I personally don’t own many domain names that end in Blog.com or News.com, but I think they have considerable value. Just about every industry, hobby, sport, country, city….etc has a blogger or news source that covers the segment. Many people perform searches for “topic blog,” as well as “topic news” to get great information.
A developed site with unique content on one of these types of domain names can lead to big advertising deals and increased traffic. First off, Google loves blogs, news, and other websites that have frequent updates and new content added regularly. When you have a blogging platform (such as WordPress) installed on a site that ends in Blog.com or News.com, Google and Yahoo are given two big hints about what will be seen on the site, and by all indication, will rank them well.
So these names clearly have value, but they can be difficult to sell at a premium price. The difficult thing about selling these domain names – especially Blog.com domain names – is that many people begin to blog for the love of the topic rather than to make money. These people don’t necessarily start their blog site to earn a living, and therefore can’t justify paying significant money for these valuable domain names. However, if you can convince them of their ability to make money from writing about their passion, it can help you raise the price when they inquire.
One way to increase the value of your domain sale is to ask a person who inquires what he has planned for the site. Probe further and ask about the topic and the amount of traffic he hopes to receive. Do a bit of research and see who is advertising in that vertical and remind the blogger that if he owns the category defining domain name, he is already ahead of the game. With his traffic goals and the key domain name, he can command more advertising revenue, which will defray the cost of the domain name. You might also research more and show him affiliate programs in that vertical allowing him to make money.
Remind him that you have the best domain name for his blog, and while the cost might be high up front, it will pay dividends in the future. You can also offer him a lease to own deal, allowing him to build his website on the domain name you ultimately control. This will allow him to slowly build his base at a fair cost, while still providing the opportunity for a buy out down the road. Of course you need to be cautious about lease deals, but they can and do work.
Below are some good Blog.com and News.com domain names that are for sale (some premium and some drops) – I do not own them:
AstronomyBlog.com
BermudaBlog.com
CapeCodBlog.com
DadBlog.com
HeadhunterBlog.com
LacrosseBlog.com
LaptopBlog.com
MatchmakingBlog.com (IMO, this is a great deal because of the high value dating leads)
NursingBlog.com
AcupunctureNews.com
AnthropologyNews.com
BeerNews.com
BritishNews.com
CosmeticSurgeryNews.com
EconomicNews.com
FarmingNews.com
GeneticsNews.com
InvestorsNews.com
ObstetricsNews.com
TeachingNews.com
Don’t forget Google has a separate “blog search” engine so having that keyword as part of the domain places you up there automatically.
btw,Another great example is Sai’s MoneyBlog.com.
Elliott
Your logic makes perfect sense. As a point of fact our grandparents, parents and those of us in middle age were raised on daily news be it in print or on TV.
Interestingly I have owned and once had developed and operated PublicCompanyNews.com and to date absolutely no interest has been forthcoming by potential buyers say like the Walls Street Journal who happend to offer Public Company News.
Sadly it seems that the myopic thinking corporate world is still hung up on name branding and has totaly overlooked the gbenefits of owning multiplw domain names (aka inernet addresses) that would lead new business right to their doorstep where of course they would then learn of the businesses coveted brand name which they are so proud of (rightly so) but whose unfamiliarity may be keeping them from getting business from those who need what they offer and could not ever find their name on the net for two reasons.
I put a press release out on this subject of blindness and myopia from which most businesses suffer from just today. It is entitled
Internet Marketing Pros Understand The Importance of Having A Good Domain Name
and it is located at
http://www.addpr.com/articles/marketing_and_internet/19552.html for those who care to read it.
Decent “blog” names drop every day, even first names. I don’t pick them up b/c they’re not liquid and by their nature people expect a certain kind of experience which is difficult to provide with an automated website. Even as long-term investments it’s risky imo… even now “blog” seems a bit anachronistic given the rise of the real-time web, twitter, etc…
@ Jason
I like first name Blog.com names, but I agree they are illiquid. However, category/industry names can be developed and advertisers or affiliate banners can be used to monetize. Perhaps these blogs can even be updated frequently by ghost writers, although I would guess they’d need to be knowledgeable about the topic.
I just picked up datingblog.com on drop and own several nice *blog domains so I feel pretty good about this article 😛
Elliot,
Can you let me know how to access your older posts – i’m talking from a month or two ago – as there is nothing on your site anymore to look for there.
Thanks,
James