Many domain sales platforms and auction marketplaces have estimated traffic stats for the domain names listed for sale. These stats are typically short term looks at the traffic figures while the domain name was parked on that platform’s nameservers. I think some platforms allow domain name owners to list traffic figures as well.
With some platforms, you can actually search for domain names by the amount of reported traffic a domain name receives. I regularly see domain names that seem to have little intrinsic value achieve higher bids than I would expect, likely due to the traffic or assumed traffic.
Obviously the reason many people care about traffic is because of the revenue potential. If a domain name receives traffic, it would also likely earn revenue either through parking or other monetization methods.
I’ve never been a big parker, and traffic stats don’t really matter to me. Yes, it’s nice when a domain name get significant traffic. It’s even better when the earned revenue is greater than the annual renewal cost – and it is a home run if it earns more than the domain name’s acquisition cost.
Do you care about a domain name’s traffic before buying it?
Traffic is good for several reasons:
1) It can increase the value of a domain when selling.
2) If you plan to develop it into a website, you’ll have a flow of traffic starting day 1.
3) Good for domain investors who make money from traffic.