How much should I pay for a domain name?

If you’re like most, finding a decent available domain name is a lot like finding a needle in a haystack. Domains with less than five characters are pretty much impossible to find without numbers, random letters, or hyphens. When I started AAERO Aviation I knew I wanted a short, easy to remember domain name. I thought AAERO.com would be perfect for that. Unfortunately, at the time AAERO.com was owned by a premium domain holder and the asking price was around $5,000. As a startup, that price didn’t make sense, so I went ahead and put my negotiation skills to work and was able to convince the domain holder to sell the domain name to me for around $2,200.

How do you evaluate the value of the domain name? Here are a few things that I look at:

• Lenght of Domain (i.e. aaero.com vs. aaeroviation.com; the shorter the domain, the more valuable)
• TLD (.com’s are traditionally more valuable than .net, .biz., .org etc)
• The age of the domain name without drops (older is better)
• The link portfolio (Was the domain used to spam Google search in the past? If so, might cost more to fix then what it’s worth.)
• Does the domain contain random numbers, hyphens or letters?
• Is the domain name an exact match domain? (i.e. DenverPlumbers.com vs. BestPlumbersDenver.com?)
• Does the domain name have a website up on it? Does it already rank well in Google, Yahoo and/or Bing?

All of these things, including the popularity of the search term that is in the domain name, can be considered in the cost of a domain name. When in doubt, consult a domain name broker. Whether you’ve got a great domain name you want to sell, or you’re thinking of acquiring the right domain for your perfect business idea – I can help. Contact me to learn more.