The Importance of a URL on a Website's Success

Pay. Process. Protection.

A client of Law Firm Sites recently paid $1 million for a domain name (one that cannot be mentioned due to confidentiality) Is that insane? All depends on the return on investment. Could you imagine paying that much for a domain name?

The original owner of the domain entered negotiations with Law Firm Sites for another website domain a different client of ours wanted to purchase. He let that domain go for under $5,000. Our client tried to make direct contact with him and he didn’t respond. He only responded when we approached him. How did we do it? How does a company justify the cost of $1 million for a domain name and how do you find out what great domains are out there and if they are worth the money?

All of these questions will be answered below.

The Value of a Domain Name

Domain names have value today just like real estate does. Did you know that? A company can justify spending $1 million on a domain name because it is property and has sustained value. The value of this domain will increase over time. It is an investment versus an expense.

To find out the value of a domain name you can use a domain appraisal service. The one we like the best at Law Firm Sites, Inc. is SEO’s domain appraisal service: https://sedo.com/us/services/domain-appraisal/

All of the major registrars (GoDaddy, Register.com, Network Solutions, etc.) offer a similar service. The fees range from around $99 – $249 in most cases. They are going to look at the traffic, how short the URL is and how long the domain has been around.

Using a domain appraisal service is a smart idea if you are thinking about spending more than $500 for a domain name.

Finding The Owner

You can find the owner of a domain by using a service called “Whois”. It is just a registry of all domain owners. Some people can mark their information as private. Most of the time they don’t. I like to use this site to find the domain owners info: http://www.whois.com/. Once you type the domain name in and it says the domain is unavailable – click on “Whois” to see who owns it.

Breaking Through

The way we were able to negotiate with the original owner was be first sending him an email from a generic Gmail account and said “[To Whom It May Concern], Did you get my last email about that domain we want to purchase?”

He gets so many emails that the shorter and more succinct the email–the better. He replied that he didn’t and then we just said “My client wants to purchase ExampleURL.com from you. Can we discuss?”

That started the discussion and negotiation.

Conclusion

Domain names are investments just like real estate or a great ad campaign. Doing the proper research prior to negotiations is key. Being patient and not jumping the gun is a tried-and-true method of ensuring you get the best price for the domain.

Want help with acquiring your own specialized domain? Call the web design experts at Law Firm Sites, Inc. at (800) 932-6030 today to get the help you need.