Domain Names

Domaining is the business of buying, selling, developing and monetizing web domain names not for use as a website, but like real estate property. How is it done though and how do you make money from it?

What are the all-time domain name sales records? Here is a list of the highest paid .com domain names:







     Amount     Year     Domain

$12,000,000     2006     sex.com (est)
  $9,500,000     2007     porn.com
  $7,500,000     2006     diamond.com
  $7,500,000     1999     business.com
  $5,500,000     2003     casino.com
  $5,000,000     2002     asseenontv.com
  $5,000,000     1999     korea.com
  $3,500,000      2003    shop.com
  $3,500,000     1996     worldwideweb.com
  $3,350,000     1999     altavista.com
  $3,300,000     1999     wine.com
  $3,200,000     2005     software.com
  $3,000,000     2007     creditcheck.com
  $3,000,000     2006     vodka.com
  $3,000,000     1999     loans.com
  $2,900,000     1999     wines.com
  $2,750,000     2004     creditcards.com
  $2,500,000     2000     tom.com
  $2,200,000     1999     autos.com
  $2,200,000     1999     coupons.com
  $2,100,000     2007     computer.com
  $2,000,000     2000     britain.com
  $2,000,000     2000     telephone.com
  $1,900,000     2000     savings.com
  $1,800,000     2007     seniors.com
  $1,800,000     2000     mortgage.com
  $1,600,000     2006     branson.com
  $1,500,000     2000     deposit.com
  $1,500,000     2006     cameras.com
  $1,500,000     2000     fly.com
  $1,320,000     2003     men.com
  $1,200,000     2000     feedback.com
  $1,180,000     2007     scores.com
  $1,100,000     2004     mercury.com
  $1,030,000     1999     wallstreet.com
  $1,020,000     2005     fish.com
  $1,000,000     2007     iphone.com
  $1,000,000     1999     beauty.com
  $  824,000      1999     drugs.com
  $  800,000      2005     earth.com
  $  800,000      2003     jobs.com
  $  750,000      2005     website.com
  $  750,000      2005     property.com
  $  700,000      2005     local.com
  $  700,000      2000     cinema.com
  $  600,000      2005     vip.com
  $  530,000      1999     university.com
  $  500,000      2006     wrestling.com
  $  500,000      2006     bike.com
  $  460,000      2004     me.com
  $  450,000      2003     art.com
  $  225,000      2006     WiFi.com
  $  190,000      2003     architecture.com
  $  180,000      2004     commerce.com
  $  170,000      2007     promotion.com
  $  165,000      2007     event.com
  $  150,000      2004     animation.com
  $  133,000      2005     photographer.com
  $  125,000      2004     mr.com
  $  101,000      2004     truck.com
  $  100,000      2004     woman.com
  $  100,000      2005     eq.com
  $  100,000      2003     mtv.com
  $  100,000      2003     image.com
  $  100,000      2003     internet.com
  $  100,000      2007     debit.com
  $    70,700      2006     promote.com
  $    30,000      2004     actor.com
  $    20,000      2004     group.com
  $    20,000      2004     jacket.com

Buying a domain name is an important first step in building a successful online business and brand identity. The right domain name will:

• Improve Your Marketing and Visibility. The right domain name allows customers an easy way to remember and find you. It's your location on the web. It's also your email address. The more descriptive and generic, the easier it is to remember. For example, a person looking for "music" would remember the domain www.music.us because it is what they are looking for and it describes the keyword search the user has in their mind entirely.
• Build Your Credibility. Using your domain for your website and personalizing your email using the domain name helps establish credibility and professionalism. For instance, an email address such as name@entrepreneur.pro is more professional than name@yahoo.com. Furthermore, a web address such as www.entrepreneur.pro is more professional than a Myspace.com free page.
• Protect Your Brand. Buy the domain name that best represents your business name and activities. Domains are very valuable online real estate that appreciate in value over time. Secure the right name and keep it out of the hands of your competitors, cybersquatters and typosquatters.You may also find many attractive domains for your business. Securing more than one helps protect your brand and increase your reach. You can easily direct as many domains as you want to a single website using a permanent 301 redirect.
• Increase Traffic. Single-word generic domains already receive traffic. This traffic principally comes from direct type-in or referral traffic. Direct type-in is when an internet user types the domain directly into her browser, such as typing 'www.music.us' instead of searching for the keyword "music" in the search engines. Referral traffic typically comes from links on other websites. Furthermore, it helps increase your web search ranking in Google/Yahoo/MSN since a generic domain name already contains the keyword in the URL name. Others would link to your site using your company name as the link description. i.e If your music company was called "Roussos Group" then users would link to you as Roussos Group helping you rank high for the term "Roussos Group." If your domain name was called "Music.us" then others linking to you would link to you naturally as Music.us which would contain the keyword "music" in the description thus helping search engines identify you as a site relevant to music.
• Be a Sound Investment. Similar to real estate, domain names are investments. One-word domain names increase in value on a daily basis given their scarcity and free traffic they generate via direct type-ins. A name can also become more valuable if the site is developed and marketed.