Domain names are important in making a website, platform, or company succeed. One can argue that domain names are just a small part of what makes a website: people might pay more attention to the content of a website, rather than starting at its URL of it on the search bar. However, they’re more important than you think or rather, notice.
Domain names are encountered everywhere, and it’s an important aspect that contributes to making them clickable and attractive to a reader. This makes it an important asset to businesses and companies: the more attractive your domain name, the more clicks, and the more profit.
This is why selling domain names is a smart way to make money as a side business. If you think that this is a good business idea for you, keep reading to learn how to make money selling domains.
How to make money selling domain names?
These days, it’s fairly easy to register a completely new and original domain name. Domain name registrars are more accessible, and some are even free. There are also a number of auctions or sellers who wish to sell their domains at fairly cheap prices. To make money selling them, you have to be a critic of these names: filtering through lots of them to pick out the most profitable.
There are a few key factors to take note of when determining if a domain name is profitable and good:
How marketable is it?
The domain name needs to be understandable to the market you’re targeting. Put yourselves in the shoes of the business you’d be selling the name to. Is it easy for you to visualize how the marketing will play out? Is it possible to form a unique identity from the domain name? If your answer is yes, then one of the key factors in having a valuable domain name is there.
How memorable is it?
Clicks are the way websites make money. It’s important for a domain name to not only be marketable for the business’s sake but also memorable for website users and visitors. There are certain names that are short, catchy, and familiar which make them memorable for visitors. Be sure to take this into account, and even test yourself if it’ll be easy for you to remember a potential domain name you want to sell.
How do you sell domain names?
Now that you have a handful of domain names that fit within these criteria, you have to figure out how you’re going to sell them. There are several ways you can do this.
Selling through an auction
On domain registrars like GoDaddy, Domain.com, Bluehost, and more you can sell domain names through auctions. In auctions, you, as the seller, will set the starting price. Depending on how high in demand your domain name is, potential buyers will bid on your domain name until a certain period of time. At the end of this period, or until the time you wish to keep your domain name auctioned, the name will go to the highest bidder.
Auctions allow you to get the best and highest possible value for your name. This is the preferred way of selling domain names if you’re 100% confident of their value and demand.
Selling domain names at set prices
If you have a lot of domain names on hand and you want to sell them quickly, one way to do it is to sell them at set prices. This method will require you to have a good idea of how the domain name market works already to ensure that you aren’t underselling or overpricing your domain names.
Making offers to buyers
This method is best for niche websites, or for domains that aren’t from a common field of interest. Making offers to potential clients safeguards you from committing to a price that may not be fully promising.
Where can I sell my domain names?
There are a number of websites that assist people every day in either buying or selling domain names. Sites like GoDaddy, Domain.com, Bluehost are responsible for domain name creation, and of course, selling.
On these websites, selling domain names through auctions is the most common. It’s important to determine which platforms are best suited for your market. Make sure that the platforms you choose to sell on have a strong distribution network, and gain a lot of traction.
What is a domain name?
A domain name is essentially the address of a website that is used to identify it. Think Amazon.com or usps.com. These are domain names, and they are the “human-readable” strings of text that allow users to go to websites. Domain names are important in helping a company or website define itself, and separate itself from its competitors.
There are many more factors that come into buying and selling domain names on the regular. However, remember that making money from selling domain names is not steady unless you know the market inside and out. If you’re passionate and knowledgeable about the field, go ahead and give it a try!