guide Domain investing

[Dave]

I see so many posts from newcomers asking how to make money from domains so I thought I'd write you all a little guide on the different possible types of investment in domaining. Consider carefully how you want to invest before spending your hard earned money. In my opinion the best investment strategy is dividing your investments across all different possible types.

This guide is catered to the 99% of typical domain investing. Getting into that top 1% means you need to learn to do all the following correctly in the first place.

PLEASE NOTE that all the following is not to be considered as definitive investment advice. Please use this as only a guide to help better learn and understand more about domain investing. Afterwards do your own research further before spending money.

The following guide is also only for .com domains.

Brandables

Firstly we have the brandable type of domain. These are usually conjoined keywords / phrases or keywords that match well together like a colour + animal. They can also be known business niche keywords combined with an adjective, noun or verb.

Examples of brandable type domains:

• Intellizone.com (combines intelligent + zone)
• Hempwave.com (business niche + word)
• VrHome.com (business niche + word)
• FlowFox.com
• BlueBird.com

Brandable domains are one of the more difficult but lucrative types of domains to invest in. They are lucrative because they can typically be acquired for lesser amount than other types whilst yielding huge ROI. Most brandable type domains don't usually have an existing end user, you'll most likely be investing in these with the hope of a startup naming their company, product or service with the matching name.

Advantages:

• Lower acquisition cost than other types
• Still plenty to be hand registered
• Has potential for the most ROI

Disadvantages:

• Very low chance of being able to outbound
• Can take a long time to sell
• Low percentage sell through rate

Brandables are typically the domain of choice for those starting out with a small amount of capital. For example if you're only starting domain investing with $100 capital then it's either this or GEOs as your choice of investment.

You want to typically try and acquire brandable domains for 50x less than what you'd expect to sell it for. This is because sell through rate is typically 1-2%. The sweet spot for most brandables is the low 4 figure range. Of course there are 5 figure+ brandable sales but they are less common. The higher valued domains typically have a better sell through rate so you have more leeway on acquisition cost.

Tiered acquistion cost of brandables:

• $1000-3000 sale price: Acquire for between reg fee - $50 at 2% expected sell through rate (50x cost)
• $3000-5000 sale price: Acquire for between reg fee - $250 max at 5% expected sell through rate (20x cost)
• $5000-10000 sale price: Acquire for between reg fee - $750 max at 7.5% expected sell through rate.

Take a look at brandable marketplaces like Brandpa or SquadHelp to get a feel of what makes a good brandable.

GEOs

Next up we have the GEO type of domains. These are a service or offering targeted at a particular city, town, state or country.

Examples of GEO domains:

• ChicagoWindows.com
• LondonPhotography.com
• NewYorkCitySEO.com

GEO domain values are based on primarily the following factors:

• Population
• How many companies are offering said service in the geographical region
• Search volume for the keywords
• Advertising competition for the keywords

GEOs can be a great investment if you know a particular business niche really well, or if you know the competitors within said niche.

Advantages:

• Relatively high sell through rate compared to brandables, typically looking at 10-15% depending on keywords and location
• Best type for outbound by far, so it's a great choice if you see yourself as a salesman
• Easier to identify what makes for a good GEO domain compared to other types, they're typically very intuitive

Disadvantages:

• One of the lowest ROI of all types, the majority of GEO domains typically only sell for $xxx
• More time consuming to invest in, requires plenty of research to identify good niches / markets to target

As mentioned most GEO domains typically go for $xxx with the sweet spot usually around low to mid $xxx. This means you'll only want to acquire for between reg fee - $99 at most. Yet again of course there are more premium GEO domains but this guide is targeting the 99% as I stated.

The value of GEO domains increases along with search volume. Consider the following search volume to sales price list as an example only:

• Search volume between 100-499: $100 - $299 sales price.
• Search volume between 500-999: $300-799 sales price
• 1000+ search volume: $800-$xxxx+

GEOs are again a good choice for those just starting out with less capital. Take a look at deleted .com domains or closeout auctions to try and find some gems.

Keyword Domains

Next up we have keyword domains. These type of domains are what people search for. Their value is primarily based on the keywords search volume online. GEOs, generics and category killer domains are actually highly specific subsets of keyword domains. The difference between general keyword domains and those specific types is that they are typically more targeted searches within a particular niche.

Examples of keyword domains:

• CBDOil.com (CBD but specifically CBD oil)
• HotelsNearMe.com (not just hotels but hotels near me)

If you choose to invest in keyword domains you typically want to only buy keyword domains that have medium to high competition in advertising and above 1000 in search volume.

Category Killer

These are domains whereby the keywords are the exact match for an entire niche of product, offering or service.

Examples of category killer domains:.

• Cannabis.com
• VirtualReality.com
• Crypto.com

Category killer domains are some of the most valuable. You either have to be incredibly lucky to register them ahead of a niche blowing up or you will require a lot of capital to invest in this type of domain.

Final Thoughts

Domain investing is NOT a get rich quick scheme. It takes time, effort and realistic pricing if you want to have any hopes of making a successful return on investment.

The numbers and figures I've used in this guide are based upon my personal experience with the various types of domains. When I started out in domaining I wasted money on nonsense domains for a long while before I turned a profit, so with this guide I can only hope to help others not do the same. Since those awful beginnings I've only ever been in profit from domaining, which to me is a success as I'm sure many will agree.

Please only take you what I've written here as a guide and reference to help in your own investment choices.

Thanks

 

[Dave]

how can i register brand able domain some guide please......

An in depth and more specific guide like that would take some serious time to write. There are so many variables and factors at play. I will try to breakdown brandable domains for you further though and then provide an example of a recent hand registration of mine that has been accepted at BP for over $3k.

There are 3 primary types of brandable domains:

• Niche specific
• Generic
• One letter difference

Niche Specific

These are domains that have a clear identifiable niche keyword. Examples of this type of brandable are:

• CryptoPlanet / com (crypto)
• FinSpot / com (finance)
• CannaBox / com (cannabis)
• HoloBase / com (hologram / holography / vr)

These are in my opinion the easiest type of brandables to get started with. You want to try and focus on trending, popular or evergreen niches and appropriate prefixes or suffixes that flow well with the niche keyword, are pronounceable and preferably a maximum of 3 syllables. The sweet spot for the maximum length is 12 characters, however there can be exceptions to this if the niche is a long keyword.

Pros:

• Much easier to get started with, you have a base keyword (crypto, vr, nutri, medi etc) as a foundation to work with
• Temporary increased chance of selling during a hot phase for any particular niche, take Crypto and Blockchain in 2017-2018 as examples
• If a niche is in its infancy but you know will BOOM, you have chance to acquire many names early on. This is exactly what happened with crypto, coin, token, vr etc. I recall vrxxx selling for $10k, cryptoworld selling for $200k, so on and so forth.

Cons:

• More time consuming research, identifying what niches to take a punt on and what niches to avoid, recent sales data etc.
• Much lower chance of selling during times where a niche is not so popular, less startups forming in the niche etc.

Generic

These are generic with no identifiable niche. Examples of generic brandables are:

• RedRooster / com
• GreenGoose / com
• IntelliZone / com
• SmartBase / com
• BlueBird / com
• HappyMonkey / com
• HappyBee / com

Try to follow the same rules as niche specific, max 12 characters and 3 syllables.

Pros:

• General purpose use, no need for end users to pigeon hole themselves into niche
• Higher chance of selling than niche specific brandables. In my experience niche specific brandables are the 1-2%, these are the percentages above that I showed in my tiered list
• Doesn't take much research to identify a good generic brand name, a quick company search to see how many are using the name is good enough

Cons:

• Generally more difficult and costly to acquire than niche specific on the aftermarket, although if a niche is really hot like cannabis is at the moment there are exceptions

One Letter Difference

This is taking a niche or well known word and replacing one letter with another so it minimally affects pronunciation.

Examples:

• Krypto / com
• Konversions / com (I actually paid $25 for this and later sold for 4 figs)
• Bedz / com
• Ignyte / com

No real need for pros or cons here, one letter difference domains are more self explanatory imo.

Example of a recent hand registration of mine

I recently hand registered HoloRiver, which has now been accepted at Brandpa with a price of $3.2k.

How did I know to register this? What was I thinking at the time?

Holo, which encompasses holography, holograms, virtual reality and such is a niche identifying keyword that is gradually growing in popularity in recent times. According to dofo there are over 109,000 domains registered containing holo and over 299,000 containing river.

There are many reported .com sales with holo as the starting keyword, over 71 reported on Namebio:

holoform / com - $10,000
holoride / com - $5,499
holoshop / com - $3,000
holohome / com - $3,000

and many more.

There are also many reported .com sales with river as the ending keyword:

GoldenRiver / com - $6k
GreenRiver / com - $6k
OakRiver / com - $4k

With the number of registered domains containing each keyword and sales, it started to become clear to me that river was a commonly enough suffix used in branding. Plenty of existing companies using this in their branding is always a good sign. For example Fresh River healthcare.

I decided that for a hand registration in a niche that was growing HoloRiver / com was for sure something worth taking a chance on at $6.99. If I were to register 100 domains of similar quality I would hopefully have a somewhat decent chance of selling one some day for $2k-3k, hence profit.

Brandpa of course agreed with me on the quality and hence the name is now published.

Final Thoughts

There is never any guarantee in domaining. Brandables are NOT like liquid domains. Please please please remember this before spending thousands on them. Most will likely NEVER sell, but the hope if you follow the numbers is that if register enough brandables of similar quality you have a CHANCE of selling one someday and make a PROFIT. You can then use that profit to buy higher quality domains that have more liquid value and higher sell through rate.

Brandables of this nature and quality are a good choice if you're starting out and don't have a lot of capital to invest in highly liquid domain names like LL, LLL, LLLL and quality one word .coms.

I can't stress it enough though. Simply having a domain accepted at a brandable marketplace is no guarantee you'll get a sale.

If you can't afford to lose money you'll be spending on brandables then take a look at other type of domains to invest in. You can still acquire LLLL's for low $xxx and those have more liquid value. You can also take a look into GEO domains that typically have a much higher sell through rate via outbound, although much lower profit margins.

Also please remember to do your own further research before investing your money!

I am not an authoritative figure on domains but I have sold hundreds since 2007. I don't sell anywhere near as many as I used to but I still like to think my experience still counts for something and if I can help you guys breakdown your own thought processes, buying patterns and such in more depth and SAVE you money than I am happy to offer my advice in this manner.

Thanks and please be careful out there. Domaining can be a dangerous game at times!

 

[BaileyUK]

What's equally impressive as the content Dave, Is your post is so well written and succinct

I am going to add another possible investment opportunity to the key word sales. But, as mentioned it's a risk strategy. Over the years I've had a few good sales low to mid $X,XXX by adding just one letter or number as prefix or suffix to a KEY Word. You can't be doing it randomly it has to stick-out as a sort of semi-logical add-on and of course avoiding any numbers or letters that may get misread (.com only)

This does obviously fit under your branding/brandable category. Our boy Elon Musk's SpaceX is a perfect example (nope it wasn't one of mine, unfortunately)

 

[Bob Hawkes]

This is an outstanding post that should somehow be mentioned in the required reading in the beginners section of NPs. Thank you @Dave both for the comprehensive and clear nature of your post, but also I really like the balance of mentioning pro and cons. The brandable section is particularly strong.

Do you have thoughts on investing in numbers (or combination) and acronyms? Similar pro and con and description in those would be really helpful.

It is already very complete, but I wonder how you feel about domains with primary use not as the company name, as in brandable, or not quite a category killer, but rather a descriptive name for a product the company deals in. Maybe the dividing line is very fuzzy from category killer, though.

These all seem, naturally, business oriented where the majority of the domain business is. However there is a significant (10% to 15%??) of the resale market for nonprofits, etc.

But mainly I just wanted to say thank you for an incredible post!

Bob

 

[KRajmys]

Great post, loved reading every piece of information mentioned.

 

[420domainer]

Awesomeness. This should be permanently stuck at the top of the beginners section. Fantastic advice and insights, thanks @Dave.

 

[bmugford]

.com is king, but there is opportunity in others as well. .net, .org, countrycodes too.

I have had offers on numerous domains outside of .com

VirtualReality(dot)us
Privacy(dot)pro
Handicapped(dot)us
Hashish(dot)us
others

I agree. I sell plenty of non .COM domains, especially .US.

However, I would still recommend .COM if you are new to the field.

It is going to be very hard to turn a profit in far less liquid extensions if you can't do it in .COM. You start with the proof of concept, then can move to other extensions when you have a good understanding.

Brad

 

[Name Trader]

@Dave - Another great addition to your 1st post. IMHO.

 

[Name Trader]

You believed the seller of a domain name. That's the nuttiest thing I've heard in a long time. Sorry.

 

[EmpireNames.com]

I see so many posts from newcomers asking how to make money from domains so I thought I'd write you all a little guide on the different possible types of investment in domaining. Consider carefully how you want to invest before spending your hard earned money. In my opinion the best investment strategy is dividing your investments across all different possible types.

This guide is catered to the 99% of typical domain investing. Getting into that top 1% means you need to learn to do all the following correctly in the first place.

PLEASE NOTE that all the following is not to be considered as definitive investment advice. Please use this as only a guide to help better learn and understand more about domain investing. Afterwards do your own research further before spending money.

The following guide is also only for .com domains.

Brandables

Firstly we have the brandable type of domain. These are usually conjoined keywords / phrases or keywords that match well together like a colour + animal. They can also be known business niche keywords combined with an adjective, noun or verb.

Examples of brandable type domains:

• Intellizone.com (combines intelligent + zone)
• Hempwave.com (business niche + word)
• VrHome.com (business niche + word)
• FlowFox.com
• BlueBird.com

Brandable domains are one of the more difficult but lucrative types of domains to invest in. They are lucrative because they can typically be acquired for lesser amount than other types whilst yielding huge ROI. Most brandable type domains don't usually have an existing end user, you'll most likely be investing in these with the hope of a startup naming their company, product or service with the matching name.

Advantages:

• Lower acquisition cost than other types
• Still plenty to be hand registered
• Has potential for the most ROI

Disadvantages:

• Very low chance of being able to outbound
• Can take a long time to sell
• Low percentage sell through rate

Brandables are typically the domain of choice for those starting out with a small amount of capital. For example if you're only starting domain investing with $100 capital then it's either this or GEOs as your choice of investment.

You want to typically try and acquire brandable domains for 50x less than what you'd expect to sell it for. This is because sell through rate is typically 1-2%. The sweet spot for most brandables is the low 4 figure range. Of course there are 5 figure+ brandable sales but they are less common. The higher valued domains typically have a better sell through rate so you have more leeway on acquisition cost.

Tiered acquistion cost of brandables:

• $1000-3000 sale price: Acquire for between reg fee - $50 at 2% expected sell through rate (50x cost)
• $3000-5000 sale price: Acquire for between reg fee - $250 max at 5% expected sell through rate (20x cost)
• $5000-10000 sale price: Acquire for between reg fee - $750 max at 7.5% expected sell through rate.

Take a look at brandable marketplaces like Brandpa or SquadHelp to get a feel of what makes a good brandable.

GEOs

Next up we have the GEO type of domains. These are a service or offering targeted at a particular city, town, state or country.

Examples of GEO domains:

• ChicagoWindows.com
• LondonPhotography.com
• NewYorkCitySEO.com

GEO domain values are based on primarily the following factors:

• Population
• How many companies are offering said service in the geographical region
• Search volume for the keywords
• Advertising competition for the keywords

GEOs can be a great investment if you know a particular business niche really well, or if you know the competitors within said niche.

Advantages:

• Relatively high sell through rate compared to brandables, typically looking at 10-15% depending on keywords and location
• Best type for outbound by far, so it's a great choice if you see yourself as a salesman
• Easier to identify what makes for a good GEO domain compared to other types, they're typically very intuitive

Disadvantages:

• One of the lowest ROI of all types, the majority of GEO domains typically only sell for $xxx
• More time consuming to invest in, requires plenty of research to identify good niches / markets to target

As mentioned most GEO domains typically go for $xxx with the sweet spot usually around low to mid $xxx. This means you'll only want to acquire for between reg fee - $99 at most. Yet again of course there are more premium GEO domains but this guide is targeting the 99% as I stated.

The value of GEO domains increases along with search volume. Consider the following search volume to sales price list as an example only:

• Search volume between 100-499: $100 - $299 sales price.
• Search volume between 500-999: $300-799 sales price
• 1000+ search volume: $800-$xxxx+

GEOs are again a good choice for those just starting out with less capital. Take a look at deleted .com domains or closeout auctions to try and find some gems.

Keyword Domains

Next up we have keyword domains. These type of domains are what people search for. Their value is primarily based on the keywords search volume online. GEOs, generics and category killer domains are actually highly specific subsets of keyword domains. The difference between general keyword domains and those specific types is that they are typically more targeted searches within a particular niche.

Examples of keyword domains:

• CBDOil.com (CBD but specifically CBD oil)
• HotelsNearMe.com (not just hotels but hotels near me)

If you choose to invest in keyword domains you typically want to only buy keyword domains that have medium to high competition in advertising and above 1000 in search volume.

Category Killer

These are domains whereby the keywords are the exact match for an entire niche of product, offering or service.

Examples of category killer domains:.

• Cannabis.com
• VirtualReality.com
• Crypto.com

Category killer domains are some of the most valuable. You either have to be incredibly lucky to register them ahead of a niche blowing up or you will require a lot of capital to invest in this type of domain.

Final Thoughts

Domain investing is NOT a get rich quick scheme. It takes time, effort and realistic pricing if you want to have any hopes of making a successful return on investment.

The numbers and figures I've used in this guide are based upon my personal experience with the various types of domains. When I started out in domaining I wasted money on nonsense domains for a long while before I turned a profit, so with this guide I can only hope to help others not do the same. Since those awful beginnings I've only ever been in profit from domaining, which to me is a success as I'm sure many will agree.

Please only take you what I've written here as a guide and reference to help in your own investment choices.

Thanks

impressive

 

[Oruko]

What a wonderful and succintly written post.

Thanks for sharing!

I am sure gonna bookmark this!

 

[RogueWriter]

Very nice. One of the most well organized intros to domaining that I have seen.

 

[Name Trader]

@Dave - Nice post. Probably the most outstanding post of 2019. Concise and well written. Very informative. I give it 6 out of 5 stars

 

[lambo.com]

Good job!

 

[NickB]

What's equally impressive as the content Dave, Is your post is so well written and succinct

I am going to add another possible investment opportunity to the key word sales. But, as mentioned it's a risk strategy. Over the years I've had a few good sales low to mid $X,XXX by adding just one letter or number as prefix or suffix to a KEY Word. You can't be doing it randomly it has to stick-out as logical add-on and of course avoiding any numbers or letters that may get misread (.com only)

This does obviously fit under your branding/brandable category

Nice tip - thanks for sharing

 

[Dave]

Do you have thoughts on investing in numbers (or combination) and acronyms? Similar pro and con and description in those would be really helpful.
Bob

I don't have anywhere near enough experience in numeric or acronym domains to feel confident writing about them. I have sold 5Ns and 6Ns in the past but not enough.

There are also of course LL, LLL, LLLL, 5L and CVCV type of domains but I feel these are far more easily accessible and researchable to those who have the money to invest. They're not as in depth as those types I listed. I wanted to write about what the majority of investors buy and sell everyday.

Thanks

 

[wwwulff]

FlowFox.com

Great post - I sold FlowFox last year - Bought via GD closeout for approx. 3 years ago and sold in the range you mention via BP

 

[Poshiya]

Hey, @Dave. you dont know that how much you cleared me before investing my hard earned penny into wasted names. really great value man. would like to say thanks to provide these gems for free.

 

[Muhadresh]

Thx @Dave for this awesome beginner guide. It will save me alot of research and money.

 

[NickB]

Great post Dave

Thanks for sharing....

 

[vravis9]

Good analysis @Dave

Thanks for your efforts in educating new comers...

Very few gave explanation with stats of average selling prices and profitability.

I am definitely in the first stage you mentioned of your own experience...hope to see some positive results soon..

Thanks again,
Ravi

 

[awwalmb]

Good info, especially for beginners, would save lots loads of money. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Jevsim]

Must Read! and Must to be Rereaded several times

 

[Dave]

Thank you all for your kind responses

 

[Somertonian]

@Dave, a very well presented article that was simplified enough to be understandable. Thank you for taking the time to write and post this article.

Regards,
Somertonian