NetBusinessBlogWork from Home, Business Opportunities, Websites for Sale - Run an Online Business

Domaining 101 Contents:

• Introduction
• Extensions
• Researching Keywords
• Registration
• Parking

What are Extensions?

The extension is the tail end of the domain name and are predefined by ICANN. Extensions come in two forms: gTLDs and ccTLDs. gTLDs stands for generic top level domains and includes .com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov, and a few others. ccTLDs stands for country-code top level domains and consist of .us, .de, .jp, etc. ccTLDs are worth significantly less than TLDs, but that will be covered in a later chapter. If TLDs stands for top level domains, you may be wondering what the other level domains are. There are three domain levels. The top level is the extension (.com, .net, etc), the second level is the keywords you register (Microsoft is the second level domain in Microsoft.com), and the third level is the subdomain (www is the default third level domain, but others may be added at the discretion of each website). Traditionally the first and second level domains are the only ones you really need to worry about as a domainer. However there has been a recent trend towards incorporating third level domains into the overall domain name. Del.icio.us, for example, is a play on the extension system and has become an extremely popular website. Icio.us by itself would be fairly worthless, but incorporating “del” as the third level domain gives it value and makes it memorable. Keep in mind that it is very rare that a domain relying on the inclusion of a third level domain becomes as valuable as del.icio.us has, but it’s a trend that you should keep in mind when evaluating domain value.

It would be unnecessary to go through the entire history of extensions and what each one is. The main thing you as a domainer should know when dealing with extensions is the extension hierarchy.

1. .com
2. .net/.org
3. all other TLDs

Keep in mind that there are a ton more domains that could be added to this hierarchy, but once you get below the gTLDs it gets a little fuzzy as to which domains are actually worth more than others. When researching the top sales over the past year, one could argue that .de, .co.uk, and lately .mobi could be held to a higher regard than other sub-gTLDs, but that varies from sale to sale and could change at any time depending on sales trends.

This hierarchy is not absolute and does not entirely apply for every domain. The domain extension is not the sole decider of domain value, but it does play a significant role. For example, Lyrics.co.uk sold for $80,000 in early 2006. In that case, the value of the domain is secondary to that of the keyword (Lyrics) which is a very highly-valued keyword. However, it should also be noted that Lyrics.com would most likely be worth millions. So although domains containing lower end extensions can still be worth a good amount depending on their keyword(s), the higher level extensions with the same keyword(s) will always be worth more.

Dot Com is King

There is no question about it; .com is the most highly valued extension available on the market today and has been since it was released. Eighty-seven of the top one hundred YTD domain sales (at the time of this segment) are .com domains. Sex.net currently ranks number eight with a sales tag of $454,500 in May 2006. Sex is an amazing keyword and .net is a good TLD, but this monumental sale is entirely overshadowed by the sale of Sex.com which sold for an estimated $14 million of a mix of cash and stock. This is the perfect illustration of how although the keyword is the most important part of a domain name, one cannot neglect the extension and should always consider it when valuing a domain name.

Jumping on New Extensions

An important part of being a domainer is always knowing what new extensions are coming out and being ready to jump on the premium keywords as soon as new extensions are open for registration. The most recent extension released was .mobi which was intended to be used for websites catering to users accessing their pages via mobile devices - hence the tagline “Internet Made Mobile.” New extensions will most likely never be as valuable as the original gTLDs, but depending on which keyword you get there is still a good deal of money to be made with new extensions. Mortgages.mobi sold in October 2006, less than a month after the extension was open for registration, for $10,500 at Pool.com. Pool.com has also hosted a number of other .mobi sales for premium keyword domains and has seen some very notable transactions. The biggest .mobi sale to date was Flowers.mobi which sold for $200,000 at Florida 2006 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Conference live auction.

The best part about new extensions is that you can grab up some very good keyword domains at registration fee. Although with new extensions those registration fees are getting higher and higher, even peaking over $x,xxx per domain per year. However if you can get a very good keyword domain for $x,xxx registration fee and flip it for ten times that, it is worth the investment.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Related Posts