What are the TEN MOST IMPORTANT domain ranking factors?

[SuccessClick]

I am finishing up a report, thought i'd pick your brains on some of the questions I'm answering about ranking factors (or rating factors) in determining the approximate value of a domain.

Anyone want to submit any of their innovative perceptions to this? I'd like to see any and every consideration or idea of how domainers look at a domain to find out its value (traffic revenue is a given). This means, evaluating a domain YOU DO NOT OWN BUT ARE LOOKING AT TO BUY. Do not base the evaluation on knowledge of traffic or revenue from that traffic.

So, what other factors would you look at -- let's say you're looking at an expiring domain, or an aftermarket domain that the owner says gets no traffic?

I'm interested and I'm sure others would be interested to find out all the different variations of rankink/rating a domain.

 

[Biggie]

I look at the inherent "keywords" of the domain, and it's probability of getting type-in traffic now or in the future.

Length is NOT a deterent.

Don't want to give out too many secrets so.....

 

[Rarethings]

1. Generic Value
2. Generic Value
3. Generic Value
4. Is it a .mobi?
5. Generic Value
6. Generic Value
7. Generic Value
8. Generic Value
9. Appraisal from Afternic
10.Generic Value

 

[Gerry]

1 thru 8...if I want it.
9-10...if I own it.

Stephen, you posted a thread this a.m. about the rankings for registrars.

The link posted went to generic news about domain round table.

Did you forget the other link?

Thanks!

Gerry

inherent "keywords"

Big factor. Can it carry itself? Why no traffic? Did they use the right service to market it? Does the domain name fit the extension? What about the extension, period?

But, Stephen, to offer my view; I look at sales more than dropped lists lately. Why? Dropped is dropping. Everyone wants to catch a gem on the drop. I am tired of looking at dropped lists and trying to catch those drops (okay, not all the time but most of the time). But, sales is what is selling.

What is selling? Not much makes sense anymore...all old school rules are history...no numbers, no hyphens, nothing over 10 letters, dot com only...those are the rules that were preached 8-10 years ago. Many still go by this credo which is great if your portfolio reflects this for its age. Or your wallet is fat enough to go this route and keep adding to your already premium domains.

In the mean time, consider that the internet is and will continue to grow at unprecedented rates. No just stationary PC's but the mobile internet. There is tremendous growth and opportunity still to come. And we are witnessing that growth at this very moment.

Is it any wonder or amazement that China just dropped the price of CN registration? They want more .cn in the world than .com. Is this possible? Perhaps. Is it practical? Perhaps not. China makes no apologies for wanting to beTHE economic power of the world and is quite close to achieving this. They use the guise of recent earthquakes to necessitate the registration of .cn as those servers are not subjected to outages like the .com network. Huh? But, they are convincing the masses and marketing the .cn in this manner.

I think we, as Americans, need to look around and perhaps just scan this forum. The internet is international. It is not just about English speaking countries. I think IDN is still a few years from wide usage and acceptance as more countries want their own identity and language to prevail. But I think it will come, perhaps 3-5 years.

A concern should be will this benefit or create havoc with the internet as we know it. If, for instance, China in it's own infinite way decides that if you want to do business inside of China, you have to have a .cn domain. Again, is this feasible? No, but China has a way of getting what they want. It called trade agreements and partnerships. Just ask Google the cost of doing business in China what they had to bow down to in order to do business in china. Agreements to censorship, blocking of content deemed unfit by the government, and other concessions.

Some of what I am saying may seem farfetched and bogus BS to many. But I seriously believe we need to get out of the mindset that the internet belongs to the .com and the english speakers of the world.

 

[Nova]

Generic Value

Well put - generic + value. After all, "videocameras" is generic, and so is "driedleaves."

 

[ShaunP]

But I seriously believe we need to get out of the mindset that the internet belongs to the .com and the english speakers of the world.

You are right, it belongs to those with a credit card...

 

[Rockefeller]

I never look at an appraisal from a company. If you are a domainer you should know the value of the domain name. I look at the market behind the domain name, and length is not a factor for me. As Nova said, "driedleaves" is generic, but with NO market. "Paydayloans" is a bit long, but has a huge market.

 

[hugegrowth]

what is the overture score, with/without extension (how often is the word/words searched)? have most people heard of it, or say it regularly?

how 'commercial' is the term? do lots of people buy it or pay for it?

what is the market size for the term?

is it a good domain extension, and does the term fit the extension?

are there trademark issues?

will it be a popular word or term in the future?

is it a subject I'm interested in or know a lot about - and therefore more likely/easy to develop the name

is it a common typo of a popular generic word?

is it a good brandable name for a commercial product or service? like blogster for example

I would also wonder how likely is it someone would type in the domain, .com is most likely, .net and .org maybe, and country code extension 'usually' second best to .com

 

[MediaHound]

popularity
value of the item / service
how often is it consumed or will it be needed?
how easy is the domain to misspell?
to remember?
memories the terms give me? good... bad... happy... sad... etc
length?
use of strange characters like hyphens, numbers, or cryllic and other non-latin idn characters?
it is .com, right?
if not, is it the best term for the country code extension where I want to target?
other company with the same name in the same arena?
existing phrase or coined term?
These, of course, are just to name a few. These are all off the top of my head but I could go on and on here as it's a topic I feel very strong about. I'm probably leaving out some obvious ones, too.

 

[SeanIM]

For me the top 5 are:

1) .com
2) name value (is it a natural keyword/spoken phrase)
3) age
4) traffic
5) easy to remember/spell

 

[SuccessClick]

yeah, I don't want to give out secrets either, but, eventually, all of us will have to promote these domain valuation factors to the mainstream business community and the public in order to get them to buy or lease traffic, or learn the "name direction" procedures that bring us traffic.

We can't stay in our little domain hole forever. :sigh2:

1. Generic Value
2. Generic Value
3. Generic Value
4. Is it a .mobi?
5. Generic Value
6. Generic Value
7. Generic Value
8. Generic Value
9. Appraisal from Afternic
10.Generic Value

Interesting response. I LIKE IT!! Now please define: "Generic Value" as a process of evaluating a domain.:?:

For me the top 5 are:

1) .com
2) name value (is it a natural keyword/spoken phrase)
3) age
4) traffic
5) easy to remember/spell

Yep, I got those down already. The most "points" for rating/ranking a domain. Length of domain too, don't forget.

popularity
value of the item / service
how often is it consumed or will it be needed?
how easy is the domain to misspell?
to remember?
memories the terms give me? good... bad... happy... sad... etc
length?
use of strange characters like hyphens, numbers, or cryllic and other non-latin idn characters?
it is .com, right?
if not, is it the best term for the country code extension where I want to target?
other company with the same name in the same arena?
existing phrase or coined term?
These, of course, are just to name a few. These are all off the top of my head but I could go on and on here as it's a topic I feel very strong about. I'm probably leaving out some obvious ones, too.

Excellent response -- points that I already understand, but your mention of them CONFIRMS those factors as important indicators to consider.

Great job...:yes:

Gerry,

Good points, and anything that stirs the pot keeps the stew cooking properly. You can't depend on tired old theories, old players keeping the domain industry on the same path it's been wavering on for the last seven years.

Lots of changes are coming, which we will address at the Domain Roundtable in August. China's new price changes for .cn are interesting. One of the considerations is will the .cn's match "english" or arabic characters or will it be only IDN listings to make the .cn's valuable? Will you have to be proficient in Chinese to know how to buy .cn's?

There are many avenues to walk, but let's bring all them to a main boulevard together.

I've been preaching this for years, and this stance even got me booted off an exclusive domain forum for pushing for my understanding that ANYONE can pop some exciting new innovation and direction for this industry.

Anything about our industry that can be developed and promoted and marketed and understood easily by mainstream business and the public is a BIG WIN for all of us. We can't just sit back and HOPE everyone else will "get it" and make us rich for the domains we own. We need to join together to MAKE IT HAPPEN.

I invite everyone to participate in this process.

 

[BobDiGiTaL]

The #1 MOST IMPORTANT domain ranking factor is availability.

 

[Focus]

...does it resolve or not (hopefully not!) and does the phone # or email to the original registrant work? lol

 

[SPDev]

How about mobile3dgame.com?
3d is here a word and not a number!

 

[David G]

Regarding current value. Ranking in position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 & 10 are good keyword names combined with current traffic, or at least a fair probability of getting future traffic thanks to their keywords. There is little room for much else.

That does not factor in any new brandable names since they obviously require considerable expertise and time to possiby develop traffic down the road.

When I say 'traffic' I mean any traffic and not only high traffic. A name which gets just 1 unique a day, or even a few a week has value, especially if it's in a high paying category (and in particular if the traffic is from direct navigation). That is why I think it is odd when some here often post that the name for sale gets only a little or insignificant traffic so you can 'assume it gets none' for sale puposes! Why not simply say how little it gets as any amount is better than none?