Website flipping / selling websites: how important are domain names?

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I'm getting into website flipping and I'm also creating a few sites from scratch to grow and sell. It is very hard to find good .com domain these days, so I'm wondering how important is the domain name when posting a site for sale on places like Flippa.

I understand that domain flipping and website flipping are two different things and that the buyer can easily buy a website on Flippa and change the domain to whatever they want.

But I'm not sure how much attention is paid to the domain when possible buyers are considering your site. I want to grow a few websites to sell maybe 1 or 2 years later for a nice profit, but if the domain is important I want to be sure I put an extra effort searching for some good ones.

Thanks guys!
#main internet marketing discussion forum #domain #flipping #important #names #selling #website #websites
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  • The only thing that matters to people who know what they are doing is money. Domain names aren't worth much except to people who don't know any better.

    We've had plenty of successful sites that had domain names that weren't related to what they were selling at all. Conversely, we've had great domain names for sites that ultimately were not very successful.

    Which would you rather buy - the bad domain name, high profit website or the one with the great domain name that is barely breaking even? The answer should be obvious.

    Build a website that makes money and you'll have plenty of buyers, regardless of its domain name.
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  • The website's domain name used by a business is one of the key factors when it comes to the promotion of the brand or services offered. When a domain name relates to the services or products offered by the business then it becomes easy for users or customers to remember its name.
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  • Hi, of course, the profit that a website makes is the most important for a buyer, but a catchy domain can sometimes push a potential website buyer to buy a website easier.

    But the important reason to choose a good domain is not that.

    The important reason to choose a good domain that includes your website topics keywords is that it can help you in SEO, so you can make profit easier and faster.
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    • Yep, that's true, all things being equal, which they seldom are. Sure, if you can get a great domain name and build a great website around it, go for it. My point is, don't let the pursuit of the perfect domain name slow you down. Super successful sites can be built regardless of domain name. (I'm sure NOBODY originally thought Craigslist or eBay were great domain names for the services they provide.)

      Now, if you just want to buy domain names and flip them without building successful websites on them, that's another matter. There will always be those out there who think the domain name really does matter and perhaps it does when you are branding your own products. Otherwise, not so much. You're just site with information someone was seeking and they found your site in a search engine. They couldn't care less what the name of the site is (and probably didn't even look).
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  • Quite a lot doing this selling expired domains but also quite a lot ownself go find expired good domains. Means they will not buy from your service. They know you are flipping the domain to sell. Of course they need some knowledge to find those domains. There are tools to scrap etc.
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    • Totally false. It was that way years ago but not anymore. in 2020, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller revealed that keywords in domain names no longer play a role in determining search engine results rankings - English Google Webmaster Central office-hours from September 11, 2020 - YouTube
      If memorable is what you are going after, keep in mind that your every day "Joe" does not pay attention to TLDs. While that can be a good thing for people buying domain names with obscure TLDs, "Joe" is probably not going to remember that TLD. He is going to remember it as a .com, whether it is or not, meaning people who intended on re-visiting your site may very well end up at the.com site of your competitor.
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  • If it's just a money site, the domain may not be a big deal.

    However, if it will be a long-term business establishing a brand, then a domain name that will align with promotion and marketing will be better.
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  • The domain name itself is not important.

    The only thing that matters, at the end of the day, is how much money they can make from it.
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  • From my experience, the domain can increase the price, but most of the time, everybody is looking at the traffic and money the website generates. My experience are a bit outdated, as I haven't tried to flip websites for nearly 3-4 years, but I don't think that anything have changed.
  • Domain names play a crucial role in website flipping and selling as they can significantly impact a website's perceived value, branding potential, and search engine optimization (SEO) performance.
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    • I can only agree with one of your points - that the domain name can help its branding potential.

      Other than that, it has nothing to do with a website's perceived value. Profit, alone, dictates a website's value. Furthermore, a domain name has ZERO influence on SEO.
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  • I feel a combination of a good website with perfect domain will add $$$.
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    • Well, there are a whole lot of very stupid people in the world who are willing to pay a premium for a domain name that has never made a cent in revenue, only because it is a "great" domain name. Hopefully, the high ticket ones you found have actual websites that are raking in money; otherwise, they are just exploiting the unfortunately large mass of uniformed and naive people.
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  • Domain names play a significant role in the price of a website, but I foresee that going into the future it won't mean much. There used to be only about three or four major extensions .com. net. .edu .org. but today there are many other equally great domain extensions like .io. Meaning if you needed any name you may just as well get it from these new ones.
  • Domain names are a dime a dozen, and thousands drop every day,
    so you can get a dropped domain or make names up all day long.

    You want something that is memorable, not misspelled, makes
    sense, and has valuable keywords. I use GoDaddy valuations to
    check for this.

    Websites will usually be valued based on whether they are
    generating income, but not always. This is an entire separate
    topic and you can find information about that in other threads.

    As to Flippa, I HIGHLY recommend not selling your domains or
    your websites there. Ever.

    I had a nightmare episode recently where the buyer got my domain
    and WordPress contents, then he decided to cancel the transaction.

    Flippa didn't conduct any type of investigation, they just cancelled
    the escrow, no questions asked. I got my domain back, but the
    buyer got to keep a great WordPress, which he could have cloned
    onto another domain, and I got nothing out of the deal because
    Flippa, like most platforms, sides with the buyer, and the seller
    gets no protection at all.

    And BTW, this wasn't some homemade WP, but a site that I paid
    to be professionally designed and developed.

    I have hundreds of domains so it did not faze me, but this could
    be awful for someone when it is all they have, and they put a lot
    of time and effort into their website and the transaction.

    Go with a venue that handles the transfers for you where you do
    not need to interact with the buyer at all. A venue that offers you,
    as a seller, some protection, like Dan. Research before you try
    to sell your website on any of them.

    Anybody but Flippa.

    Trust me on this.
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  • I think site profitablilty is most important. Domain names aren't important - the content and authority of the site is important. The only time domain name would become important would be if you built up a site and had tons of relevant backlinks pointing to it, and it had high domain authority. Then people wouldn't want to change the domain name. Other than that, focus on site profitability and sell for profit.
  • I have heard that website flipping, which means selling domain names, some of these domain names i have came accross when i done some research on can be worth quite a sum of money even thousands of dollars for just one domain name, some of also is luck, they may create a business name and you have that very domain name they are looking for.

    Like anything else before coming into this business model, is doing proper research and perhaps also looking at different sectors, the domain sector where domain prices that i seen were sold by quite a bit was in the weight loss sector its not something i am involved though, i wish u well in this venture
  • I feel is not particular just domain.

    like Apple , they are computer company yet use a fruit name.

    end of the day is backlinks behind the domain. Perhaps this is why some prefer to find those domain which people never use or continue their site yet got lots of quality backlinks and traffic.

    Is like " Instant traffic " after you bid successful for it . Your site within one day already have the traffic there.

    But again beware on old domain, some are blacklisted under google etc or have tons of spam links etc.

    I not expert on domain or flipping website, just share what I read before etc.
  • I am website flipping expert and have top rating on flippa.

    Many times my site sold because of good domain, although I am wesbite flipper but many times I sold naked domain for good $$$$, however I am not a domain flipper.

    I started as a domain flipper but soon, I realise domain flipping is not easy and also require good investment, skill and expertise. So I switched to starter website flipping, where my domain reseach skill helps a lot.
  • When You sell a website on Flippa then the traffic and earning metrics plays an important role in cracking a quick deal. Domain names definitely plays an important role until it is a brand name or something like that.
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    Website flipping / selling websites: how important are domain names?

    I'm getting into website flipping and I'm also creating a few sites from scratch to grow and sell. It is very hard to find good .com domain these days, so I'm wondering how important is the domain name when posting a site for sale on places like Flippa. I understand that domain flipping and website flipping are two different things and that the buyer can easily buy a website on Flippa and change the domain to whatever they want.