Published May 4, 2011
Last week, domain name marketplace Sedo announced it had brokered the sale of a name for the highest price so far this year.
USD$2.5 million was splurged on Gambling.com - purchased by a party or parties unknown. The sale was the third largest public sale the company has brokered.
Sedo's CSO, Liesbeth Mack-de-Boer said the sale was a "confidence booster" for the domaining industry and highlighted the value placed upon generic keyword domain names. The highest price paid for a generic keyword domain name to date is $13 million.
Some search engines place a level of importance on keywords in a domain name and depending on many other factors in a ranking algorithm; a generic single word name may help boost rankings. Keyword domain names have the added benefit of often being used in what is termed "anchor text", when sites are being linked to; another factor in search rankings. Additionally, some Internet users will type in a keyword followed by .com (or in Australia, .com.au) out of curiosity - this is called "type-in traffic".
The Sedo brokered sale is sure to reignite interest in the domaining industry, but it's not an activity for the faint-hearted, for those short on time or on a very limited budget.
Single generic keyword names can fetch millions, two word combinations thousands, but combinations consisting of three keywords usually only attract a far smaller amount - and a domain name search will likely show most popular combinations have already been registered.
Established "domainers" - those who make a partial or full living from domain name trading, have a great deal of insider information and access to tools that can make it quite challenging for a newcomer to become established. Some who dabble in domaining are sometimes spurred on by inaccurate domain name appraisals that grossly exaggerate the value of their portfolio.
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How to register a name: Enter your choice in the search tool and click 'GO'. If after the check the domain names search results show your choice is available, you will then have the option to proceed to purchase registration; which is a very quick and easy process - start a search and find your ideal website address now.
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