A domain is like a business card for your brand. Before a visitor reaches the websites, they judge the brand and the business based on the strength of the brands' domain name alone.
A great domain name is a strong indicator of the strength of the brand and the sharpness of the business strategy. A well thought out business strategy takes due consideration of the domain name and uses the domain name to stand out in the ever expanding online space.
Few businesses get the domain name they want and deserve. Others start with what they can get and work their way towards the right domain name in due course of time.
Here are some businesses who started with a domain that was available at a price point they could afford but then acquired the domain name that was right for their brand and that aligned with their business strategy and brand values:
FireFlySpace.com -> FireFly.com(Price not disclosed)
TheICE.com-> Ice.com ($3.5Mn)
HireMya.com -> Mya.com(Price not disclosed)
OnPurple.com -> Purple.com ($900,000)
Zoom.us-> Zoom.com ($2.0M)
When selecting a domain name for the business or brand, take cognizance of following factors:
There are more than 1500 TLDs, and all work in exactly the same manner technically. Though some are better for your business than others.
Just because a domain name is not readily available for sale, it does not mean that it cannot be acquired at a reasonable price.Most domain names are sold for between USD300-USD1500.
It's a popular choice but we don’t recommend it, using pre-fixes and post-fixes to acquire the domain name. For example: “I AM <Brand Name>”, “The <Brand Name>”, “We are <Brand Name>”, <BrandName> In <Country>”, etc.
A relatively new development is the availability of non-latin script to registered names. Especially if the brand/business operation is the region where the local language is the preferred form of communication, e.g. China, Thailand, Mexico etc.