原文：https://blog.webnames.ca/the-fundamentals-of-domain-investing/

在1月下旬，投资成为一个比平时更热门的话题。当然，我指的是Gamestop（$GME）的崛起（和衰落）。尽管登上Gamestop炒作列车的人数空前，而且我害怕错过 – 我对赔钱的恐惧阻止了我跳上车。相反，我像许多其他人一样在场边看着整个疯狂的事情上演。

因此，本着学习投资时尚的精神，我们将介绍一个鲜为人知的投资机会——域名翻转。域名投资世界是一个紧密联系的社区，你们中的一些人可能已经是专业人士，本文是向更广泛的受众介绍该概念的入门书。

什么是域名投资？

用最基本的术语来说，域名投资（或域名翻转甚至域名）是指一个人注册或购买一个域名，目的是通过在未来某个日期出售另一个人或公司来通过该域名获利。即使您不熟悉域名投资，您也可能已经看到了投资的域名。当您进行域名搜索时，您得到的售后市场域名结果价格更高或标记为“高级”，则该域名目前由投资者持有。

域名货币化可以以几种不同的形式发生（停车和广告，建立真正的品牌和网站或只是以名称销售），但我们将专注于域名翻转。域名翻转是购买域名并持有一段时间的策略，目的是出售它以获取利润。

与许多其他投资工具不同，仅仅等待域名的价值随着时间的推移而增加并不总是足够的，在许多情况下甚至不太可能奏效。域名投资可能是一个耗时的过程。您需要积极主动地寻找可能具有价值或被低估的域名，识别将导致您持有的域名价值增加的趋势，并利用这些窗口来最大化利润。

这种模式的一个通用示例可能是域名，其中包含有关新兴技术（例如，量子霸权）或当地新机构（新成立城市的企业或服务）的单词。正如这表明的那样，域名投资在很大程度上是投机性的，成功的域名商的投资决策背后有一个预期的投资理论和理由——就像其他形式的投资一样。域名投资所涉及的风险同样高，如果不是超过流行的投资选择，因为监管几乎不存在。

虽然域名投资的目标很容易理解（低买高卖），但策略的执行和实现盈利需要大量的思考和耐心。那么，在一个人决定投资一个域名之前，他们如何确定哪些域名值得投资？

如何确定哪些域名有价值？

评估领域是识别有利可图的投资机会的关键技能。可以说，关键技能。为什么有些域名的价格和一件T恤一样高，而另一些域名的价格却高达数百万美元？

不幸的是，没有秘密公式来确定域名的货币价值。域名的价格将根据买家的具体标准而有所不同。对某些人来说可能价值数百万的东西，对其他人来说可能几乎一文不值。

虽然域的货币价值不明确，但您可以识别一些共同的属性，以识别哪些域具有价值，哪些域没有价值。以下是有价值的域名的一些关键特征，可用于确定哪些域名值得追求：

品牌化

尝试获取独特且可识别的域名，最好是 3 个或更少的音节。更容易记住的域名更有可能成为投资目标，因为它们可以用于商业/营销目的。

字符长度

包含 5 个或更少字符的域通常始终很有价值。短域名很容易品牌化，这使得营销变得更加容易。当然，由于可以用 4 个或更少的字符创建的单词数量有限，因此可用的较短域要少得多。

这并不意味着较长的名称没有价值，但如果您正在考虑购买，它们应该满足其他一些标准。无论您是否定位到一个单词的域，请避免使用冗长而复杂的域。由于用户更有可能错误键入或拼写错误的域，因此较长的域通常具有较少的价值，并且更容易创建替代项。

关联

考虑可能是常见搜索词的关键字。寻找在相当长的一段时间内仍然相关的流行文化趋势。此外，请考虑描述通常寻找的业务或服务的域。在许多情况下，如果企业无法获得包含其品牌名称的域名，他们可能会在解释其业务的描述性替代方案中找到价值。

流量历史记录

如果您正在挖掘即将到期的域名，像 SEMRush 这样的工具对于查看域名的搜索流量历史或域名权限非常有价值。即使一个域名很长且难以记住，如果它产生大量的自然搜索流量，该域名仍然可能非常有价值。

拼写、字符和措辞

许多单词有多个拼写。在域名上下文中使用时，这可能会导致混淆。出售包含替代拼写或特殊字符的单词的域名将更具挑战性。

域名后缀

在过去十年中，数百个新 gTLD 的推出推动了域名投资的复苏，但经验丰富的域名投资者会告诉你。COM 和 ccTLD，如 .ca、.us 等。占其域名组合的最大份额。有时，可能有机会利用涉及特定域名后缀的新兴趋势。例如，Clubhouse的受欢迎程度上升导致“.club”域名注册激增。

如何购买域名？

一旦你找到了你要找的域名，就该开始购买它们了。您可以通过 3 种主要方法充实您的域名组合。

手动注册

注册域名的最简单和最常见的方法。访问您选择的注册商并购买域名。这是获取域名的最便宜的方法，但就寻找尚未注册的有价值的域名而言，也是最具挑战性的。

延期交货

下抢注是等待域名到期并在到期时注册它们。获取有价值域名的最有效方法之一，也是最具竞争力的方法之一。

在网站名称中探索和预订即将到期的 .CA 域名

售后市场域名（市场）

通过Webnames，Sedo等网站，您可以找到用户出售或拍卖的各种域名。每个市场都有自己独特的列表，因此请务必广撒网，以确保您不会错过任何原石中的钻石。

直接购买

通过谈判或通过域名经纪人直接购买。这是迄今为止最昂贵和最耗时的过程，但如果您正在购买非常有价值的域名，这可能是值得的。如果您想了解有关域名代理的更多信息，请查看此博客，我们将在其中介绍基础知识。

如何出售域名？

首先，请务必停放您的域名并将其挂牌出售。这样，当人们访问您的网址时，他们会收到一条消息，让他们知道该域名正在出售，以及如何找到您。虽然这一步当然是值得的，但如果您希望尽可能多地提高知名度，这并不是最快捷的。

为此，请在Sedo或Afternic等市场上列出您的域名。在市场上，您可以设置固定价格，提供潜在买家的报价，或为您要出售的各种域名举行拍卖。通过这样做，您还可以使您的域名列表在注册商搜索引擎上可见。使用尽可能多的市场，因为它们将提高您的列表的可见性。

结论

域名投资确实有一个独特的学习曲线，但这应该涵盖基本面。购买、出售以及介于两者之间的一切。像任何其他投资机会一样，没有通往成功的快车道。因此，当您投资域名时，请务必投资自己。无论您是购买还是出售，都要尽可能多地寻找资源，以便做出明智的决策并从投资中获得最大收益。

In late January, investing became an even more hot button topic than it usually is. Of course, I’m referring to the rise (and fall) of Gamestop ($GME). Despite an unprecedented number of people getting aboard the Gamestop hype-train, and my fear of missing out — my fear of losing money prevented me from hopping aboard. Instead, I watched the whole crazy thing play out from the sidelines like so many others.

So, in the spirit of learning about investment fads, we’re going to cover one of the lesser-known investment opportunities that exist—Domain flipping. The Domain Investing world is a tight-knit community, and some of you may already be pros, this article is a primer to introduce the concept to a wider audience.

What is Domain Investing?

In the most basic terms, domain investing (or domain flipping or even domaining) is when a person registers or purchases a domain with the intention of monetizing that domain by selling it another person or company at a future date. Even if you are not familiar with Domain Investing, you may have seen a domain that was invested in. When you do a domain search, and you get an Aftermarket domain result which is priced higher or labeled ‘Premium’, that domain is currently being held by an investor.

Monetizing a domain can happen in a few different forms (parking and advertising, building a real brand and website or just selling on the name), but we’re going to focus on domain flipping. Domain Flipping is the strategy of purchasing domains and holding it for a period of time, with the intent of selling it on for a profit.

Unlike many other investment vehicles, simply waiting for the value of a domain to increase over time isn’t always enough, and isn’t even likely to work in many cases. Domain investing can be a time-consuming process. You’ll need to be proactive in finding domains that could hold value or are undervalued, identify trends that will lead to an increase in value for the domains you hold, and capitalize on those windows to maximize profit.

A generic example of such patterns could be domain names that include words about an emerging technology (for example, quantum supremacy) or a new institution in a locality (businesses or services in a newly incorporated city). As this indicates, domain investing is largely speculative, with an expected investment thesis and rationale behind a successful domainer’s investing decisions – much like other forms of investment. The risks involved in domain investing are equally high, if not more than popular investment options, since regulation is practically non-existent.

While the goal of domain investment is simple to understand (buy low and sell high), the execution of a strategy and achieving profitability requires a great deal of thought and patience. So, before a person decides to invest in a domain, how do they determine which ones are worth investing in?

How do I determine which domains are valuable?

Evaluating domains is a key skill in recognizing profitable investment opportunities. Arguably, the key skill. Why do some domains cost as much as a t-shirt, while others can cost millions of dollars?

Unfortunately, there’s no secret formula to determine the monetary value of a domain. The price of a domain will vary based on a buyer’s specific criteria. What may be worth millions to some, may be virtually worthless to others.

While the monetary value of a domain is ambiguous, there are common attributes that you can identify to recognize which domains have value, and which ones don’t. Here are some key characteristics of valuable domain names that can be used to identify which domains worth pursuing:

Brandability

Try to acquire distinctive, and identifiable domain names, preferably with 3 or fewer syllables. Domains that are easier to remember are more likely to be investment targets because they can be leveraged for business/marketing purposes.

Character Length

Domains with 5 or fewer characters will typically always be valuable. Short domains are easily brandable, which makes marketing significantly easier. Naturally, there are far fewer shorter domains available because of the limited number of words that can be created with 4 or fewer characters.

This doesn’t mean longer names don’t carry value, but they should meet some of the other criteria if you’re considering making a purchase. Whether you’re targeting a one-word domain or not, avoid domains that are long and complex. Since users are more likely to mistype or misspell the domain, longer domains typically carry less value, and are easier to create alternatives for.

Relevancy

Consider keywords that could be common search terms. Look for popular cultural trends that will remain relevant over a significant period. In addition, consider domains that describe a business or service that is commonly sought out. In many cases if a business is unable to acquire a domain containing their brand name, they may find value in a descriptive alternative that explains what their business does.

Traffic History

If you’re digging through expiring domains, tools like SEMRush are incredibly valuable for looking through a domain’s search traffic history or domain authority. Even if a domain is lengthy and difficult to remember, the domain could still be incredibly valuable if it generates significant amount of organic search traffic.

Spelling, Characters and Wording

Many words have multiple spellings. This can cause confusion when used in the context of a domain name. Selling a domain name that contains words with alternative spellings or special characters, will be significantly more challenging.

Domain Extensions

The launch of hundreds of new gTLDs in the past decade fueled a resurgence in domain investing, but the experienced domain investors will tell you that .COMs and ccTLDs such .ca, .us etc. make up the lion’s share of their domain portfolios. On occasion, there may be an opportunity to capitalize on emerging trends that involve specific domain extensions. For example, the rise in popularity of Clubhouse has led to a surge in “.club” domain registrations.

How do I purchase domains?

Once you’ve found the domains you’re looking for it’s time to start buying them up. There are 3 primary methods through which you can go about fleshing out your domain portfolio.

Manual Registration

The simplest and most common method of registering a domain name. Visit the registrar of your choice and purchase a domain. This is the most inexpensive method of acquiring domains but is also the most challenging, in terms of finding valuable domain names that have not already been registered.

Backorders

Placing a Backorder is to wait for domains to expire and registering them upon expiry. One of the most effective methods of acquiring valuable domains, but also one of the most competitive.

Aftermarket Domains (Marketplaces)

Through websites like Webnames, Sedo, and others, you can find domains of all kinds put up for sale or auction by users. Every marketplace has its own unique listings so be sure to cast a wide net to ensure you don’t miss any diamonds in the rough.

Direct Purchases

Direct Purchases via negotiation or through a domain broker. This is by far the most expensive and time-consuming process but may be worthwhile if you’re shopping for a highly valuable domain. If you want to learn more about domain brokering, check out this blog where we go over the basics.

How do I sell domains?

First and foremost, be sure to park your domain and list it for sale. That way when people visit your URL, they’ll be greeted with a message letting them know that the domain is for sale, and how to get a hold of you. While this step is certainly worthwhile, it’s not the most expeditious if you’re looking to generate as much visibility as you can.

To do that, list your domain on marketplaces like Sedo or Afternic. On marketplaces you can set a fixed price, field offers from potential buyers, or hold auctions for the various domains you’re looking to sell. By doing so, you can also make your domain listing visible on registrar search engines as well. Use as many marketplaces as possible, as they will increase the visibility of your listing.

Conclusion

Domain investing does have a unique learning curve, but that should cover the fundamentals. Buying, selling, and everything in between. Like any other investment opportunity, there is no fast track to success. So, while you’re investing in domains, be sure to invest in yourself. Whether you’re buying or selling, seek out as many resources as possible so that you can make well-informed decisions and get the most out of your investments.