Question Everything

I was pretty excited when I started acquiring domain names. I was focused on finding and registering keyword or geo names that others may have missed. I actually found a couple of decent keyword names, but I also learned some lessons. One lesson is to question everything.

I was reading one of the domain forums and saw someone selling some StateCity (not CityState) geo names and asking a pretty penny. So I thought I’d see what was still available to be hand registered. I found a handful of such names and when I checked them out on Estibot, I thought I hit gold. The names were each showing at a value of at least a couple thousand dollars a piece. However, when I took them to the market, there was little to no interest in the names.

Take FloridaTampa.net for example. Estibot shows this domain valued at $3,000. While there may be some SEO value around this name, it’s probably not going to generate any type in traffic. Additionally, it’s probably not a name that you want to build a brand around. In fact, one of the more experienced domainers that commented on this stated “Say the name out loud and then decide if you think it’s a good name,” which I think is an excellent piece of advice. This also works in reverse.  There maybe names that automated appraisal tools value low, but when you say the name out loud, you know if your gut it has high value.

Lucky for me, hand regs are cheap thus, this was an inexpensive lesson. But it could have been a more expensive lesson had I bought a similar name on the secondary market. It has also taught me to question other decisions and avoid some larger mistakes.