Big Manta » Domain Names

The Top 20 Most Expensive Domain Name Sales Of All Time

BigManta — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:40:45 +0000

More and more people are starting to realize the tremendous worth that premium domain names can have. They attract free traffic WITHOUT relying on search engines, PPC, or even word of mouth and can be worth millions with the right business model. The majority of the most expensive domain names are those that are generic in nature and cover a broad category, which lends to their appeal and valuations.

While there are different ways of reporting how much a domain name was sold for (whether it was all cash, an existing business, etc.) the list below will give you a good idea of just the amazing value that just a few letters strung together can make.

Top 20 Most Expensive Domain Name Sales of All Time

Domain Name	Year	Amount Sold For
Fund.com	2008	$9,999,950
Porn.com	2007	$9,500,000
Diamonds.com	2006	$7,500,000
Beer.com	1999	$7,000,000
Casino.com	2003	$5,500,000
Toys.com	2009	$5,100,000
AsSeenOnTV.com	2000	$5,100,000
Korea.com	2000	$5,000,000
SEO.com	2007	$5,000,000
Shop.com	2003	$3,500,000
Wine.com	2003	$3,300,000
Software.com	2005	$3,200,000
Vodka.com	2006	$3,000,000
Candy.com	2009	$3,000,000
Shopping.de	2009	$2,858,945
CreditCards.com	2004	$2,750,000
Computer.com	2007	$2,100,000
Seniors.com	2007	$1,800,000
Fly.com	2009	$1,760,000
DataRecovery.com	2009	$1,659,000

*Most of the information on reported sales was gathered from DN Journal.

The 4 Qualities That Every Offline Business’ Domain Name Should Possess

BigManta — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:41:10 +0000

When choosing a domain name for your bricks and mortar business you want to ensure that you make it as easy as possible for someone trying to visit your website. While many internet-based businesses can rely on search engine rankings alone – with an offline business you will likely be interacting with people much more often (over the phone, in person, etc.). Because of this difference in how an offline business communicates with customers, there are several qualities that you will want your domain name to possess:

Easy to pronounce – When talking to people in person or over the phone you want your domain name to be easily understood. This is why I recommend staying away from dashes and numbers as they can cause a lot of confusion.
Easy to spell – Many times when you will want to give your website address over the phone so having a domain name that is easy to spell will avoid confusion and save you a lot of time.
Easy to remember – My first suggestion would be to register a domain name that is the same as your business name. This will make it very easy for your customers and potential customers to remember how to get to your site. If the name of your business has already been registered you should try and see if you can acquire the domain name from the current owner, or your other option is to find a name that is similar or a variation of your business name.
Choose a “.com” extension – This is one of the most important factors in making your offline business’ domain name successful. I have been in countless meetings and dealt with numerous businesses who register their name in a “.net” or some other extension, and they loose a lot of business because so many people visit the “.com” version.

These are the 4 qualities that I believe every offline business’ domain name should have. Not only will it save you a lot of time when getting people to your site – but it has side effects like ensuring that you receive all of the emails you are supposed to be getting… that might be going to your competitors.

Using Your Own Name as the Domain Name For Your Site

BigManta — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:40:26 +0000

When it comes time to choose a domain name for your website, the question often arises as to whether you should use your own name for your site or blog. There are valid arguments on both sides – however, I often lean toward selecting a domain name other than your name when trying to build a brand, blog, or site. One of the biggest benefits when choosing to use your name – is the enhanced credibility and authority that it gives you, but you can be extremely successful and still build your expertise under the guise of a brand as well.

There are many people who have chosen a brandable or keyword-rich domain name and are able to leverage their own persona at the same time:

Problogger - Darren Rowse
Entrepreneur’s Journey – Yaro Starak
Copyblogger - Brian Clark
ShoeMoney - Jeremy Schoemaker
Dooce - Heather Armstrong

As you can see, you can build your own reputation through a domain name other than your own name.

The benefits & disadvantages of choosing your own name for your domain

I feel that using your own domain has more disadvantages that it does benefits – and it opens you up to a lot more vulnerabilities:

Names are difficult to spell
If you decide to change direction in your life – your name is already out there with an association
Your name is personally associated with everything on the blog – including the negative
If you ever want to sell your site – tough luck

If you are already a recognized expert, then it makes sense to use your name because of the built-in popularity that people have already associated with it. Otherwise, I would try to find a domain name that you can brand and closely associate your name with like just like Darren, Heather & Brian mentioned above.

Choosing a Domain Name – Use Keywords or Brandable?

BigManta — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:14:56 +0000

When trying to find a good domain name for your website or blog, the often question arises as to whether you should choose a domain that has the keywords you are wanting to rank for in the search engines – or a domain that can be branded.

Ideally, you would like a domain name that incorporates both an element that you can brand as well as a keyword or two that you want to rank for. When choosing the name “BigManta” it was a conscious choice for me to abandon choosing a keyword-based domain as neither “Big” nor “Manta” have anything to do with internet marketing, business, or making money online. I decided that it was more important to brand myself as opposed to trying to find a domain name with a keyword.

Keyword-based domain names

No doubt there is some weight given to domain names that have a specific word that you would like to rank for – however, it will have little impact if you’re trying to build a flagship site or blog. Often, sound SEO methods and strategies will do just as much good for a domain that is rich in keywords as those that incorporate no keywords and are “brandable.”

Brandable domain names

My preferred route when building a site or blog brand, is to use a name that can be easily distinguished and branded. Not only will your name stick in the heads of the visitors to your site – often they are easier to remember than domains that contain several keywords.

This preference holds true for the biggest blogs on the internet as well. Taking a quick look at the Top 10 Most Popular Blogs according to Technorati gives us the following results:

Huffington Post - Brandable domain
TechCrunch - Brandable/Keyword
Mashable - Brandable
Engadget - Brandable
Gizmodo - Brandable
Boing Boing – Brandable
The Official Google Blog – N/A
Lifehacker - Brandable/Keyword
Ars Technica – Brandable
TMZ.com – Brandable

As you can see from the results above, out of the Top 10 Most Popular blogs – 70% of them are using a brandable domain name vs. a keyword-rich domain.

Wrapping up

I’ll let you decide which works best for your site, however, keep in mind that whether you choose a keyword-rich or a brandable domain name – you want your visitors to easily remember your name and site. By building a brand, you are able to benefit by the name association and start down the road to building your empire.

Domain Names With Dashes or Hyphens – The Pros & Cons

BigManta — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:40:47 +0000

The internet is becoming quite saturated, with nearly all of the generic words already registered, even finding a good descriptive domain name can be a difficult process. This leads many people to start considering an alternative option and using hyphens or dashes (-) when choosing a domain name.

What are domains with dashes or hyphens?

An example of a domain name that contains a dash would be: www.This-Is-Your-Domain-Name.com while the non-hyphenated version would be www.ThisIsYourDomainName.com.

While there are certainly websites who have successfully pulled off using a dash or hyphenated domain name, I believe that choosing one without any special characters will provide you with a much easier way to build and brand your site or blog.

The Benefits of Domains With Dashes

To be honest, the only reason why I think a domain name with a dash or hyphen might be better than a domain name without dashes would be search engine friendliness, however, I also think that this is open to debate.

Difficulties of Dashed Domain Names

There are several obstacles and roadblocks that domains that contain dashes will face:

Lost Traffic – You WILL lose some traffic to the non-hyphenated version
Pronounceable - Dashed domains will have a tough time being spread verbally (i.e. word of mouth, radio, etc.) because of the disconnect some people will have when hearing your website address.
Less-Intuitive – Just as “.com” reigns supreme for domain extensions – people have become accustomed to typing domain names as one continuous word.

The Conclusion

While there may be times that you might really want or need a domain name that contains dashes, I highly recommend that you try and find a variation of the domain name that you want using different words or descriptors that does not contain dashes or hyphens.

Domain Name Forums

BigManta — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:27:03 +0000

Rounded up here are some of the best domain name forums on the ‘net. If you’re interested in buying, selling, or learning more about domain names – these forums are a great place to learn more.

Domain Name Tools

BigManta — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:21:36 +0000

Whether you’re trying to choose your first domain name, or you’re interested in making money by buying and selling domains – these tools will help you get started and make the process much easier.