What’s a Premium Domain?

You might have heard stories in the past about domain names selling for 6- or 7-figures and thought to yourself, who would pay for that? And why would they pay for that?

Welcome to the world of Premium Domains.

So what is a Premium Domain?

A Premium Domain is a domain that already has an owner, but is being resold at a higher value to a potential end user. (Or, with the debut of New TLDs, a domain that the registry has reserved as Premium stock and thus priced higher than normal.) These domains tend to be short, keyword rich, and (in most cases) come with a hefty price tag. But despite the higher cost, they’re considered some of the most valuable domain names on the market.

Just think of a few of the most expensive Premium Domains to ever sell: they included the likes of insurance.com, hotels.com, and casinos.com, all of which take advantage of relative, generic keywords that millions of people search for online on a regular basis.

Is a Premium Domain worth the cost?

Because sellers tend to set their own prices for the domains they’re trying to resell, and some business or individuals have more motivation than others to acquire a certain domain name, there’s no exact science to determining the true worth of a Premium Domain. But getting a domain that exactly matches the name of your business or one that uses highly-relevant keywords related to your products or services can have a huge impact on your online success.

Think of it this way: Let’s say that you’re a Denver-based florist that’s looking to expand your small shop into a thriving business that integrates online orders. You decide that using generic keywords like “Denver florist” in your URL makes the most sense for search optimization reasons. But when you search for denverflorist.com, you realize it’s already taken and has a steeper than normal asking price.

Sure, up front that could be a huge expense for a small business. However, most domains renew at a lower price than what you pay for the initial Premium registration and some, like .COM domains, renew at a standard rate. To put things into even more perspective, consider how it would cost instead to set up billboards and advertisements around town. And once that ad campaign was over, you’d be dishing out more money for your next advertising scheme. That $5,000 for a domain name is starting to sound more reasonable, isn’t it?

At the end of the day, a Premium Domain is a branding and marketing investment, and one that tends to be well worth the cost. With less expensive carrying costs after the initial payment and the potential to reach millions of website users, it’s one of the smartest investments that you or your business can make.

How to I find a Premium Domain?

Premium Domains show up in normal search results on Name.com, so if you search for a high-value domain name that someone happens to be interested in selling, it will be indicated on the main search page.

If you’re more interested in browsing to see the wide variety of Premium Domains available, head over to Name.market, our Premium Domains shop. Here you can browse featured domains, search for Premiums that include certain keywords, or see a list of Premiums that have already sold.