question One word domains — are they created equal regardless of TLD?

[Molly]

Hi guys. It’s clear one word English domains are very popular, but how important is the TLD? Is a one-word domain likely to sell regardless of whether or not it’s a .cc, io, net, etc? Or is it really only the common TLDs that are worth taking a risk on? Thanks.

 

[Internet.Domains]

Hi guys. It’s clear one word English domains are very popular, but how important is the TLD? Is a one-word domain likely to sell regardless of whether or not it’s a .cc, io, net, etc? Or is it really only the common TLDs that are worth taking a risk on? Thanks.

This has been one of the most debated subjects over the many decades I have been domaining.... Here's my current position & opinion on this subject: It's always changing and dynamic, stay open minded.

 

[MKA]

Hi guys. It’s clear one word English domains are very popular, but how important is the TLD? Is a one-word domain likely to sell regardless of whether or not it’s a .cc, io, net, etc? Or is it really only the common TLDs that are worth taking a risk on? Thanks.

No. the TLD is extremely important.

If it's a dictionary one-word .com it will likely sell. If it's a .ai, .co, .io, etc. it has to be a really good one-word.

And if you're looking at some of the bad extensions, it really doesn't matter what word it is.

 

[bmugford]

Hi guys. It’s clear one word English domains are very popular, but how important is the TLD? Is a one-word domain likely to sell regardless of whether or not it’s a .cc, io, net, etc? Or is it really only the common TLDs that are worth taking a risk on? Thanks.

Are watches all created equal? They all tell time.

The more desirable the extension, the more desirable the domain.

Less desirable extensions can still have good value as long as the term is good enough.

I sell plenty of secondary extensions, but they are generally terms that would sell for six or seven figures in .COM.

Brad

 

[Molly]

Thanks to all! I appreciate the perspective. Some of what had me stumped is the price tag on some of these alternate extensions. I wasn’t sure if that correlated directly to their desirability, or if it was just a premium simply for novelty’s sake.

 

[bmugford]

Thanks to all! I appreciate the perspective. Some of what had me stumped is the price tag on some of these alternate extensions. I wasn’t sure if that correlated directly to their desirability, or if it was just a premium simply for novelty’s sake.

Some extensions have higher registration and/or renewal prices due to lack of demand.

It is basically the inverse of normal supply and demand. If you have less buyers, you have to charge more.

I sell plenty of secondary extensions, but they are generally terms that would sell for six or seven figures in .COM.

A good example of this is I just sold a domain like Action.us, for several thousand dollars.

However, in .COM that term is six or seven figures.

Any decent term is valuable in .COM. Outside .COM, the lower demand the extension has the higher quality the term needs to be.

Brad

 

[Future Sensors]

Some extensions have higher registration and/or renewal prices due to lack of demand.

It is basically the inverse of normal supply and demand. If you have less buyers, you have to charge more.

Spot on. And to complete the circle, this in turn results in even fewer registrants being interested in investing in those extensions for a longer period of time, or at all.

 

[Molly]

A good example of this is I just sold a domain like Action.us, for several thousand dollars.

However, in .COM that term is six or seven figures.

This is especially helpful. Suppose the .com of mine were worth about $250k, and the alt is not a bad domain overall…

Would it be reasonable to suspect I could sell the alternate TLD for one one-hundredth of that (retail), and maybe to another domainer for one one-thousandth? Or do investors seldom spend that much on domains ($250 - $1k) that they might have to hold?

I’m primarily trying to target fellow domainers than holding my breath for retail buyers, and am wondering if investors have an obsolete maximum, or if you guys strictly base these decisions on percent.

 

[Internet.Domains]

This is especially helpful. Suppose the .com of mine were worth about $250k, and the alt is not a bad domain overall…

Would it be reasonable to suspect I could sell the alternate TLD for one one-hundredth of that (retail), and maybe to another domainer for one one-thousandth? Or do investors seldom spend that much on domains ($250 - $1k) that they might have to hold?

I’m primarily trying to target fellow domainers than holding my breath for retail buyers, and am wondering if investors have an obsolete maximum, or if you guys strictly base these decisions on percent.

I believe there are domain investors on this forum with all types of budgets, from 2 to 7 figures...... Of course the higher the budget, the less the pool of investors, but there's something for everyone in domaining.... Although, to target the upper echelon and command a maximum price, the domain must be premium, like a one word dot com with a very large target market....imo

 

[bmugford]

This is especially helpful. Suppose the .com of mine were worth about $250k, and the alt is not a bad domain overall…

Would it be reasonable to suspect I could sell the alternate TLD for one one-hundredth of that (retail), and maybe to another domainer for one one-thousandth? Or do investors seldom spend that much on domains ($250 - $1k) that they might have to hold?

I’m primarily trying to target fellow domainers than holding my breath for retail buyers, and am wondering if investors have an obsolete maximum, or if you guys strictly base these decisions on percent.

It depends. There is so much nuance with domains.

A generic term like "Ultra" is going to have value in almost every decent extension.

If the term fits well, that matters. For instance Cancer.com vs Cancer.org, I could see many end users preference being the .ORG.

On the other side, if you have a term like "Cabinets", it's a good commercial term but not a great fit in .ORG.

Liquidity also matters when it come to resale value. For instance pretty much any bad LLL.com sells for around $20K. If you want one, you might be able to get one for around $15K - $18K range. But, since they are so liquid it's hard to get a steep discount.

What I will pay for a domain depends on many factors.

Brad

 

[Kyle Tully]

I’m primarily trying to target fellow domainers than holding my breath for retail buyers, and am wondering if investors have an obsolete maximum, or if you guys strictly base these decisions on percent.

How has this been working for you?

I think it’s just as hard to make the numbers work selling to investors as it is to retail, it’s just a different game.

In some cases it’s actually harder selling to investors because we have all the tools and see all the drops… if we wanted a domain we probably would have got it.

 

[Internet.Domains]

Here is an interesting one...

Crypto(dot)co.uk just bagged $100k

Crypto(dot)com allegedly got $12M

Do extensions matter??...

 

[Future Sensors]

Here is an interesting one...

Crypto(dot)co.uk just bagged $100k

Crypto(dot)com allegedly got $12M

Do extensions matter??...

And there are more!

https://www.namepros.com/threads/value-of-domain-hacks.299608/page-158#post-8182279

 

[Molly]

How has this been working for you?

I think it’s just as hard to make the numbers work selling to investors as it is to retail, it’s just a different game.

Agreed 100% — there’s really not much difference between your access and mine. I think I’m hoping some of you are too lazy to go digging for gold and might welcome it being handed to them.

I’ve been domaining for almost six months and have sold a couple of domains — for next to nothing. I price almost all of my domains too low, IMO, which is an approach I’m reconsidering. I just thought that would move them faster.

If the term fits well, that matters. For instance Cancer.com vs Cancer.org, I could see many end users preference being the .ORG.

And agreed, here, too — thanks. I’m starting recognize that some domains really do better as .org.

 

[kaotic]

the answer is simple - ask yourself if you would rather own fuck.com or fuck.ninja. Theres a ton of English one-word domains still available for registration in uncommon TLDs simply because there is no demand for them. I've registered some before and lost money as a result

 

[biggie]

I’m primarily trying to target fellow domainers than holding my breath for retail buyers, and am wondering if investors have an obsolete maximum, or if you guys strictly base these decisions on percent.

Hi

the difference between what a domainer would pay and what a retail buyer would pay, is vague.
i've seen names sell for 4>5 figures and then it sits on ppc page or a sales lander forever.
so, who bought it, the domainer or the retail buyer?

put focus on quality of the domain and its variety of potential uses for it.
this makes the domain more appealing to both the domainer and the non domainer.

if you can acquire the name at a low enough price point, then it's possible to sell for profit to either group.

say you buy LLLL.com for $200 or less, add 5 years renewal and in 3 years or less, you could sell it for $300 + for a profit.

methods like that takes patience, but in many cases, you have to let domains mature until they become more desirable or their potential increases.

imo...

 

[Molly]

How do you guys feel about one-word info and me? Are these extensions too alternative for even one word domains?

 

[bmugford]

How do you guys feel about one-word info and me? Are these extensions too alternative for even one word domains?

If you are a new investor, I would just stick to .COM.

Any decent .com has a better chance to sell than even a great .info from my experience.

The only exceptions would be true top tier terms that fit the extension well, and for cheap.

Brad

 

[Kyle Tully]

How do you guys feel about one-word info and me? Are these extensions too alternative for even one word domains?

Study the data.

 

[King]

I lost a lot of money with one word names in other TLDs, .com & .org are my main moneymakers. I don't invest in TLDs over 3 characters. The renewal fees tend to be ridiculous.

 

[alcy]

this isn't debatable.
it's obvious.
tld matters as much as keyword.
keep checking namebio

best keywords will never sell in worst tlds

u really need not look beyond com io co org net xyz for anything.

 

[HotKey]

You can look beyond anything if the extension fits nice. That's why they are there. Otherwise, go with a catch-all like dot-com but be prepared to likely sacrifice the name to hop on popularity train. What are we on now, two, three, four word domains and terrible typos for that ticket?

Being said many other newer extensions have mostly shot themselves in the foot, with registries trying to be domainers.

ccTLDs always have a place in their respective geo some have global spans like .ai, .io so those can work and sell great regardless of location because the extension surpasses the location and adds to brand image.

 

[Patryx]

Molly's question: "How important is the TLD?"
The short answer is: "a lot". I agree with many of the comments made in the previous replies.
I would add a reflection.
(dot)COM has no intrinsic value, but only the value that the market (customers demand) assigns it.
But this is a habit that has lasted for about 30 years and unfortunately seems to continue. I think that is very boring, and should be overcome. Since it is difficult to find a word or a combination of two or three words with .com, strange variants are invented, sometimes really ridiculous and improbable just to get .com.
There are many new generic TLD that show the content of the name better than .com.
For example, if I have a website named "My Daily Diary", I don't need .com (commercial), maybe .blog is better.
If I have a website named "Olimpic sports", I don't need .com, maybe . sport is better.
If I have a website named "Sing and Song", maybe . music is better. And so on.
The new extensions help people to identify better the content of the website summarized by the domain name.
The mind set should change.
I read that even Google checks that the extension is consistent with the content. So, a blog is (dot)blog, sport is (dot)sport, music is (dot)music, ecommerce is (dot)shop, ecc.
The habits can change, I hope soon.

 

[MKA]

But this is a habit that has lasted for about 30 years and unfortunately seems to continue. I think that is very boring, and should be overcome. Since it is difficult to find a word or a combination of two or three words with .com, strange variants are invented, sometimes really ridiculous and improbable just to get .com.

Because the use of .com stimulate new demand for .com domains.

All the trusted banks and commercial entities use the .com. And by doing so they're creating this positive feedback loop where the .com becomes more trustworthy. They have no reason to change to anything else, but the people who use .net or .io have all the reason to change to a .com.

Being different only breeds distrust.

There are many new generic TLD that show the content of the name better than .com.
For example, if I have a website named "My Daily Diary", I don't need .com (commercial), maybe .blog is better.
If I have a website named "Olimpic sports", I don't need .com, maybe . sport is better.
If I have a website named "Sing and Song", maybe . music is better. And so on.
The new extensions help people to identify better the content of the website summarized by the domain name.

The new generic TLD:s are not without their problems. Premium registry pricing, arbitrary for standard domains, and last but not least: they're forgettable.

If I tell you to go to Toyota's website you will instinctively type in "toyota.com." Even for some of these .io domains I occasionally forget and type in .com.

Now imagine recommending Jane that she checks out your website and she remember it 3 days later, is she going to remember that it's a .blog? Not unless you've spelled it out three times and have her repeat it back to you.

The mind set should change.
I read that even Google checks that the extension is consistent with the content. So, a blog is (dot)blog, sport is (dot)sport, music is (dot)music, ecommerce is (dot)shop, ecc.
The habits can change, I hope soon.

TLDs do not affect search results.