How to rate the value of a domain name?

by Tarzan Thu 07 Mar 2013, 7:19 pm

First I have to disappoint you, because a simple formula doesn't exist.
Determination the value of domains is not easy.

If you want to elaborate the worth of a domain, you have to consider many things (most important criteria first):

Existing and future yearly revenues calculated on a serious base
Commercial disposition
Popularity
Domain extension (.com and famous ccTLDs: good / .net and .org: weak / others: junk)
Domain name quality (see: Criteria for Domain Names)
Intended use
Vanity effect
Expected and real traffic (Google’s Traffic Estimator is helpful to get an inside.)
Condition of website development
Sales history of similar domain names (see: Previous Sales)
Level of competition for specific keywords
Potential conflicts with trademark owners
Number and quality of back links (better natural, not bought and not exchanged)
Reliability of seller
Length of domain existence

Helpful can be Domain Appraisal Tools, but they are not reliable.

You have to invest some time to make an accurate evaluation for every single domain name!

by Tarzan Thu 07 Mar 2013, 7:23 pm

If you want to educate yourself about this topic, I recommend the following resources:

The Magic of Virtual Estate
Case-Based Appraisal of Internet Domains
Overview about Domain Appraisals

by SkyDriver Thu 07 Mar 2013, 10:06 pm

I like to add some considerations.

The problem with domain evaluations is that the price depends pretty much on the future use by the intended buyer and his budget, e. g.:

- A big and well-known company would be ready to pay high stakes for a name that is easy to commercialize.
- A start-up can't afford such amount.
- Another reseller doesn't want to spend much money at all.
- And a website developer wants to keep the investment small if he only intends to experiment with a new web appearance.

If you are not lucky to receive great demand for your domains in possession, you can't always choose your prospects.
If you don't own high-quality domains, it will be even very time-consuming to find a buyer (doesn't matter what the theoretical worth would be).
What is the highest estimate good for if you have no buyers?

by Jolly Fri 08 Mar 2013, 9:12 pm

Questions for appraising a website:

What are the current assets?
What are the current liabilities?
What costs would be involved in re-creating the site?
What is the alexa rank?
What is the CPC range of keywords on PPC?
What is the current estimated value per unique user?
What is the current natural search traffic like?
What is the current profitability?
What is the current revenue?
What is the current traffic level of the site?
What is the level of brand loyalty?
What is the potential for future search traffic?
What is the quality of the search traffic?
What is the revenue model?
What is the scope of keywords?
What is the value of the domain name?
What is the value of the industry?
What risks are involved with assigning annualized revenue?
Do any bigger companies have their eyes on the niche?
Does the demographic skew the alexa rank (lots of webmasters, etc)?
How brandable/memorable/marketable is the domain?
How many major competitors are established in the industry?
How many unique keywords are there?
How well does the site convert?
Is it a “longtail” or “shorttail” keyword industry (online education is longtail – poker is short tail)?
Is there any current brand value to the site?
Is there room in the industry for a big competitor?
Is there type in traffic?

by Marwell Sat 09 Mar 2013, 11:38 am

I think that all valuations are unnecessary because the domain value is always only the sum someone is willing to pay for it.
There are big differences depending on the domain, because the buyer is always someone else. Nobody can calculate this in advance.
So you can get lucky to find a buyer for cars.com at $5m, but for car.com you might find only one buyer for $50k - or even worse you don't find any buyer what means your domain value in real is $0.

by Jolly Sat 09 Mar 2013, 5:45 pm

Marwell wrote:So you can get lucky to find a buyer for cars.com at $5m, but for car.com you might find only one buyer for $50k - or even worse you don't find any buyer what means your domain value in real is $0.

It's not difficult to find a buyer for such a quality domain. But a smart domain owner wouldn't sell it to everybody, because he can get a million if he searches for a better suited buyer.

by isilo Tue 10 Sep 2013, 12:12 pm

1.) Is the domain Pronounceable?
2.) How many characters are in the domain?
3.) If a short character domain, are they premium letters?
4.) Is the domain currently developed?
5.) If developed, how many pages are indexed?
6.) If developed, Is it original or duplicate content?
7.) Was the domain previously developed?
8.) Does the domain currently generate any Revenue?
9.) What are a few development possibilities for this domain?
10.) What is the obvious target market(s)?
11.) Is there any keyword value (cpc)?
12.) Is there any keyword competition?
13.) What are the top competing sites for this domain?
14.) What is the Alexa score?
15.) What is the root domain PageRank (PR)?
16.) Is the domain a dictionary word?
17.) What language is the domain?
18.) Does the language of the domain match the extension?
19.) How many backlinks does the domain have?
20.) What have some similar domains sold for in the past?
21.) Is this domain a Trademark (TM)?
22.) Is this domain a trend that has a limited window of opportunity?
23.) How old is the domain?
24.) Is the domain taken in other top extensions?
25.) Is the domain Brandable?
26.) Does the domain have any traffic?
27.) If traffic, What are the traffic sources?

by TechFreak Sat 08 Feb 2014, 2:29 pm

How To Value a Domain Name

by Sponsored content

How to rate the value of a domain name?

How to rate the value of a domain name?

Re: How to rate the value of a domain name?

Re: How to rate the value of a domain name?

Re: How to rate the value of a domain name?

Re: How to rate the value of a domain name?

Re: How to rate the value of a domain name?

Re: How to rate the value of a domain name?

Re: How to rate the value of a domain name?

Re: How to rate the value of a domain name?