Hello World. I'm not exactly a NEW domainer, as I dabbled into it in 2008 and just now getting back into it all. The difference between then and now is that I've been picking my domains a whole lot more wisely and studying the market a whole lot more, instead of registering domains that "just looked good". With that being said, here is what I've been doing in the domaining world:
1. Find out what is selling - Check out DNJournal.com and DNSalePrice.com and look at what has sold in the past. When you see a domain that you like, put it in the latter site and take a look at how many results you get. If you get similar domains that have sold for a high price, you should look into it even more.
2. Find out what has interest - Now, take the domain that you're looking at and search for it in Sedo.com. Now, sort the domains by bids, and take a look and what domains have had offers to them and compare yours side by side with them. This is more of a gut feeling, but if you think yours is comparable with those that have gotten bids (I.E., others have made offers), look into it deeper!
3. Do the radio test - Just imagine an announcer on your local radio station shouting out your domain. Say something like "Visit me at www.dumptrucks.com" or whatever. If a person hearing that can automatically recognize that domain in their heads and spell it right when they type it in, you pass the radio test. However, there are domains that don't pass the radio test, so if your domain is "www.rags2riches.com", people are gonna recognize it as "www.ragstoriches.com", find another site, then be like WTF? Meaning you'd have to say "rags(the number 2)riches.com" over the radio, confusing those imaginary listeners even more.
4. Sense - Does it make sense? You should look at a domain and tell if it makes sense. Unless it's brandable, which is an explanation I'll leave to the other domainers (that is my weak point).
5. Development Potential - If you were an end user, would you buy this domain to turn it into a full blown website, spend time promoting it, and whatnot? Also, when you look at the domain, you should, in fifteen seconds or less, know what it can be used for, unless it's a brandable domain. If you have to explain a domain name, it's not a good domain name. Like for instance, if you say "People often misspell the words in my domain intentionally, making it cool".
6. Singular or Plural? - For the most part, the singular version of a domain will be worth a lot more than the plural version. There are of course exceptions, but when you get an end user, he wants a domain that makes him feel like the only one of his kind (like electrician instead of electricians, or casino instead of casinos). The plural version of a domain will be valuable if it is extremely generic (like cats instead of cat or computers instead of computer).
Of course, there is a whole lot more that makes a domain worth registering, like the TLD, the backlinks, existing traffic, age, etc., but you already knew that. I feel the six I mentioned are important if you are buying domains with the intent to resell them for huge profits (like I am).
So yeah, feel free to add your thoughts.
P.S.: And always remember - A domain is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Keep that in mind when you ask for your appraisals.
1. Find out what is selling - Check out DNJournal.com and DNSalePrice.com and look at what has sold in the past. When you see a domain that you like, put it in the latter site and take a look at how many results you get. If you get similar domains that have sold for a high price, you should look into it even more.
2. Find out what has interest - Now, take the domain that you're looking at and search for it in Sedo.com. Now, sort the domains by bids, and take a look and what domains have had offers to them and compare yours side by side with them. This is more of a gut feeling, but if you think yours is comparable with those that have gotten bids (I.E., others have made offers), look into it deeper!
3. Do the radio test - Just imagine an announcer on your local radio station shouting out your domain. Say something like "Visit me at www.dumptrucks.com" or whatever. If a person hearing that can automatically recognize that domain in their heads and spell it right when they type it in, you pass the radio test. However, there are domains that don't pass the radio test, so if your domain is "www.rags2riches.com", people are gonna recognize it as "www.ragstoriches.com", find another site, then be like WTF? Meaning you'd have to say "rags(the number 2)riches.com" over the radio, confusing those imaginary listeners even more.
4. Sense - Does it make sense? You should look at a domain and tell if it makes sense. Unless it's brandable, which is an explanation I'll leave to the other domainers (that is my weak point).
5. Development Potential - If you were an end user, would you buy this domain to turn it into a full blown website, spend time promoting it, and whatnot? Also, when you look at the domain, you should, in fifteen seconds or less, know what it can be used for, unless it's a brandable domain. If you have to explain a domain name, it's not a good domain name. Like for instance, if you say "People often misspell the words in my domain intentionally, making it cool".
6. Singular or Plural? - For the most part, the singular version of a domain will be worth a lot more than the plural version. There are of course exceptions, but when you get an end user, he wants a domain that makes him feel like the only one of his kind (like electrician instead of electricians, or casino instead of casinos). The plural version of a domain will be valuable if it is extremely generic (like cats instead of cat or computers instead of computer).
Of course, there is a whole lot more that makes a domain worth registering, like the TLD, the backlinks, existing traffic, age, etc., but you already knew that. I feel the six I mentioned are important if you are buying domains with the intent to resell them for huge profits (like I am).
So yeah, feel free to add your thoughts.
P.S.: And always remember - A domain is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Keep that in mind when you ask for your appraisals.
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