Why some domains are expensive?    

  • Published on : 2023-04-13 11:26:47
Bungalow with many lights turned on

 

 

There are various reasons for a domain name for it to be expensive. Many factors come into play like the type of the name, customer requirement, niche of the business, its branding possibility etc. We try to highlight few reasons on why SOME domains are more expensive than others:

 

 

Popularity:

 

If a domain name is in high demand and many people want it, the price will likely be higher. For example, category defining names like books.com, hotel.com, smartphone.com etc. tend to be more expensive than others. Noone would buy names like RedGasCar.com or SoftcoverBook.com or ShinyOrangeShirt.com when Car.com or Book.com or Shirt.com are available for the same price. Similarly, names that are short, memorable and names that contain popular keywords are more expensive than others. 

 

 

Branding potential:

 

Some domain names have a high potential for branding, meaning they can be used to create a strong brand identity. These domains may be more expensive because they can be seen as a valuable investment for a business. Names that are pronounciable, catchy and sounds unique, can be considered brandable names. They don't necessarily need to be English dictionary words. Some good example of such brand names are Google, Pepsi, Nike, Exxon etc.

 

 

Age:

 

Domains that have been registered for a long time are often considered more valuable because they have built up history and reputation on the internet. This is particularly true for domains that have been continuously used and have a lot of backlinks and traffic.

 

 

Top-level domain (TLD):

 

Certain TLDs are more expensive than others. For example, domains with the .com TLD are generally more expensive than those with .org or .net because .com is the most popular TLD and is associated with commercial businesses.

 

 

Exact match domain(EMD):

 

Some customers are happy to pay higher when they come across a domain that matches exactly with their business name. Such domains are called EMD (exact match domain). For example, Snapchat paid $5 million for Snap.com in 2015. Facebook paid $8.5 million for FB.com in 2011. 

 

 

Auctions:

 

Sometimes, domain names are sold at auction, which can drive up the price as multiple buyers compete for the same domain. Sites like GoDaddy, NameJet etc. are quite popular venue for domain auction.

 

 

 


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