Value of a Premium Domain Name

In today’s world, meaningful, generic, descriptive domain names are of equal if not more value than company names themselves.

Test it yourself – if ice cream comes to mind, will “Dreyers” be your first thought? Or might you look up IceCream.com instead?

“Premium domain names are expensive for the simple reason that the ease with which customers can remember and access them means that they help websites gain a critical advantage in today’s competitive marketplace.”

Michael Gargiulo
Forbes Councils Member
Forbes Technology Council

It is the reason why Block.One paid $30 million for Voice.com, why Jamie Siminoff nearly bankrupted his company to buy Ring.com, and why countless others are willing to spend 7-8 figures to acquire “best in class” domains.

10 Benefits of Premium Domains
15 Case Studies & CEO Testimonials

Alan Dunn:

  • “A great domain name saves you money, improves company culture, provides brand protection, encourages employees, inspires designers, increases brand value, commands authority and saves employee/customer time trying to spell.”
  • “A bad domain name provides headaches, (un)inspires others, causes brand confusion, lowers morale, leads to higher advertising costs, jeopardizes email security and never starts a conversation.”

Frank Shilling, Jeffrey Gabriel:

“Generic, descriptive domain names are so rare, there just aren’t enough good ones to go around.”


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Chinese Companies, Global Domain Names

U.S. companies have long understood the marketing power of using short and memorable .COM domain names to capture global market share and to command trust and respect in their industries.

Only in recent years are Chinese companies realizing that short, relevant domain names directly impact their global authority, reputation, and sales.

“Good domains are rare — very rare — and with such rarity comes value and prestige. Furthermore, very few great domains are even available for sale.” – NameCorp

微信 – When Weixin rebranded to WeChat.com, it doubled its overseas users in under 6 months from 50 million to 100 million.  Later, Weixin acquired We.com for $8 million.

小米 – Xiaomi acquired Mi.com for $3.6 million to improve their name recognition as they expanded into international markets.  Mi.com is MUCH easier to remember than ‘Xiaomi.com’.

京东 – Jing Dong paid US$5 million for JD.com, upgrading from 360buy.com. They enjoyed a savings of $20 million per year in search engine advertising.

奇虎 – Qihoo 360 (China) paid $17 million for the domain name 360.com to increase its name recognition for potential customers outside China.

Ctrip.com – China’s biggest travel booking company paid millions to acquire the website Trip.com. Why? For international expansion.

The Chinese government, by way of China Radio International, acquired China.com for $11.5 million to bolster the country’s global reputation.


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Generic Domain Names Are Golden

Below is just a partial list of generic, descriptive domain names that were acquired by companies for a variety of reasons.

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Company Domains Acquired
1-800 Contacts Contacts.com
Amazon Podcast.com
AOL Games.com
AT&T Mobile.com
Audacity Radio.com
Bank of America Loans.com
Barnes & Noble Books.com
Block.One Voice.com
Carl’s Jr Burgers.com
Citibank Mortgage.com
CoStar Group Homes.com
Dell CloudComputing.com
Discover StudentLoan.com
Disney Kid.com, Video.com
Doorbot Ring.com
Dotdash Brides.com
DSW Shoes.com
Dreyers IceCream.com
E! Online Gossip.com
eHealth Medicare.com
Elkay Sink.com
Epicurious Gourmet.com
Expedia CarRentals.com
Expedia Hotels.com
Expedia VacationRentals.com
Fandango Movies.com
Fidelity 401k.com
Getty Images Photos.com
GoDaddy DomainNames.com
History Channel History.com
Honda Motorcycles.com
Intel Chips.com, PC.com
Intuit Payroll.com
Kraft Foods Dessert.com
Kao Brands DrySkin.com
Land O’ Lakes Baking.com
MLB Candy.com
Mannington Mills Floors.com
Mastercard Priceless.com
Microsoft Docs.com, Office.com
Nat. Geographic Documentary.com
NBA Media Heat.com
Nestlé Meals.com
Peet’s Coffee Coffee.com
PetSmart Dogs.com, Pets.com
Procter & Gamble Toothpaste.com
Ralph Lauren Polo.com
Rapaport Group Diamonds.com
Red Ventures CreditCards.com
Toys“R”Us® Toys.com
Travelocity Vacations.com
Vail Resorts SkiRentals.com
Viacom Film.com
Zappos Clothes.com

Alan Hack beautifully illustrates how the Almond Board of California repositioned California almonds in the marketplace and optimized exposure to their target audiences using Almonds.com.


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