Last Updated on July 31, 2022 by Arif Chowdhury
Getting a premium domain name was a trivial luxury with little to no significant value when the internet was first introduced.
However, as the years passed and our lives became integrated with the internet, owning a mighty domain name became a critical requirement rather than a luxury it once was.
And for various reasons, purchasing domain names for high sums of money is commonplace. And this often happens because businesses that could not obtain a premium domain name early on had to bet from third-party sources.
But the fact remains that obtaining a random domain is quite simple and inexpensive because not all domain names are valued similarly. The opposite is true for high-quality domains, which are harder to find and much more expensive. And this is why you should avoid choosing a random domain unless you want to make it a brand name.
And one thing premium domain names have going for them is that as the internet’s influence in our everyday lives grows, their value will continue to increase. And as an entrepreneur, getting one for your business is the right asset you should consider acquiring.
To help you appreciate premium domain names and get the best one for your business, you must first understand what to consider when choosing a domain name.
The importance of a solid domain name.
Building an engaging presence on the internet is a must-have for businesses in this digital economy. And that’s because not only does it aid in increasing brand awareness and sales, but it also helps in making your business look a lot more professional.
Your domain name, like any other physical address, is essential in helping customers locate your digital space, which is why it is crucial. However, a wrong domain name can lead to misdirection and a significant loss of site traffic.
Major corporations don’t hesitate to get the best domain name because they understand how premium domains can help them increase traffic and sales.
One famous company that places so much value on its premium domain name is Tesla, which, although having the domain name teslamotors.com, didn’t hesitate to spend $11 million and a ton of effort on acquiring the premium domain name tesla.com. They did this because they believed it would help their brand’s online image, and yes, it did.
Other companies, like Mural, kept upgrading their brand names until they arrived at their site’s best premium domain name. Then, they agreed that while moving from mural.ly to Mural.co to mural.com, their income was significantly increased.
Another company, Doorbot, after rebranding to Ring, quickly got the EMD (Exact Match Domain) of their new name, ring.com, for one million dollars. The price was worth it as it helped them achieve their goal of ‘wow’ their customers. Ring’s CEO noted that giving out their email address, [email protected], leaves the lasting impression they were hoping for.
Quick Note: When you choose a domain name for your small business or large organization, it won’t have to be a perfect domain name but try to choose something that people can easily remember.
eCommerce is rising, and your domain name could be the reason for the spike or decline in your revenue. So ensure you secure a solid domain name for your new enterprise as soon as possible. One way to find the best brand name is to keep an eye out for domains with these features.
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Essential features to look for when getting a high-quality domain name.
1. Memorability and simplicity.
The first thing you should look for in a domain name is its simplicity. Is it simple to understand, memorize, and spell? Or is it unnecessarily complicated to spell?
Complex domain names can be confusing to your customers, and this can diminish the value of that domain name. So, whether you use a professional brand name creator or craft your new domain name, you should select a simple and memorable domain name. Doing this will give your business a more substantial chance of survival.
It doesn’t matter if you choose an Exact Match Domain (EMD); if your business name as a domain name is too long or complicated, you should consider renaming your company. And if that’s not possible, be sure to obtain the common misspelling of the domain name and the proper spelling of the EMD domain name, just like 7-Eleven did with 711.com, seven-eleven.com, and 7-eleven.com.
Facebook is an excellent example to use in this case. Although ‘FB’ is not a misspelling but an abbreviation of their business name, they went ahead and got the premium domain name fb.com and redirected it to their leading site fb.com. Facebook spent $8.5 million to acquire fb.com because it’d increase accessibility to their site.
Now, suppose you searched for the fashion brand Louis Vuitton online. In that case, you’d find they linked the common spellings of their names like loisvuitton.com, luisvuitton.com, louisvuitton.com, and possibly a few others to their primary domain name because they realize how easily misspelled their business name can be.
So every entrepreneur must prioritize finding a short, unique, and easy-to-spell domain name. Therefore, you should always consider this when registering your domain name for a business.
Quick Note: Register your domain name with extreme caution because after a while, when your site grows in popularity, you cannot simply change it. Thus, it is a good idea to think carefully and be very selective when choosing a domain name.
2. Resonates with your business.
A premium domain name’s principal purpose is to improve your business’s internet accessibility. And if a brand’s domain name cannot perform this function, it’s of little value to the company.
A domain name that does not reflect your company’s ideas will produce problems that subtract from the traffic flow that the domain name is designed to provide. The domain name relentless.com, for example, redirects to Amazon’s website at amazon.com. Consider if Amazon’s website was relentless.com rather than amazon.com. Imagine the misunderstanding that could cause customers.
Let’s take another look at Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg, in an interview with Y Combinator’s Jessica Livingston, explained how one thing he’d do right if he had the opportunity to go back in time would be to get the right domain name.
If you’re familiar with Facebook’s story, or perhaps you used Facebook in its early days, it should be old news that their original domain name when they launched their company was thefacebook.com. And although facebook.com was already in use by another company, About Face, Corp., if they had proceeded to purchase it from the company back in February 2004, they would have gotten the domain for a much lower price.
Fast forward to 2005. Facebook has already become a famous brand, with around 6 million monthly users. Going back for the right premium domain name at that time caused them to spend a lot more than they could’ve if they’d gotten it earlier.
About Face ended up selling the domain name facebook.com for $200,000 in 2005. Want to make a quick guess at what the price tag would’ve been if they delayed a bit longer, to say, 2020?
Any delay in getting the best premium domain name always leads to consequences that involve extra cost, effort, and time.
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3. Suitable for your company and its prospects.
The best way premium domain names separate themselves from ordinary domain names is in how well they represent the identity of their host organization.
The fact that premium domain names can be in the format of keywords or non-keywords opens up an extensive choice range for your domain name.
Although it is worth noting that one of the benefits of premium domain names is that they reflect your firm’s name, which provides several benefits, such as better accessibility and richer brand identity for your organization. However, just as relentless.com, awake.com, and browse.com all link to amazon.com, you can use a keyword-based domain name as a backup domain name if necessary.
The purchase of and rebranding of teslamotors.com to tesla.com would seem weird to some people, as Tesla, at the time, only made cars, and therefore teslamotors.com should be a fitting domain name.
However, considering the structure of the domain name, the keyword ‘motors’ is restrictive, restricting the company to a particular niche. This problem was enough to make them spend a lot of resources to fix it.
Therefore, consider your future prospects when getting a premium domain name too.
4. Contain popular domain name extensions.
Domain extensions are an essential feature of a domain name because they add value to its authenticity.
Uncommon domain extensions provide your consumers with extra data to remember while reducing the domain names’ ease of access and memorability.
A premium domain name should have an extension such as .com, .org, .io, .net, .co. Country code extensions are not commonly used since the country code extension of your business’s location might restrict your firm’s reach, so keep that in mind.
By obtaining a premium domain with one of these top-level domain extensions, you can instill trust and confidence in your website while making it easier for clients to remember and locate you online.
Now that you know what to look for when looking for a premium domain name get the one you finally find quickly, as purchasing a domain name should be completed promptly before another person takes it.
Furthermore, don’t forget to match your perfect premium name with a fitting, exquisite website design. Also, ensure your website has valuable content that will satisfy your visitors and turn them into repeat customers.
Finally, ensure you don’t miss your domain name renewal period. You wouldn’t want someone else snatching it up as an expired domain to sell it back to you.
Sponsored by: Grant Polachek is the head of branding for Squadhelp.com, 3X Inc 5000 startup and disruptive naming agency. Squadhelp has reviewed over 1 million names and curated a collection of the best available names on the web today. We are the world’s leading crowdsource naming platform, supporting clients such as Nestle, Dell, Nuskin, and AutoNation.