Best answer:

Answer by K-milk
It depends on the registrar, Some are kind enough to hold it for you, and send you e-mails to remind you, while some just let it go and don’t care. Usually, you are given a 30 day period before the name is up for grabs.
Also, you need to consider that some domains can be renewed automatically, so once it expires, it gets renewed and recharged on the credit card.

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=10918

Give your answer to this question below!

Best answer:

Answer by Natalie
For branding purposes you will want your domain name to be as close to your business or personal or product name as possible, short, and easy to remember. For example, my URL is NatalieHale.com. It’s short and easy to remember.

Further, only letters numbers and hyphens are allowed when purchasing a domain name and the limit is 63 characters.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

This paper may become a domainers best friend in helping to sell domains to end users.

The authors call this as Domain Bias according to the author is defined as “a user’s propensity to believe that a page is more relevant just because it comes from a particular domain.””We provide evidence of the existence of domain bias in click activity as well as in human judgments via a comprehensive collection of experiments. ”

“We begin by studying the difference between domains that a search engine surfaces and that users click. Surprisingly, we find that despite changes in the overall distribution of surfaced domains, there has not been a comparable shift in the distribution of clicked domains.”

“”Users seem to have learned the landscape of the internet and their click behavior has thus become more predictable over time.””

“We find that domains can actually flip a user’s preference about 25% of the time.””

“The existence of domain bias has numerous consequences including, for example, the importance of discounting click activity from reputable domains.”

“”Our goal is to provide incontrovertible proof of the existence of domain bias.”

“We do so via a series of carefully designed experiments.”

“We ask if a search engine drastically changes the surfaced domains, do domain clicks also change accordingly? Amazingly, the answer turns out to be no.”

“Instead, we find that users click on the same domains despite changes in surfaced content. In a similar vein, if we take two search engines of wildly different relevance, we ask if domain clicks also swing wildly. Again, to our surprise, the answer is no.”

“We observe that the top domains garner a larger and larger fraction of the clicks and it is not because search engines are surfacing a smaller number of domains. On the contrary, search engines are changing the domains they show. It is users who have decided to visit a smaller number of domains.”

“It should not be surprising that users have learned to trust some domains over others. ”

“”What is surprising is that users click on results from rep-utable domains even when more relevant search results are available.”

“Our experiments are geared towards proving that domains can so drastically influence perceived relevance that users will favor some domains, regardless of content. Viewing content on the Internet as products, domains have emerged as brands. And users have developed such fierce brand loyalty that their clicks are tainted by domains.”

“Our experiments also reveal that search results concentrate over time on fewer domains with increasingly larger share of results pointing to the top domains.”

“This trend is accompanied by an increase in click-through rates (even after factoring out query distribution changes) and is in contrast to the growing size of the web content and the number of registered domains.”

2011 December 13
by Michael H. Berkens

Original Document

Acquiring a Premium Domain Name is an important first step in building a successful online business.

Below are some of the most important reasons why individuals and businesses own Premium Domain Names.

• Improve Your Marketing and Visibility
  The right domain name allows customers an easy way to remember and find you. It’s your location on the web. It’s also your email address.
• Build Credibility
  Using your domain for your website and to personalize your email helps establish credibility and professionalism. For instance, an email address
  such as sales@Domain.com is more professional than sales123@freemail.com
• Protect Your Brand
  Purchase the domain name that best represents your business name. Domains are valuable online real estate.
  Secure the right domain name such as Domain.com and keep it out of the hands of your competitors.
  You may also find many attractive domains for your business. Securing more than one helps protect your brand and increase your reach.
  You can easily direct as many domains as you want to a single website.
• Acquire More Traffic
  Generic Domains already receive traffic. This traffic principally comes from direct type-in or referral traffic.
  Direct type-in is when an internet user types the domain directly into her browser, such as typing Domain.com.
  Referral traffic typically comes from links on other websites.

• As an Investment
  Similar to real estate, domain names are investments. Domain values increase daily. You yourself can make your Domain even more valuable by building and
  marketing your website.

A few years ago, a good domain name was not worth much. A few hundred dollars ot thousnds would have found you a short, brandable, memorable, gem of a Domain Name with quite a bit of development potential.
But not any more, and with good reasons.

• Online Real Estate is being snapped up at an incredible rate, and the most marketable domain names and premier extensions like .com .net and .org are all but taken.
  The demand is high and supply low, so the rest is just plain economics.
• In this scenario, if you need a particular domain name for your business you might have to pay out a big sum to get it.
• A great domain name goes a long way towards establishing a sizeable web presence.
• The topmost domain name on your Most Wanted Domain list possibly epitomizes all that your brand stands for, can be easily designed or fit into a logo, and possibly already gets a lot of traffic.
  All this translates into a high price, and it is a price astute corporations are willing to pay.
• Some of the better known examples of domain names that sold at exorbitantly high prices are Diamonds.com(US$ 7.5 million), Business.com(US$7.5 million), Beer.com(US$ 7 million) and Men.com (US$ 1.3 million) .
• These names fetched a lot of value because the buyers were willing to shell out some serious cash to be able to control the kind of brandability
  and extremely high traffic potential these sites can fetch them. Stable and legitimate search rankings inflate the price of a good domain name.
• The potential loyalty of user base and the their lifetime value is another important factor, because if a domain name already attracts loyal
  visitors on a regular basis it will never want for traffic or ad revenue.
  A good domain name that attracts traffic is also easier to develop into a flourishing website, and the asking price would naturally rise proportionally.
• The corporate world has begun to see the value of internet advertising which is prospering due to an explosion in the number of internet users and
  the burgeoning popularity of online shopping.
  A potentially huge targeted audience can be reached, especially through avenues like Google Ads.
  This awakening towards the potential of internet advertising has further pushed up the value of domain names.
• With the internet increasingly taking a larger part in urban life, good domain names will continue to be snapped up at high prices.
  Just as a good location is great for the sales at a shop, a good domain name is practically indispensable if you want a fabulous website.
  It is this that sums up the high demand and the resultantly high price of a good domain name.

The difference between a domain name and other marketing expenses however is you are acquiring a presence which help future customers define you, not leasing one.

Owning a premium domain has become expensive with the average price of a domain name hovering around anywhere between $5,000 and $20,000 however how expensive is this?

If one were to compare the price of almost anything compared to its original cost could we not classify everything as expensive. A $3 bottled water costs how much to produce? Or a $300 pair of designer sunglasses which probably cost less than a mocha to manufacture?

The argument about why domains command so much value simply breeds from a lack of understanding about the value of the underlying asset, and possibly some jealousy. If your grandmother purchased a piece of oceanfront property 10 years ago for $100,000 and today it’s worth $500,000 would you question the value of the property? No, because real estate has a tangible, acceptable value in our heads. Domain names are property and although many of them are owned by astute investors who saw the future value of these assets and simply monetize them by serving ads (instead of adding value) the majority of these investors should never be criticized or defined as squatters but smart people who were in the right place at the right time.

Somebody has your name and they are squatting on it?

Unless you have a trademark on the domain or someone is intentionally capitalizing on monetizing a typo of your trademark no one really is a squatter in the domain name industry. What’s even more interesting is for those people who complain that “somebody has their name,” but lack a trademark or other legal form of similar use, is almost the equivalent to saying that your grandmother owns my dream home except now they are inferring that your grandmother is this evil natured women and not a smart investor. Real estate ownership is acceptable by public opinion and so should be domain name investing.

Of course, ask anyone around the domain name industry and no one will deny there is a certain segment who does traffic in trademark names or try to sell domains far above what any reasonable value the domain has but isn’t every legitimate industry also home to some people who practice the shady areas of business. The used car market, jewelry business, financial trading and pretty much every industry I can think of has their share of reputable dealers and non-reputable ones. The trick is to find trustworthy people to deal with and assets at a fair value to you and your business plan.
Ads by Google

How much is a domain name worth?

Realistically a domain name can be worth any amount but most domain names sell for around $5,000 to $20,000 – premium domains, category killers and short domains however can easily command $100,000 or millions depending on a wide number of reasons. But let’s not talk about the value of individual domains per se but how a domain name compares to the cost and value of traditional media. Let’s put a $10,000 domain in perspective to traditional media.

Billboard Advertising

Billboard Advertising is some of the most expensive advertising around. In New York City, for example, a rotary bulletin can cost you anywhere from $35,000 to over $600,000 a WEEK according to Clear Channel’s online rate card.

Mobile Advertising

You know that advertising billboard which is essentially carried around on the back of a truck and drives around all day? $20,000 a month if you want to advertise in the Atlanta Market (although fuel cost is included)

Radio Advertising

Even radio ads can cost around $200 average per spot and you need at least a handful a day to make any dent in attracting business… total monthly estimated cost $30,000 or more.

Now the question is what do you own after the 30 day period for the traditional media sources above?

Nothing.

If you spend $10,000 on a domain name your only future expenses are the $8 a year in registration fees – not even $8 a month … actually less than $1 a month.

Of course there are other expenses such as building a website and SEO but all of these expenses are costs which go directly to building value to something you own – not airtime or billboard space you are leasing!

There are also intangible factors like authority which domain names have that traditional media can never compare to. Imagine owning a domain like govote.com or compareautoinsurance.com – Domains like these are intuitive by description and define your role as an authority on the subject and domains like this are commonly available instead of spending millions of dollars on the super premiums like vote.com or autoinsurance.com

Many domains can command $1,000,000 or more even in a fire sale however the amount of great domains still available at cost well below annual traditional media cost for only a SINGLE portion of your overall marketing plan is practically unlimited.

The real question is not how much a domain name costs but how much value the right domain name can bring to your business.

Take a look at your marketing budget and see what $10,000 buys you. Not a whole lot after all – well, at least anything you can own for eternity at a one-time cost.

Those interested in learning about domain names should start by visiting places like Domaining.com, DNJournal.com, DomainNameWire, theDomains.com or ElliotsBlog.com to understand the very active domain name marketplace that exists and why every day your dream domain is getting closer to being gone for good.

Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-04-10/tech/30089979_1_domain-names-trademark-fair-value

You’re likely visiting PrivyDomains because you’re interested in buying a specific domain name. The domain of interest is either your first choice (a perfect match to the name you want), and may even be your second or third choice. If the domain is your first choice, you’re extremely lucky to have found the right name and know what you want!

If the domain on PrivyDomains is your second or even third choice, you may have discovered that the domain you initially wanted is owned, unavailable, and there’s no chance the owner will ever sell the domain for less than six, perhaps seven, figures.

Although you likely won’t be making that kind of investment today, you’re contemplating whether or not you want to spend the asking price for this specific domain.

Consider this: it’s probable you’re not the only person who has contemplated buying the exact domain you’re interested in, which means at some point someone else may attempt to purchase the same domain name from you in the future.

The bottom line is that if you think it’s a good name, then someone else probably does, too. People are willing to pay substantial sums to secure the ideal name.

What does all of this mean? An investment in a domain name today will likely be worth more tomorrow.

Candy.com and Cars.com are good examples of generic, yet descriptive domains.
Consumers interested in buying candy or looking for cars may intuitively type these names in to their web browser. On top of that, it is extremely easy to remember Candy.com in the future as well.

Unusual names, or word combinations, that are easy to remember and easy to type are also valuable.
These may not describe a product, but they are memorable and can be molded into lasting brands.

Roku.com, for example, was an excellent domain acquisition. In a vacuum, Roku doesn’t mean anything.
The domain name, however, is short and easy to remember. Through branding, Roku has established
itself as the household name for delivering streaming movie and television programs over the Internet.

When you think about it, most major brands did not have much of a meaning before they were created such as Twitter, NetFlix, Roomba, or the NFL. Yet these companies have made their way into most people’s lives.

Domain names are fundamental building blocks and components of the Internet, and as such, serve as the electronic equivalent of your company’s storefront and location.

The better the location (i.e. the easier it is to remember the domain; the easier it is to type it in; the better the domain fits your product, company, or service), the easier it will be for your customers to find you online.

Without a great domain, your customers and prospects might not be able to find you on the Internet. With a poorly selected domain, it may be challenging for potential customers to find you at all. With the right domain, it will be much easier for customers and prospects alike to locate your business.

Choose your domain first!

When launching a start-up, new product, service, or company, the most important step in the process is finding the right domain name. While this may sound counter intuitive, companies sometimes make the costly mistake of investing in an identity only to discover that the name they want to use is unavailable.

The old adage “you get what you pay for” applies when considering your domain name. There is a reason why some domain names are cheaper than others. Domains with dashes, longer domains, and domains that don’t succinctly describe your company, product or service are likely to be less expensive because they are less valuable.

Think “location… location… location”

Because your domain is much like real estate, the same basic rules apply to the value of a domain. In the same way that premium location influences the price-per-square-foot (the relative value of physical real estate), there are several “location” factors which drive the relative value of your domain.

There are hundreds of thousands of domains to choose from. Below are the most important things to keep in mind when searching for the right domain.

• Relevance
  Make sure there is a clear connection between your domain name and your website for business.
• Easy to Remember
  Find domain names that are catchy, short, and easy to spell and speak. Pronounce the domain three times aloud. Does it sound natural? Imagine
  yourself telling a potential customer about your website. Is it easy to convey and remember? Think yourself which one is better www.Shopping1762.com or www.Shopping.com
• Evaluate Keyword Searches
  If your domain name is an exact match of a search keyword, your website will likely appear near the top of those results. This can help your site get valuable traffic.
  Consider the most popular and relevant keyword searches for your business and see if they are available as domain names.
  You can try this by going to any search engine such as Google.com, Yahoo.com or Live.com.
• Pay Attention to the Extension
  .com .net .org are the most popular extentions. Others that are well-known and can deliver value are .biz, .info. and .us
  You must consider your competition and whether you want to buy all the extensions for your domain name.
  If you sell products to an country specific market, consider country-code domains. In this case, you might secure .com .net .org
  and the country-code, as appropriate (e.g., .co.uk, or .in etc).
• Find Similar Domains
  You may find a number of attractive domains for your business. You should consider protecting your brand and increasing your reach by securing multiple names.
  There could be multiple opportunities to get search engine traffic.
  You can easily forward one URL to another domain, which means that you can create one website that many domains point to.