InTrust Domains Domain Name News

The folks at InTrust Domains has been in the domain business for 8 years now, and we're just amazed by how frequently the entire direction of the industry changes! there are so many external influences on the monetization of domain names, that any one of hundreds of industry players can change the rules on the drop of a dime.  Watch here for news and tips!

There was a lot of anticipation in the blogosphere about what would happen now that the add grace period is gone.  Would we suddenly find that people are able to recover their lost domain names without having them scooped up by speculators? 

The change came in three phases - first the major revenue generation sources for domain tasters pulled the plug.  Next, ICANN stopped giving refunds on the 20 cents per domain that registrars had to pay.  These two steps had absolutely no effect on domain tasting at all. It was still very much alive and well.

Then came the big hammer - ICANN changed the rules, and registries, like Verisign, could no longer refund the registration cost of a domain.

In the course of one year, three big changes hit domain tasters -
1.  They lost their ability to monetize domains and quantify the value of domains
2.  They had to pay 20 cents for each domain registered
3.  they had to pay ANOTHER $6.43 per domain registered

So, with all that change, surely the desired result of domains coming available to the average joe would happen, right?  Sadly, no - domain speculation is alive and well.

My next entry will walk you through the process, step-by-step, to have the best possible chance to recover your domain name.

When we started InTrust Domains, we had been in the domain industry for quite a while, but we knew almost none of the key players, and they didn't know much about us either.  Recent conversations have revealed that they knew our names, but realized that we liked to stay under the radar and just kept it that way.

Well, recently we wanted to expand our reach and look for possible strategic partnerships, etc.  A quick read of "The Domain Game" by David Kesmodel, and we felt like we've been in the inner circle since day one :).  We strongly recommend this book.

Recently I went on a bit of a buying spree, picking up high PR websites.  InTrust Domains is planning to start venturing into the area of property development, so we went window shopping.  What we found is critical news for anyone new to domain buying - the rules have changed!  The economy has played havoc with the secondary market for domain names and prices have plunged!  Domain holders frequently hold onto their "last-year" prices and insist that they'd rather keep the domain than to lose it for a low price.  Just take a shot at seriously low-balling and you'll see that all prices are negotiable these days!

My guess is that we've seen a 25-50% drop in the price of revenue producing domains over the past 12 months!

It's great to see that solid, single word domain names are still going for a decent price in this environment.   So often I hear domainers whine about the prices that they are offered for their "great, brandable domain".  The world is full of these "brandable" domains and they go for something between squat and nothing these days.  But server.com is a different story all together. 

When I'm looking at a raw domain, without any quality indicators like PR, backlinks, etc, just looking at the aesthetic value of the domain name itself, I consider how it will work over the radio. So, you run a commercial on the radio for server.com.  After catching the attention of your target audience for 27 seconds, the music comes back on, an argument breaks out in the car, someone cuts your prospective customer off in traffic, etc, etc.  Then, when they get to the office, the thought runs through their mind, "Now what was that website again?".  A site like server.com is great for that test. 

Take a few other domains that sold recently, like iverified.com.  Not bad, good brandable domain name.  I bet the owner of the domain thought he would pull down $20K or more for it.  It passes the eyeball test with flying colors - when you see it, do you know what it is?  Sure, iverified works there.  How about the typing test - can people type it quickly, easily and repeatedly?  Sure, no problem there. But, in my twisted little world, it doesn't pass the radio test. That's why it's a 4 digit domain and not 5 or more.

Recently I was shopping for high pr domains to boost search results for InTrust Domains and InTrust Domains. I discovered a few things just one mouse click away from blowing cash. It can be summed up easily - domain stats are easy to spoof! The sad thing is that even revenue results are frequently faked. This is fraudulent and dishonest, but the domain space has never been known as a beacon of purity.

Let's take a few examples:

1. Alexa scores - want to know if your domain has good traffic? The idea is that it should be easy to simply go to Alexa, type in the domain and presto! Your domain is ranked 120,000. Not bad at all. But then you look a bit closer. First, where is this traffic coming from? the most common scammy results are when the domain's results have been spammed up by cheap labor in India and Pakistan (I didn't realize that outsourcing to Pakistan for cheap labor was that common). So, in the normal world, unless your website is for Indian Air or something, you should have 10% or less of your traffic from India. If Alexa shows 90% from India - the results have been spoofed.

The second indication of bad Alexa numbers is if you see the results go from nothing to under 200K in a couple months. This may happen in the real world, but if it does, it should be accompanied by tons of news in the mainstream media.

Bottom line - Alexa results should be mostly from the US and EU, or it's probably fake.

Fake PR
If you don't know about Fake PR, please do more homework before investing in domains. Here's a good starting point.

Fake Revenue Results
The sad thing about this problem is that there is very little that can be done to check this. There are no easy tests to catch fraudulent low-life thieves who fake their revenue numbers. The way they do this is beyond simple - for 6 months they operate their biz before selling it. during that time, they have their family and friends "buy" from them. Then, they post the website up for sale and proudly display their PayPal results as proof of this great website.

What can you do to avoid falling for this? Buy from people with reputation only.

Pumped Up Traffic
All domain brokering websites and forums have postings with requests, "Show me the stats". When you look at the stats, you hope that the seller is honest in telling you how he got the traffic. What can be easier than buying traffic for 3 months and then flip a site claiming that the traffic is all native traffic?

Conclusion-The domain secondary market is a precarious place. If a deal looks too good to be true, it very likely is. Don't buy domains or websites flippantly, do your research and know what you are buying.

The Dot-Com Domain:  Your First Choice When Building An Online Identity.
Table of Contents

Summary. 3

Introduction. 4

Trust 4

Marketing. 5

Visibility. 5

Identity and Branding. 6

Conclusion. 7

Summary

Dot-com domains face competition from hundreds of other top level domains on the open market.  However, the drawing power, prestige, visibility and market penetration of dot-com domains has yet to be matched.  This has made them an attractive investment and an important building block of any company’s online strategy.  This paper discusses what makes dot-com domains such an appealing choice for a wide range of businesses.

Introduction

Given the amount of hype that has surrounded the idea of a dot-com internet business over the past ten years, it isn’t surprising that when confronted with the decision to purchase a dot-com domain for their company, many entrepreneurs are uncertain as to the best strategy to use.  There was once a time when the phrase ‘dot-com’ embodied a vague sense of instant riches thanks to the untold and unknown opportunities to be found on the internet.  After the bubble popped and expectations were scaled back from their previously incredible heights to once again approach normalcy, it eventually became clear that the entire business plan surrounding online businesses had changed forever.

The new approach to owning a dot-com property has shifted away from overnight success and instead focused on building a professional and effective online presence that allows a company to interact with clients and customers in a digital setting.  There are of course as many different website options as there are business models, but by and large a dot-com property has become an indispensable tool in the arsenal of any modern company.  It can even be said that to pursue a business plan without considering a dot-com internet strategy is to plan for failure.

This white paper discusses the advantages of owning a dot-com domain as well as the details surrounding the various options associated with establishing this type of internet presence.

Trust

There are over 250 different top level domains available on the market, ranging anywhere from dot-org to dot-biz, with more being added by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on a regular basis[1].  However, despite an increasingly wide number of options, dot-com is still far and away the top level domain with the widest range of recognition, and also the most popular[2].

Why is this the case?  At first glance, it would seem as though ICANN’s decision to make so many top level domains available would actually benefit both businesses and consumers alike.  Unfortunately, this has not been the case.  For one, the influx of new top level domain options has actually served to confuse instead of help both domain buyers and internet users.  When faced with the already well-established identity surrounding the dot-com domain as the “go-to” option for developing a serious business presence on the internet, other choices such as dot-biz and dot-info have failed to find a wide audience amongst corporations[3].  Not only that, but consumers have also invested a significant amount of trust in the dot-com property as one which consistently presents them with legitimate content from established businesses and start-ups alike³.  In the face of the continual phishing, virus and malware attacks originating from exotic and obscure domain names, many internet and web users are unwilling to visit websites outside their established circle of confidence and comfort.

Whatever advantages may seem to exist in terms of choosing an exotic or alternative top level domain – be they availability, cost, or business sector tie-in - it is simply not worth the risk of associating your organization with an area of the internet that features a less than solid reputation.  Customers are looking for names and brands they can trust, not a business partner that they will be initially wary of.  With so much competition in the fast-paced world of business, trust is something that is often either earned quickly or not at all.  A dot-com domain name can be an important component of that early trust and confidence in a business relationship.

Marketing

The panoply of top level domains has been presented by ICANN and the various domain registrars as a method of attracting new customers thanks to the seemingly increased marketing possibilities offered by these new options.  Indeed, while at first it might seem as though the ability to register a web site with tightly focused top level domain enables a company to address a very specific niche in the market, the reality is that the majority of web browsers are not even aware of most of the new top level domain options[4].  This vastly decreases the chances of a potential customer stumbling upon your site by typing in your URL.  In addition, without the recognition that a traditional dot-com domain offers, a person might not be able to connect a representation of your URL in other types of media – such as a business card or printed advertisement – with an actual website.  This double obfuscation of a company’s URL is for many businesses their worst nightmare when it comes to implementing a web strategy.

Upon careful examination, it is easy to see that in fact any marketing advantage related to the increased number of top level domain offerings is solely related to the profits of ICANN themselves.  With more domains to sell, the organization is able to collect increased income from registration fees.  In effect, each new top level domain that they approve for sale has the potential to increase their revenue streams exponentially.  As Rose McCaige, from InTrust Domains, tells us - our clients frequently see a 30% increase in web traffic by securing the dotcom domain!

You are certainly not in business to generate income for ICANN, or indeed for any other domain registrar.  While the marketing surrounding exotic top level domains can be seductive, the fact remains that their market penetration, and more importantly their position in the minds of customers is not nearly as prominent as that of a dot-com domain².  The mention of your URL to a colleague or possible client should not result in a confused look and the requirement that you either explain your top level domain choice, or clarify that yes, it is indeed a valid web address.  A dot-com domain is a universally understood concept that indicates that your business has taken their internet presence seriously.  Your marketing efforts hinge around the legitimacy of the value proposition they make to the market, and a dot-com domain enhances this authenticity.

Visibility

It is easy to get caught up in the hype surrounding the release of new top level domain names.  For example, the news that 200,000 dot-me domain names had been registered in the first few months of being once again made available in 2009 might make the domain sound like an impressive opportunity that should be explored by your business[5].  However, compare this to the phenomenal staying power and success of the dot-com domain.  There are 77 million dot-com domain names currently registered, a number that has consistently grown since the domain became available commercially in the early 90’s².  A large part of this success has been related to the fact that even though the dot-com domain was initially intended to be used by businesses to promote and establish themselves online, it has gone beyond that to become embedded in the fabric of the web itself.  Now an essential building block of the accepted internet infrastructure, dot-com domain names represent the most registered and most visible sector of the world wide web.

Industry experts feel that the criteria required to judge whether a top level domain name is “successful” or not include not only the number of registrants, but also the number of actual properties that are fully developed as well as the percentage of Fortune 500 companies using those developed properties[6].  This is in addition to their renewal rates and resale values after a three year period⁶.  In all of these criteria, dot-com domain names are by far the leaders of the pack.

The presence of so many established dot-com domain names means that developing your own dot-com internet presence means you join a distinguished club of players, companies which have made the decision to purchase a dot-com name due to its higher profile.  Businesses are almost always focused on saving money, yet the majority of Fortune 500 companies choose to put their resources towards a dot-com domain name instead of speculating on the success of new top level domains which offer far lower pricing[7].  This is largely because these influential companies recognize the increased visibility that a dot-com property lends them compared to the competition.

The decision to purchase a high profile dot-com domain that has demonstrable name recognition and high traffic can be one of the most cost-effect strategies for a company looking to establish a solid web presence.  Online anonymity has become a death sentence for any corporation unwilling to properly develop a digital marketing strategy.  A visible dot-com web property can mean the difference between carving out substantial market share and fighting it out with competitors for the scraps of whatever is left over from industry leaders.

Identity and Branding

One of the basic tenets of business is that in order for a company or product to connect with their desired customer base, they must first establish an identity.  A corporate identity is defined by more than just the product or service that is being offered – it is augmented and sculpted by the customer service being provided, the advertising that is used and the actions of the company in the marketplace.  Some of the most successful brands, such as Coca-Cola and Nike have been able to establish the concept of an entire lifestyle associated with their products.  The idea that a soft drink and running shoe company could achieve such lofty heights in terms of recognition and identity would have been completely unthinkable to anyone present at either company’s founding.

One of the strongest aspects of a corporate identity in the year 2009 is how it chooses to manage its online web presence.  In turn, the domain name that a company purchases can also say a lot about that organization.  After careful evaluation of the points previously examined in this white paper, it can be seen that the decision to purchase a dot-com domain name instead of an alternative top level domain is indicative of your company’s mindset and branding strategy.

While it might be tempting to direct your marketing efforts towards a focused subset of web users and customers who understand that form of targeted branding, the potential alienation of a large section of your customer base is too dangerous to ignore. 

Successful brands, even those who do see themselves as niche providers, do not scale the heights of their industry by excluding potential customers.  Instead, they use established business methods that are universally understood by both other business and the general public, and in doing so they forge an identity that enables them to connect with as large or as focused a group of customers as desired.  A dot-com domain name is one such established method, and one which has been respected for over almost two decades.

It is also important to consider the future when purchasing a domain name.  While a regionally or even nationally-focused top level domain name might seem appropriate for a company that is just starting out in terms of scope, over time corporate growth might reveal that initial decision to be inadequate.  Planning for success and the global scaling of operations is critical, especially from an identity perspective.  Consider the implications of having to re-brand all existing literature, sales materials and advertising based on the fact that your business has outgrown its local top level domain and has had to switch to a dot-com address.  This issue can be further compounded if the dot-com address you are looking to switch to is no longer available, forcing you to further compromise the market equity you have worked so hard to build.  Going with a dot-com domain name from the start avoids this potential pitfall. 

For more on identity and branding, contact InTrust Domains.

Conclusion

Building an online brand is a must for any company serious about competing in the digital age.  While there are hundreds of top level domain options available that span a wide range of different niche markets, the value of a dot-com property has yet to be diminished by this increased competition.  In fact, the strong levels of dot-com registrations and property developments indicates that it is still the top web destination for both established businesses and new entrepreneurs alike.

Purchasing a dot-com domain with an established traffic track record and built-in name recognition is one of the best ways to fast track the success of an internet property.  The amount of attention and market share that can be drawn to a high profile dot-com domain is substantial, and shows no signs of lessening as time goes on.  A dot-com domain that fits your business like a glove is both an important investment and the cornerstone of any long term corporate internet strategy.
Sources

[1] Birkner, B 2007.  ‘New Top-Level Domains Emerging’, CircleID Internet Infrastructure, 27 May.  Retrieved June 30, 2009 from http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090527_new_top_level_domains_emerging/.

[2] Verisign, Inc 2008.  ‘The Verisign Domain Report’, The Domain Name Industry Brief Volume 5 Issue 4, September.  Retrieved June 29, 2009 from http://www.verisign.com/static/044191.pdf.

[3] Thornton, C 2009.  ‘Will Shorter Domain Names Boost Dot Biz?’, PC World, February 24.  Retrieved June 27, 2009 from http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/160098/will_shorter_domain_names_boost_dot_biz.html

[4] Murphy, K 2009,  ‘Vatican vetos ‘dot god’ domain’, The Register, March 5^th.  Retrieved June 30, 2009 from http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/05/pope_domain_name/.

[5] Domain Name Wire, 2009.  ‘.ME at 250,000: What’s Next?’.  Retrieved June 29, 2009 from http://domainnamewire.com/2009/05/20/me-at-250000-whats-next/.

[6] Domain Name Wire, 2009.  ‘What Makes a Top Level Domain Successful?’.  Retrieved June 29, 2009 from http://domainnamewire.com/2009/05/21/what-makes-a-top-level-domain-successful/.

[7] Murphy, K 2009,  ‘Big biz slams brakes on new domains’, The Register, March 9^th.  Retrieved June 30, 2009 from http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/09/icann_stops_new_domains/.

8 McCaige, R 2009,  InTrust Domains