Domaining

Domaining refers to the business of buying, selling, developing, and monetizing domain names.

Overview

Domaining, also called "domain name speculation," describes the purchasing and selling of domain names with the goal of earning a profit; the domainer is the involved entrepreneur. It is important to be able to identify a name that can be registered in the primary market or purchased in the secondary market and which can later be sold for a profit.

Domainers also earn income by developing domain names into either parked pages or more complete websites in order to attract traffic for advertisements.

How it Works

Picking a good domain name requires skill, instinct, and some luck. Like real estate it's critical to understand the trends and be able to do the research necessary to determine why one name is more valuable than another. This includes analysis of keywords, traffic patterns, and new trends. There have been many attempts at automated domain name valuation, but all seem to fall short of human judgment.

The price of some domains increase dramatically while other increase more moderately; and there is always some risk involved. It is also possible to buy a domainer's entire portfolio in a "bulk sale".

CyberSquatting

Some people purchase domain names that are exact matches to, or similar to, names of existing companies, famous people, or organizations with the goal of selling the name to them at a later point in time. This practice, known as cybersquatting, and is an abuse of the intellectual property of others and avoided by most professional domainers.