Using Premium New gTLD Domain Names to Your Advantage

Using Premium New gTLD Domain Names to Your Advantage

The easiest way to explain this is probably by using a domain name from our portfolio.  We recently registered the domain name SSN.website for 99 cents.  Great deal, right?  It's a three letter domain with a keyword (abbreviated keyword, actually) that has a huge search volume.  Well, it's an even better deal than it appears at first glance due to the archaic PREMIUM new gTLD system shared by all domain registrars.  Here's the example:

SSN.website as .99, as stated.  The renewal fee, when the time comes next year, will be the standard renewal fee for a .website domain name (.website domains renew at 29.99/year at my registrar, GoDaddy).  But then I noticed that SSN.live was also available, but as a PREMIUM domain name.  To register SSN.live (which is still available as of this post), we would need to spend about 150X the cost of SSN.website.  SSN.live commands $149.99 for this year, as opposed to .99 cents for SSN.website.  And the cost of renewal for next year and every year there after will be at the premium rate, which is $249.99 for this particular domain name (yes, they do vary, even for premium domains with the same extension). 

So why is SSN.live so much more expensive?  SSN (short for Social Security Number) probably does deserve to be listed as a premium keyword due to it's length and direct search volume. Domain registrars chose this domain to include in their premium fee offerings, but for some reason (or no reason) decided to omit SSN.website.  As you can see, the premium fee system is far from perfect; like any business, the seller is simply trying yo maximize the amount of money they receive for selling their product.  And while there is no way to know for sure, I suspect this is simply an oversight due to the volume of potential premium names. 

Let's compare the two names briefly: In my opinion, SSN.website is a better domain name than SSN.live.  At the very least, it's not an inferior name to SSN.live in the eyes of the domain name marketplace.  Let's compare the appraisal value offered by Godaddy.com for each=

GODADDY APPRAISAL VALUE:
      SSN.live 

Regardless, I jumped on the .99 cent registration for SSN.website.  Before I did, however, I checked the availability of the other potential SSN + new gTLD extension options.  Here's what I found:  Most of the other potential options were already registered.  SSN.shop was available, but for $2499.99 for the first year and 49.99 for future renewals.  All signs pointed towards a worthy investment. Here's the best part....

If we decide to sell SSN.website on the secondary market, I have a lot of sales and marketing information to work with just from what we've uncovered while researching similar domains during the registration process.  I already know that if a potential buyer is looking for that particular keyword, "SSN", they'll have to pay a lot more than we did for a similar domain name.  Additionally, their renewal fee for that domain name will be $220 more per year (29.99 vs 249.99).  SSN.website instantly becomes a much more desirable asset BECAUSE of the premium name mark up.  Comparable domains will be much more expensive to register as well as to renew.  The trick is finding those domains that slip through the cracks, as well as using the related information discussed above in marketing that domain name.  As for the registrars, they've given my domain name instant added value by inflating the registration fee and renewal cost of it's peers.

One of the most valuable resources at our disposal in this search is Godaddy's free appraisal tool.  Not only does it give you a reasonable estimate of your domain's value (free and BEFORE you register it), but GoDaddy, being GoDaddy, doesn't stop there.  They list several similar names as options in case you don't like the choice you started with (or in case you want to buy several related domain names).  Use! This! Tool!  Some of the best names we own are hand registered names for 4.99 or less, thanks to GoDaddy's automated recommendations.  If you combine this search process with a thorough use of ExpiredDomains.net, you'll be on your way to uncovering some great names worth many times registration fee. (Note:  This process is great for the new gTLDs; however, I have different methods for searching expired .coms and .orgs.)