5 Factors I Consider When Acquiring a Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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12

There are many considerations that I make before acquiring a domain name. Most of my domain purchases these days are either via auction or private acquisitions. For this article, I want to focus on my private acquisitions.

I think it’s probably easiest to cover some of the main things I consider in bullet points with an explanation about why I believe these factors are important, and I’ll allow you to ask questions if you’d like. You are also welcome to share some of the factors you consider when  acquiring  domain names.

Factors I consider when acquiring a domain name in private:

  • How the domain name was previously used. A domain name’s history is important for a few reasons. I wouldn’t want to build on a domain name that had a website that was flagged by others for fraud or a scam. When people search for the domain name in Google, a fraud or scam report would be harmful to the new brand, even if the website was completely different.
  • The type of landing page was used. If I am looking to buy a domain name for re-sale purposes, I am most interested in buying a name that wasn’t previously listed for sale. In addition, I would prefer to buy a domain name that didn’t have a “for sale” notice or any type of information alluding to it being for sale. If nobody else knew it was for sale, it will be easier to sell a name that hasn’t been pitched before.
  • Other extensions that are registered and/or developed. The more extensions in this keyword that are registered, the better. This means there are more potential buyers as others found these keywords valuable, and the .com trumps all others. In addition, other developed extensions mean that there will inevitably be traffic to the .com and probably a company that wants to upgrade to the .com.
  • Domain age.   Although this might not be all that important for search engine rankings for a developed website, a domain name that has been registered for many years indicates that the keyword has been valuable for a long period of time. I also look to see how long other TLDs have been registered, as older names in alternative TLDs is a good indicator of value in the .com.
  • Number of developed .com names with the keyword or keyword string. If there are a number of end users that operate websites using the exact keyword or keyword string, it’s likely there will be interested buyers who want to upgrade. As an example, if NationwideHVAC.com services the entire country, they might want to upgrade to HVAC.com. It would be super expensive of course, but an exact match domain name like this could benefit a company immensely.

What are some of the factors you consider when making your acquisitions?

Use the IBM “5 in 5” to Speculate on Domain Names

Elliot Silver
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4

IBM Chief Innovation Officer Bernard Meyerson wrote a blog post discussing “inventions that will change the world within five years.” The article covers the “IBM 5 in 5” list that the company unveils annually.

Not only do I think Meyerson’s article is well worth a read from a consumer point of view, but as a domain investor, you might be able to use the 5 in 5 list to speculate on domain name acquisitions. I won’t get into a discussion of the actual technologies that are discussed because that’s probably something Stephen Douglas could more knowledgeably cover, but it’s interesting to review.

Personally, I tend to stay away from hand registrations in general, especially when it comes to speculative technology. However, if you can grab meaningful keyword .com domain names for emerging technology, then it could be a decent opportunity. I don’t think it’s wise to buy longer tail speculative tech names, especially if those are in alternative extensions.

The long story short is that if you can get great keyword .com domain names early enough, these types of speculative purchases may be rewarding. You probably don’t want to waste your money registering names where the keywords have already been picked over by other domain investors (like 3d, cloud…etc).

You should also be aware that some of the technology that is proprietary will likely have trademarks associated with them, so use caution.

Whatever your domain interests are, the article is interesting to read.

Thanks to Francois for sharing.

Don’t Try to Sell Deceptive Domain Names

Elliot Silver
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18

The other day when pitching a domain name to a potential buyer, he asked me to verify that the domain name I was selling was the actual keyword .com domain name. I was a bit taken aback by the question and confirmed that it was in fact the actual keyword domain name.

He later followed up his strange question to let me know that someone had tried to sell him what looked like a great domain name, but a number was in place of the letter, rendering it just about worthless (for example but not the one that was discussed, L0SERS.com).  I don’t think the seller tried to pass it off as the real deal, but it was certainly not explained to this potential buyer until he copied and pasted it in his browser and he was able to see that it wasn’t the real keyword domain name.

This type of business is bad. First off, it’s deceptive if the potential buyer doesn’t realize what the seller is pitching. Secondly, when the number is added to a word, especially in the middle, Google and Bing will see it’s a number and make it much more difficult to rank for the keyword. It’s just about the same as a totally unrelated word since that’s essentially what it is.

Whether a seller is trying to be deceptive or not, selling a domain name that looks like one thing but is really something else is not the right thing to do. I personally wouldn’t touch a domain name like that, let alone try to get someone else to buy it. That is just asking for trouble.

Social Media Tips for Domain Companies

Elliot Silver
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2

Several years ago, Moniker pretty much ruled the roost when it came to the preferred domain registrar of domain investors. The company was known for its security, but I think the primary reason for its popularity was because of the personal care company founder Monte Cahn gave to his clients. The underlying feeling was that if there was ever an issue, you could call or email Monte directly and the issue would be resolved ASAP.

I was thinking about this when I discussed Voodoo customer support, and it got me thinking about the types of connections we have today. In addition to meeting account representatives and executives at conferences, I think relationships can be forged using social media options like Twitter and Linkedin.

There are a number of companies that have great social media outreach, and I want to share some tips other companies may be able to use to connect with their customers on a more personal level and establish a relationship.

  • Follow customers on Twitter – from official accounts and personal accounts
  • Connect with customers on LinkedIn
  • Reach out to customers when you see something (good or bad) about your company and ask for private contact information to resolve in private
  • Retweet to show you care about what they care about
  • Respond to tweets and messages directed to your attention and even those directed to the company if you can solve them
  • Offer introductions when you can’t resolve an issue

With prices being so competitive and security fairly comprehensive  at just about all domain registrars, it’s often a personal connection that gets customers to continue doing business. It’s no surprise that the majority of my domain names are registered at Enom and Go Daddy right now since I have account reps that have worked with me for years.

Establishing and maintaining relationships is a critical part of this business, and companies should be using social media to engage with clients.

Watch Out for Personalized Phishing Attempts

Elliot Silver
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0

I would imagine that most domain name hijacking incidents happen as a result of phishing attempts. Someone that gains access to a person’s email login can almost certainly request registrar information to transfer a domain name away, change registrar account passwords, and do other things to take control of a domain name owner’s account.

I received a somewhat customized phishing attempt on my email account the other day, and I think it’s important that we all remain vigilant when it comes to this type of attempt.

More often than not, email providers, registrars, and other companies with whom we do business will send personalized emails. When we receive a personalized email from a trusted partner, we all tend to let our guard down and assume the email is legit. Someone who wants to take your domain names can easily target you by personalizing a phishing attempt. If that happens, you may click through assuming it was a legit email, only to find out you’ve been had.

Here are some tips to deal with a possible phishing attempt:

  • Hover over any links in an email to see the actual underlying link.
  • Do not click on any links in an email, even if you are confident who it’s from.
  • Report phishing attempts to the provider, like legal@godaddy.com.
  • Don’t ever click links on your mobile phone since it may be harder to tell where you land

If you think you may have fallen prey to a phishing attempt, contact your registrar immediately and ask that your names be put on a lock to avoid transfers. Change your email and registrar passwords immediately.

Another Tip to Find an End User Buyer

Elliot Silver
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11

I want to share another tip with you on how you can find the contact information for an end user buyer. Now that LeadRefs is no longer an active website, performing Google searches is generally the most effective way that I find potential buyers of my domain names. I am sure you’ve done the same, so this is common knowledge.

Once you’ve exhausted the contacts you’ve made on the first few pages, you likely search other keywords to find a buyer or hang on to the name until someone contacts you. Been there, done that, don’t love it.

Here’s a quick tip to find additional contacts if you don’t want to use a service like Estibot.

Hope on to a proxy website like HideMyAss.com, Proxify.com, or NewIPNow.com and visit Google. Perform your keyword search again, and voila, new potential buyers. Because Google shows relavant listings based on your location (aside from the most popular websites of course), if you search from a different IP address located in a different region, you’ll likely find additional advertisers and listings.

As always, make sure your domain name is actually good and relevant to the people you are emailing or you’ll end up annoying people who have no interest in your domain name. In addition, become familiar with email laws to be sure what you’re doing is permissible.

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