As the internet grows, so too are the number of domain names being registered. By recent tallies, roughly 330 million domains are privately held.
Some of those domains are for people looking to build out their business’ online presence. Others are registered as outstanding investment opportunities.
In an age where making passive income online is the holy grail for many people entering the professional world, buying and selling domains has emerged as a chief revenue driver for thousands of people.
How though can you figure out a domain name value?
After all, you have to know what something is worth in order to sell it.
Below, our team breaks down the importance of conducting a thorough domain appraisal and some ways you can achieve that end.
Why You Need to Conduct a Thorough Domain Appraisal
In order to figure out a domain name value, you have to get it appraised. You can do this in a variety of ways including leveraging DIY methods. The important part is that whichever way you choose to do it, you do it right.
Why?
Thousands of people try to “gut-price” their domain name based on vague ideas of what they think it’s worth. This almost always results in one of two things.
1. Sellers end up sitting on their domain forever since they’ve overvalued it.
2. Sellers end up leaving tons of money on the table because they’ve undervalued it.
To make sure that you’re able to run a viable buying and selling domains business, you need to price your domains correctly. Being able to do this relies solely on your appraisal process.
How Can You Appraise Your Domain?
Now that you understand the value of getting your domain name appraised properly, how can you go about doing it?
There’s always the option of hiring an expert who can give you their opinion. If you do that and cross reference the estimate with an additional expert, you should have a good idea of your domain is worth and could save a lot of time.
If you want to go about your domain name value finding process alone though, there are some things you should consider doing.
Use Appraisal Websites
There are websites that attempt to automate the process of figuring out your domain’s value. They do this based on a number of data points ranging from traffic to recent sales and more.
Not all tools are created equal and many will make you purchase premium subscriptions to get the level of insight you’re looking for.
Also, be sure to not rely solely on any one website/tool. It’s important to always get a second opinion to help you understand if the tools you’re using are off-base in their valuation.
See the Numbers Your Domain is Generating
Your domain’s value comes down to the amount of value it can generate for your buyer. That value is often determined by things like the amount of traffic your domain is capable of pulling in, the value of that traffic, and other metrics.
Tools like Ahrefs allow you to pop in a domain and assess the kind of traffic it’s currently generating online. That insight can help you better understand the value it represents to prospective buyers.
If your domain is not publicly accessible (doesn’t have a connected website) this process won’t be helpful.
Think About How Brandable Your Domain Is and to Whom
People who purchase your domain are going to want to use it to help them prop up their business venture. So then, is your domain one that a business can confidently build its online presence around?
For example, a domain like “moo.com” is very brandable as its association with cows is natural and makes sense to consumers.
On the other hand, a domain like “outyourgutterstoday.biz” is long, confusing, and unprofessional.
The more brandable your domain is and the more industries that could tap into that brand-ability means a higher price point for your domain.
Assess If your Domain Has Valuable Keywords
Search engine optimization means everything on today’s internet. The better your domain and website rank for certain keywords, the more traffic you’ll get through engines like Google.
Figure out what industry your domain best correlates with and find out what power keywords exist around that product or service.
For example, if your domain is targeted at rehab facilities, figure out the most commonly searched keywords for that industry and find out if those keywords are present in your domain.
If the keyword “drug rehab center” is getting 10,000 searches per month and your domain is drugrehabcenter.com, your domain could be worth thousands!
See What Similar Domains Are Selling For
There’s no better way to find out a domain name value then to understand what the market is paying for similar domains. There are a number of websites that aggregate recent domain sales which can help you do exactly that.
A simple Google search of “recent domain name sales” will help you find the best market assessment tools. When you find one you like, try and find domains that are similar to yours that have sold and tweak your domain’s valuation based on your findings.
Wrapping Up Why You Need Domain Appraisal and How to Estimate Domain Name Value
As you can see, there are a variety of ways that you can put together an educated appraisal for a domain and figure out a domain name value.
Our recommendation is to take our tips above to heart and make them the foundation for your domain name selling ventures.
Are you ready to buy new, valuable domains? Let our team at Nice Domain help.
We’ve assisted thousands of investors and business owners in getting the domain names of their dreams quickly and at an outstanding price.
Let us do the same for you.
Start browsing our inventory of available domains today!