The Top-Level Domain (TLD) or domain extension (e.g., .com, .net, .co.uk, etc.) has considerable influence on the value of a domain name. However, not every TLD suits every term, nor does it suit every market or language.
The domain name hazard.* is comprised of an English term and the universal .com top-level domain. This tends to positively influence the fair market value of the domain name. The .com TLD has come to be synonymous with business on the Internet. The .com TLD also carries a higher level of prestige, and reduces the risk of traffic diversion to other extensions. For these reasons, most businesses prefer to use a .com domain name for their online presence. In turn, this results in .com domain names having significantly higher values than domains with other TLDs. The .com domain has the advantage that it may not only be used in the English-speaking world, but in countries worldwide. This is particularly relevant in countries that have strict guidelines for the allocation of country code TLDs like France (.fr) or Norway (.no). The resulting international scarcity of quality .com names leads to fair market prices being considerably higher than domains paired with any of the other TLDs.
An important factor in the sale of any domain name is the status of other domain names that are phonetically related or that have similar spellings, for example a domain "family" consisting of names with related keywords, concepts or brands such as softwaresystems.com, softwaresystem.com, and software-systems.com.
Ideally, all related or comparable domain names should not only be registered but also forwarded to your main website or developed into interconnected mini-sites. Registration of your domain's related family indicates that demand for the keywords in this subject area is high and may mean that a potential buyer will have few suitable alternatives to the domain. The resulting scarcity can lead to higher than market value prices. Paired together for sale, a quality keyword domain and its closest related family of names can significantly increase the fair market value of a group.
A check of registered, comparable domain names reveals that most similar names have been registered and are either developed or forward their traffic to a developed site. This is an excellent indication that the domain's keyword space may have high commercial potential. Combined with the market scarcity created by the registration of related terms, this may have a positive impact on the domain's fair market value, provided that the terms contained in your domain are not confusingly similar to the trademarks and/or copyrights of third parties.
It should also be considered whether the domain is still available in the other important top-level domains (TLDs). The following availability is apparent here for the important TLDs:
The domain name hazard.* is short, being comprised of 6 characters. At 6 characters, this domain is of an ideal length, and has a positive impact on its fair market value due to its length. Research has shown that shorter domain names (from 2-7 letters) tend to demand the highest value, while domain names over 10 letters long are worth slightly less due to the increased chances Internet users will misspell or forget the domain. Long names of more than 20 letters may be even more cumbersome and prone to misspelling, and as such may only be worth a fraction of the value of a shorter domain.
The term comprising this domain are easy to remember, which has a positive impact on the domain's fair market value. The easiest domain names to spell and remember tend to be those that consist of one or two short, common real words, or words and phrases from popular expression. Because "hazard" is a common term, this domain is memorable to the general public and Internet users, resulting in less marketing effort needed to build brand awareness.
From a linguistic perspective, the domain name hazard.* is composed of a single, meaningful word in the English language. Due to the limited number of single, meaningful words in the English language, as well as the relatively advanced state of Internet development in English-speaking parts of the world, domains in this linguistic category have a significantly higher than average fair market value.
Organizations often have a collection of domain names that they use together to establish their online presence. This is commonly referred to as a domain portfolio, and as a result, an organization should try to acquire all possible variations, spellings and combinations of its name and product lines. Not surprisingly, missing these variant domains in your online portfolio can cause a significant loss of traffic for your primary site. In practice, it has been our experience that organizations who only register one variation of a key domain (as opposed to registering as many spelling and TLD variations as possible) suffer a substantial loss of traffic to their site due to visitors failing to spell or remember the exact domain. The two primary reasons for traffic loss are typos and use of uncommon TLDs. To prevent the former, a domain should be easy to spell and be as short as possible. To prevent the latter, a domain should use the appropriate TLD for its target market. For example, a UK-based business should use the .co.uk extension and a German company a .de.
The domain name hazard.* may be considered resistant to natural traffic loss as the term is relatively easy to spell and the TLD matches the language of the keyword. This has a positive impact on the domain's fair market value.
Legal requirements, jurisdiction and third party rights may have a significant influence upon the registration, sale, and fair market value of domain names. Unlike real estate, which is regulated by local and state authorities, domain names are primarily regulated under the rules of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organization. While the current registrant of a domain may not have received any complaints related to their registration and use of the domain, future uses of the domain by current or future owners that impact a third party's rights can result in legal claims or the loss of the domain pursuant to an arbitration hearing under ICANN's Uniform Domain-Name Dispute- Resolution Policy (UDRP).
If the ownership status of a domain name is under dispute or likely to be disputed due to potential trademark conflicts or violations of applicable law, this will have a severe and negative impact upon the scope of potential legitimate uses of the domain, thereby affecting the domain's fair market value. Current and prospective owners of a domain should perform a search of any relevant trademark database before hosting content or making an offer to purchase in order to determine its scope of potential legitimate uses.
The domain name hazard.* can be categorized as containing a generic or descriptive term, which is a positive factor affecting the domain's fair market value due to its potential scope of legitimate uses. Trademarks granted on generic terms are less restrictive than those granted on unique, non-dictionary terms, so depending on its use, generic domain names are generally less susceptible to ownership disputes arising from trademark conflict than domains which are composed of a term with a meaning primarily related to a trademark. Trademark law varies from country to country so current or prospective registrants should consider consulting a qualified trademark attorney to determine the scope of potential legitimate use of the domain to avoid future legal claims or UDRP complaint.
Famous trademarks, for example, including those comprises of dictionary terms, are often granted a wider protection than non-famous trademarks that may significantly impact the domain's scope of potential legitimate uses.
A domain's suitability for international use, as determined by a wide geographic relevance, can be a valuable feature that may lead to a higher than average fair market value compared with domains only suited for one country or region. In this regard, both the language and TLD influence a domain's suitability for international use.
Due to its .com extension, hazard.* is suitable for a wide range of international use. The .com extension is used in many countries around the world, especially where use of the local country TLD is restricted or less common, for example the use of .us in the United States. Use of the .com TLD may have significant effect on the fair market value of a domain name. Overall, domains with high international relevancy, such as .com domains, may have a significantly higher than average fair market value as compared with equivalent domains with limited international relevancy.
The appearance of popular search terms, or "keywords", in domain names allows them to achieve higher positioning in search engine results. Search engine algorithms appear to give higher placement to domain names that contain popularly searched keywords. For example, upon entering the term "bicycle" into a search engine like Google or Yahoo, the results will contain many domains that include the term "bicycle". Some search engines appear to depend more heavily on keywords to determine relevancy, and so domain names may have a significant impact upon positioning within a given set of the results. Keeping with the example above, this would mean in practice that websites like "bicycle.com" and "bicycle.co.uk" will likely be positioned towards the top of results generated for the search query "bicycle".
The domain hazard.* contains a highly popular search term. According to our analysis, a query of multiple search engines returns 100,000 – 1,000,000 results for the term "hazard". This degree of popularity suggests that the domain is search engine relevant, and overall, search engine-relevant domains with significantly popular search terms may have a higher than average fair market value as compared with equivalent domains containing less popular search terms.
It is wise for a web-based organization to utilize at least two types of domains to capture domain traffic for their website: domains matching keywords relevant to their goods or services, and domains matching their brand or trade names. The former helps attract Internet users searching for information on the related keywords, while the latter helps ensure that current customers find your organization's front door. Both types of names can also be used to convert other forms of advertising that can be tracked for effectiveness. Although opinions vary as to what makes a good brand name, many experts suggest considering the memorability of a name, phonological characteristics, and ease of spelling. Different terms also evoke different meanings, and your use of the term would have to be safe from infringing the rights of a third party, so a trademark search is always smart.
Traditionally, significant marketing investment would be necessary to establish a brand around the term contained in a weak domain. Domain names featuring brandable characteristics and benefiting from a wide scope of potential legitimate use may have a higher than average fair market value as compared with domains containing less brandable terms. However, excluding unique buyer motivations or unforeseen circumstances, merely brandable domains will demand a lower than average fair market value when compared with a real-word, search engine-relevant equivalent.
Review of hazard.* for brandable characteristics has determined that the domain appears to have very good advertising and branding potential, especially in relation to phonological features and international usage. Generally, domains with strong brandable characteristics have a higher than average fair market value as compared with equivalent domains containing less brandable features.
The potential benefits a domain name provides for helping promote online commerce in its relevant subject area are important factors in its fair market. This kind of evaluation begins by determining which industries fit the domain best. Next, the relevant industries must be gauged for their size, international reach, growth potential and reliance on the Internet. Finally, the domain should be a close match with keywords that are significant within these related industries. For example, the construction industry is a large, global industry, but very few construction firms have made significant investments in developing a robust Internet presence. Similarly, a domain name geared towards a non-profit or a purely informational site may attract considerable interest, but the potential to convert visitors into revenue limits the fair market value, since a buyer's ability to achieve a positive return on investment may be limited.
The commercial potential for hazard.* is strong. It contains a keyword identifiable and relevant within an industry well-known for online business. This may be an indicator that the domain could significantly help offset keyword marketing expenses or is suitable for traffic monetization.
Generally, domains with high commercial potential may have a higher than average fair market value as compared with equivalent domains with weaker commercial potential.
As mentioned above, a key component in the commercial potential of a domain name is the industry associated with the terms it contains. Some industries lend themselves better to the online world than others, and have a reputation for using the Internet to promote their products and services. As a result, it is our experience that domain names containing keywords popular with these web-savvy industries enjoy a higher than average fair market value as compared with equivalent domains representing industries still experimenting with the web.
The domain name contains the search term hazard, which may be an indicator of moderate commercial potential. With an investment in marketing the domain, the term has potential as a website geared towards the selling of products and services.
Comparable sales are one of the most reliable ways to determine a domain's fair market value on an open, public market. Here are listed a variety of prior domain sales that exhibit similar characteristics to hazard.*. These domain names were chosen because they share one or more of the following: 1) extension; 2) number of words; 3) approximate length of characters; and 4) comparable commercial potential. While strong indicators of fair market value, please remember that prior sales are not necessarily indicative of future sales potential and are for informational purposes only.
voice.com $30 Million June 2019 (purchased by Peter Thiel-backed crypto startup, Block.one)
super.com $1,200,000 2018
great.com $900,000 2018
liquid.com $750,000 2018
tokens.com $500,000 2018
inspection.com $335,000 2018
signet.com $300,000 2018
fly.com $2,890,000 2017
place.com $550,000 2017
asset.com $400,000 2017
The fact that domains similar to hazard have been bought and sold on the open market is a positive indicator of the domain's fair market value and potential sale.
Billboard Advertising is some of the most expensive advertising around. In New York City, for example, a rotary bulletin can cost anywhere from $35,000 to over $600,000 a WEEK according to Clear Channel's online rate card.
Mobile Advertising, a billboard which is essentially carried around on the back of a truck and drives around all day can be $20,000 a month to advertise in the Atlanta Market.
Radio Advertising can cost can cost around $200 average per spot, and would be to airing multiple times a day to make any dent in attracting business with a total monthly estimated cost $30,000 or more.
The domain hazard.* has a lot of potential. It is a top level domain that has been registered and active since 1997 as a free and open source of MSDS information. Most all of the common top level domains for hazard have already been registered. Hazard is short with an ideal length for a term easily remembered. The word hazard is a meaningful word in the English language and because it is easy to spell it is resistant to typing errors. As a generic or descriptive term it has a potential scope of many legitimate uses. The word hazard also is a popular keyword with good advertising and branding potential. The offering for hazard.* compares favorably in price to other premium dot com domain names with terms sold since 2017 like super, great liquid, tokens, fly, place and asset.com. Another consideraton is that the once purchase of a domain that in itself is a keyword advertisement can be a significant savings compared to recurring traditional advertising fees.
