How To Choose High Quality Domain Names

1Come up with your own names.

2Locate domain name owners who are willing to sell.

3Purchase recently expired names.

Whichever option you choose, you need to weigh all the pros and cons of a particular domain name before you invest it in.

The .com names still hold the highest value. The problem is that everybody knows this and it may be difficult to find a suitable domain name. Put yourself in the place of someone looking for a great domain name for their website, i.e., your potential buyers. They’ll want something that’s short and memorable.

If you’ve brainstormed and all your ideas are already taken, you may want to look into alternatives such as .net and .info names. Sedo, one of the leading domain auctions, recently reported that .info sales were rapidly gaining on .com sales.

There are a few valuable tools available to help you in your domain name search. Nameboy gives you the opportunity to conduct a search on your desired domain name, but also lists relevant names and indicates their availability.

You may also want to look into researching available dictionary word .com, .net and .org domain names - there is an absolutely fantastic free tool at dnbrowser.com which allows you to search available dictionary domains for different extensions.

Always Choose A Reputable Registrar

Once you have put together a list of high quality domain names and ensured their availability, the next step is registering them so you can have ownership. As customers of Registerfly can tell you, be very careful when you are choosing a domain registrar.

You might be tempted to go with the cheapest option, especially if you are registering many domains. This is not necessarily a bad thing, provided that the registrar can fully satisfy your needs. You need to ask these questions before you actually sign up:

1How long has the company been in operation?

2Are they ICAAN accredited?

3Do they offer 24/7 tech support?

4Do you have the option of Domain Privacy?

5What other free services are offered?

6Will you have complete DNS control?

There are a few reputable domain resellers out there but it is advisable to go with an ICAAN accredited registrar. ICAAN is the organization that oversees domain sales and an accredited registrar is one who meets their approval standards. Accredited registrars will usually display this accreditation on their website.

Protecting Your Domain Name Information

Once you have made an investment into your domain names, you will want to ensure that your information remains private. WHOIS is a database of registered domain names and their owners. Personal information, such as your name and address, is displayed here unless you choose the option of Domain Privacy.

Many registrars offer this as a free service. Even the ones that don’t typically charge $1-$2 per domain name for the service to be added. It is best to spend the money here if you have to rather than running the risk of identity theft.

Another hazard you may face when dealing with domain names, is having a name stolen. This happens when someone transfers your domain name to their account without your knowledge or approval. One way of prevent this is through Domain Locking, which requires a preset password before the domain can be transferred. Again, this is usually a free service.

How Much Should I Sell For?

If you were to go on any major domain auction site right now, you’re guaranteed to find at least one grossly over-priced domain name. Look at the number of bids received. It’s a reasonable assumption that there won’t be any. Of course you want to make money, as much as possible, but if the price you are calling is too high, no one will want to buy.

The best way to determine the market value of your domain name is to have an appraisal done. There are sites that will allow you to do a free appraisal and you are given a value instantly. The problem with this is that it is based a number of strict rules including the number of characters/words in a name and the TLD extension.

The estimated value you receive is therefore not a true reflection of how much your name is worth. It is better to have a paid appraisal done, via a site such as Sedo, in which personal factors will be taken into consideration.

For example, let’s say you have a potential customer who is looking for a name for their hosting information website. You own two names: h101.com and hostingadvice.info. You may think that the latter would be less valuable, and a free appraisal would agree with you, because it is not a .com name and it contains 13 characters. This is not necessarily true because of human appeal.

Where Can I Find A Buyer?

All of the work that you’ve put into getting high quality domain names won’t be worth anything unless you can get them sold. There are a number of options open to you when it comes to finding a buyer.

Auction Listing

Domain auctions are not the place to list your domains if you are looking for an immediate sale. That’s because you have no guarantee that there are buyers interested in your domain names at the point when they are listed.

Still, domain auctions are a very good tool, especially to those new to domain name investing. Typically, you will either have to pay an up front fee for listing of your domains, or a commission payable upon sale. Most of the larger domain auctions allow you to specify your mode of payment, but also offer escrow services. In addition, they handle the actual transfer process for you.

Two of the major domain auction sites are Afternic and Sedo. Let’s do a quick comparison.

Table 2: "Afternic' versus Sedo"

Feature	Afternic	Sedo
Commission	10%	10%
Listing Fee	No	No
Minimum Transaction Fee	$60	$50
Escrow Service	Yes	Yes
Listings	No adult/gambling	All names
Minimum Offer	Yes	Yes
Reserve Offer	Yes	No

Customized Auction

One way of overcoming the problem of a lack of demand vs. supply is a customized auction. In this case the seller, or their broker, conducts an auction. However, potential buyers have already been contacted about the event. This is similar to real-time auctions.

Catalog Listings/ Private Placement

As opposed to many auction listings, these are done strictly through a broker, who can match your listings with any wanted requests. This method is perhaps not best suited to novices and is usually used by established domain investors and companies with portfolios. Still, it is something to consider, although it can be quite expensive up front.

The transfer process made simple

One of the more confusing aspects of domain name investing, or just buying domains in general, is the domain transfer process. If you have registered you domain names with a domain auction, such as Sedo, the auction company typically takes care of the details for you.

In fact, in an effort to attract new customers, many of the larger domain registrars and hosting companies have expanded their services to include almost fully automated domain transfers. Godaddy in particular is known for their ‘risk-free’ transfers.

However, there may be instances where you will have to complete the transfer process on practically on your own. This is especially important if you are selling your domain names to private buyers. Once you have sold a domain, you will be presented with two options: a change of account or a domain transfer.

If you’ve been lucky enough to find a buyer who uses the same registrar that you do, then the process is much simpler for you. The actual steps may vary slightly between registrars, but the general procedure is the same.

1 Login to your account manager

2 Select manage domains

3 Choose the domain name(s) you want to change

4 Click the account change button

5 Fill In The Applicable Information In The New Registrant Area

6 Indicate Your Agreement With Any Domain Name Changes

7 Click Submit/Continue

Some buyers may not prefer this route. That’s because a change of account doesn’t carry the one year registration extension that most domain registrars offer on new domain name transfers. Transferring a domain name to another registrar can be a bit more complicated but if you follow each of the steps closely, you’ll have no problems.

1 Customer purchases a domain transfer

2 Authorization code must be retrieved from losing registrar

3 Detaiks are emailed to the customer to complete the transfer

4 Customer confirms transfer and provides authorization code

5 Notification sent from the gaining registrar to the losing registrar

6 Losing registrar emails release of domain confirmation

7 Customer confirms release of domain

8 Domain is released to gaining registrar by losing registrar

9 Customer is notified of transfer success

10 Customer now has control over domain housed at new registrar

Before you decide to sell your domain names, you must take note of the following:

Transfer Date Restrictions

You cannot transfer domain names within 60 days of their initial purchase date.

Unlocking Precautions

You need to ensure that you unlock your domain name and remove any privacy restrictions before you attempt a transfer or else it will not be successful.