What Exactly Is A Premium Domain Name?
CEO, VPN.com: The $1M Domain Name - We help brands, entrepreneurs, politicians and athletes acquire premium domain names for their vision. Getty  When planning a website, people often wonder exactly what a premium domain name is. The answer is yes, all domain names have the same technical function. Nonetheless, some are much more valuable than others. Once you understand what makes premium domains valuable, you'll appreciate your own need for them. A premium domain name is a high-quality domain that investors often buy and sell with the aim of making a profit. These names have a variety of qualities that allow them to outperform others in the key function of a domain, helping users find the website they're looking for. Without domain names, you'd have to remember a long, unique string of numbers to reach a website. Websites use domain names effectively as a shorthand or link to this technical address, making it easy to find them. However, imagine an incoherent or excessively complex domain name that's filled with typos and spelling errors. This domain name wouldn't help users find the website at all. A premium domain name is the exact opposite of this; it is memorable and concise, and it minimizes the risk that potential customers won't be able to find you. It takes a considerable amount of research to consistently assess domain names and their value accurately. However, it's fairly simple to consider some of the core markers that indicate a domain name is or may be premium:   Trustworthy TLD. The top-level domain (TLD) is the string of characters at the end of a domain. To be worth anything at all, a domain name needs to have a good TLD that doesn't compromise your ability to reach potential customers. In general, premium domain names will usually use the .com TLD or a relevant country code that suits the target audience.  Brevity. Overly long domain names can be harder to remember. Likewise, domains with hyphens or other punctuation can be less successful due to this complexity. Any domain name needs to be concise in a practical sense that makes it more memorable. As a result, premium domain names usually consist of one to two words or two to four individual characters.  Generic value. Many of the most valuable domain sales of all time dealt with domain names that had deeply generic names. For instance, consider CarInsurance.com, which sold for nearly $50 million. This sort of generic value dramatically increases demand thanks to industry-wide appeal, and it serves to amplify value in the process.  Contains keywords and high domain authority. SEO is one of the keys to running a successful web presence in the modern day, and domain names can help. While Google has reported it does not weigh keywords in domain names, I've found it's generally true that domain names with keywords make up an outsized share of the first-page results. There are many potential reasons for this, but it is a trend worth keeping in mind. Two elements of a domain name that absolutely do affect SEO are age and domain authority. Domain authority is a value that shows the regard that Google holds a domain in, and purchasing an authoritative domain can save months or years on your SEO efforts. Key Concept: Brandability  For the most part, you can understand premium domain names via the concept of brandable. When a domain name is easier to build a brand around, it's more recognizable and, therefore, more valuable. Premium domain names are expensive for the simple reason that the ease with which customers can remember and access them means that they help websites gain a critical advantage in today's competitive marketplace. How To Find Premium Domain Names For Sale  Premium domain name sales occur on many sites across the internet, and sales sometimes occur in the physical world as well.  Check registrars. The most common way for someone to purchase a domain name is by consulting the registrar of their choice. While these registrars offer leases to unsold domain names, they typically provide marketplaces where investors can buy and sell domain names as well. As such, they can be an excellent starting point in your search for premium domain names.  Look for domain auctions. Domain auctions occur online with registrars, but physical domain auctions aren't uncommon, either. The auction format is familiar for anyone who's attended an auction, and it often provides an opportunity to purchase an excellent domain at a lower price. However, you sometimes have a specific domain name in mind and can't seem to find it via a registrar or domain auctions. In this case, consider reaching out to a domain brokerage to do the searching for you.  Use a domain broker. Domain brokers can often be the most efficient and cost-effective way to find the ideal premium domain. A good domain broker should have excellent knowledge of the domain name aftermarket, a keen sense for valuation and a proven record of successful negotiations. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives.