain Names Are Big Business

Recently beer.com (the domain name only) sold for over six million dollars. Can you believe it?! (Now, why didn’t I register THAT one…?!).

The cost is based on the number of people who visit (or could potentially visit) the site and the advertising revenue that might be generated from that site.

Getting Creative With Your Domain Names

Let’s say neither miller.com nor beer.com is available—some remaining options might be millerbrewing.com, millerbeer.com, or tastesgreatlessfilling.com. This is a great opportunity to get creative while recognizing that you want, above all, a name that is memorable.

Are All the Good Domain Names Taken?

Not all the good names are taken. Sometimes a great domain manages to become available again.

I am seeing a lot more slogans and action statements being incorporated into advertising campaigns designed to send a branding message (in the name itself) and drive traffic to the website.

New Strategies for Domain Marketing

If you watch an hour of television, you will notice advertisers incorporating this more and more—you’ll see an ad for a healthcare or asthma-related product, and then the advertiser will promote a domain like www.breatheasyagain.com, specifically registered for that marketing campaign and search optimization.

Can You Buy a Domain Name That’s Already Taken?

If a domain name you are interested in is taken, you can also consider purchasing the domain name, pending the price and ownership status.

And just like the walmart.com analogy—if you consider your business 10-20 years down the track, the cost of that domain name may make a lot more sense (just like real estate).

The Growing Market for Domain Sales

Some domains sell for $100.00, some sell for $1,000.00, and some sell for $10,000.00. It depends on the perceived value of the name and, of course, the seller’s motivation.

Quite often someone registers a domain name to run a business—or to start a new business plan. They realize that business will never happen but still retain the domain name, spotting opportunities to sell it later.

Building a Domain Portfolio

I think you will see domain finance companies appearing on the horizon as the value of these domains increases—and as awareness of their value spreads. Your domain starts to be seen as a long-term investment.

Even Slogans Make Great Domains!

Based on my experience of managing over 400 domain names for clients, I have seen firsthand the value of using domain names.

The cost to register a domain name ranges from $8.00 (in bulk) to around $35.00 for an individual name per annum.

Incredible Return on Investment

When you think about registering a domain name, activating it within your web environment, and then a year later seeing that it brought an extra 1,000 visitors—it’s one of the best advertising investments you can make.

That’s far less expensive than a mail-out or any other advertising you could do.

Low-Cost, High-Impact Marketing

Most likely it might be 1,500 visitors next year! Companies that spend big bucks on advertising campaigns really should consider incorporating domain techniques into their advertising plans.

Imagine a strategy that uses 10 to 20 key domain names to drive traffic—suddenly you have an extra 20,000 visitors coming to your website annually, costing you a grand total of “EIGHTY BUCKS.” I can’t help but get excited about that!

Watch Out for Mismanagement and Neglect

With domain names being such a new business entity, I have seen many companies lose or struggle to maintain domain names due to mismanagement or neglect.

The worst offender is usually the old webmaster who decided to quit the web game and simply dropped the responsibility of the client’s domain name without any notification.

The Risk of Losing Your Domain

I would love to know how many companies have lost their primary domain names over the years.

As much as this is a loss to one company, it is a gain to another. Services like domain backordering or snapping up expired domains are growing fast—and once your domain is gone, it could be very costly or even impossible to get it back.

Domain Names Are Your Most Critical Online Asset

Domain names are the key asset of your website—no matter how you look at it.

You can always replace a webmaster or rebuild a website, but your domain name will stay with you forever.

Building a domain portfolio is a great way to bring additional traffic to your website.

In Conclusion: It’s All About Domain Name, Domain Name, Domain Name!

And don’t ever forget—it’s all about…”Domain Name – Domain Name – Domain Name!”

Cheers Mate,

Peter Beare – Webmaster
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Peter Beare is CEO of BeareWare, a Website Design & Development Company located just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Since building his first website for a local sports club in 1998 Peter has been a webmaster. Over the years Peter’s duties with BeareWare have included strategic website planning, design and development, website marketing and sales, as well as database application programming & project management. But when all is said and done, Peter is still primarily a webmaster. And this is “Interview with a Webmaster.”