Visages.ca

What is a Premium Domain?

A premium domain name is a domain that has a much higher value than typical domain names due to various factors such as length, keywords, popularity, memorability, market demand, etc... The higher values are a reflection of their potential to attract more visitors, enhance brand visibility, project trust with users, improve search engine rankings, etc...

Categories of Premium Domains

Premium domains are loosely categorized in many different ways for comparison purposes, some may cross over to multiple categories further enhancing their values. While there are many ways you can categorize domain names, here are some of the more obviously valuable examples:

• Acronyms: Typically 2 to 4 letters long. As a rule of thumb, 2 letters are more valuable than 3 letters due to the fact there are 676 possible 2-letter domain names, while there are 17,576 3-letter possibilities, etc... Example: MCI.ca
• Words: Dictionary words - especially valuable for popular or meaningful words that are used as brand names. They can be one or more words, but one-words tend to be the most valuable. Example: Summit.ca
• Keywords: One or more dictionary words, but specific to a product or service. Example: Games.ca
• Pure Geos: exact match names of Geographic places such as towns, cities, provinces, etc... In Canada the .CA domains tend to be reserved for all but the smallest or newest jurisdictions. Example: Toronto.ca
• Geos: names of places combined with a product or service. Example: TorontoPlumbing.ca
• Given Names: Example: Lisa.ca
• Surnames: Example: Davies.ca

Why buy a Premium Domain?

Premium domain names are well known to increase the effectiveness of your marketing budget. While there isn't a universal, precise figure to quantify the exact impact, let’s break down the benefits:

1. Improved Brand Recognition and Trust

   A premium domain is often short, memorable, and relevant to the business. This can:

   • Enhance brand recall: Consumers are more likely to remember a short, catchy, and relevant domain name. This can improve direct traffic, reducing reliance on paid ads over time.
   • Increase credibility: Premium domains often look more professional and trustworthy. Consumers may be more inclined to click on a website with a clean, easy-to-remember domain rather than one with long or obscure URLs.
   • Potential Effect on Marketing: Premium domains can help establish your brand as more reputable and reliable, increasing organic traffic and improving the effectiveness of paid ads and social media campaigns, leading to higher conversion rates.

2. Brand Protection

   • Own & Protect your brand: Popular, memorable and valuable words are often used by many different brands and business names, which can lead to confusion with disastrous consequences. A recent example in the news is where the toy company Mattel accidentally printed the website of a one-word named porn site on boxes of dolls meant for kids. Even without their printing mistake, it would have still been very risky to choose a domain such as WickedMovie.com when another company is already using the more memorable domain name Wicked.com for a porn site. The only way to permanently avoid that situation is to own the best 1-word version of your domain name, if it is available.
   • Future Proofing: If you start with a two word domain that is descriptive, such as SummitPhones.ca, you limit your business to phones. What if you go into other electronics? What if you go into software? If you own Summit.ca, you've not only protected your brand from confusion, you've future proofed your business if you decide to expand into other products and/or services.

3. Better SEO Performance

   Search engine optimization (SEO) is a critical part of most marketing strategies. A premium domain name might provide advantages for SEO:

   • Keywords in the domain: Having a relevant keyword in your domain (e.g., BestLuxuryCars.com) can potentially improve your search rankings for that keyword, which can boost organic search traffic. While Google doesn't give keyword-rich domains the same weight as it once did, a relevant domain can still provide SEO benefits.
   • Shorter URLs: Shorter, more concise domains can be easier for search engines and users to understand, making it easier to index and rank pages.
   • Potential Effect on Marketing: A premium domain can lead to higher organic traffic due to improved SEO performance. This can reduce the need for paid search ads or social media ads, making your marketing budget go further.

4. Increased Click-Through Rate (CTR) on Ads

   A premium domain name is easier to recognize, type, and recall. For paid ads (Google Ads, social media ads, etc.), having a premium domain in your ad copy can:

   • Improve CTR: Users are more likely to click on a link with a professional and memorable domain name.
   • Enhance ad effectiveness: You may get more traffic and engagement from the same budget allocation.
   • Get Free Type-in Traffic: People who saw your ad but did not immediately click it are much more likely to type in your domain later when your domain is short and memorable, leading to what are effectively free clicks from your advertising campaign.
   • Potential Effect on Marketing: Premium domains can lead to higher CTRs, meaning you may pay less for each click (lower cost per acquisition), effectively increasing the ROI of your advertising campaigns.

5. Better Word of Mouth and Referrals

   A memorable domain name makes it easier for users to recommend your business to others, whether through social media, email, or offline word of mouth. This can:

   • Boost referral traffic: When users can easily remember and share your domain, they are more likely to refer friends, family, or colleagues.
   • Increase social sharing: Premium domains are easier to share on social media platforms, increasing the likelihood of viral marketing and organic reach.
   • Potential Effect on Marketing: With an increase in direct and referral traffic, your overall marketing effectiveness improves without additional ad spend.

6. Increased Resale Value

   While not directly impacting marketing ROI in the short term, a premium domain often has a higher resale value. This means that if your business doesn’t succeed or you decide to pivot, you can sell the domain for a profit.

How Much Does It Increase Marketing Effectiveness?

The exact increase in effectiveness of a premium domain name depends on several factors, including:

• Your industry: In highly competitive industries (e.g., tech, finance), having a premium domain name can provide a significant edge. In less competitive industries, the impact may be less pronounced.
• Brand recognition and marketing efforts: If you already have strong branding and marketing efforts, a premium domain will amplify those efforts. For a new or smaller brand, the premium domain may offer more noticeable results.
• Quality of other marketing assets: If your overall marketing strategy is strong (e.g., well-optimized ads, good content, etc.), the premium domain will work better as part of a holistic strategy.

However, based on available research and industry observations, here’s a rough estimate of the impact a premium domain can have on key metrics:

• Increased Click-Through Rate (CTR) on Paid Ads: Studies suggest CTRs can increase by 20% to 30% with a more relevant, memorable, and professional domain name.
• Improved Conversion Rates: Some reports indicate conversion rates can increase by 10% to 20% due to better trust and recognition that a premium domain provides.
• Organic Traffic Boost: For SEO, a premium domain could increase organic traffic by 10% to 40% depending on how well it’s integrated with your SEO strategy (especially if it includes relevant keywords).

Example Scenarios:

Paid Search Advertising:

If your marketing budget for Google Ads is $100,000 annually, and you're currently getting 1,000,000 clicks at a 1% CTR with a regular domain, upgrading to a premium domain might increase your CTR to 1.3% (20% improvement).

This could result in 1,300,000 clicks with the same ad spend, increasing your traffic by 30% without increasing the budget.

SEO and Organic Traffic:

If you’re currently spending $50,000 a year on SEO, a premium domain could increase your organic traffic by 20%. This could reduce your dependency on paid ads, saving money while improving your overall marketing ROI.

Conclusion:

Ultimately, a premium domain serves as a strong foundation for your overall marketing efforts, boosting brand credibility, trust, and awareness, which can significantly amplify the effectiveness of both your organic and paid marketing activities.

Stop and think about it. You have certainly clicked an ad and/or made a purchase because the domain name sounded more credible and trustworthy than the competition. You have certainly remembered a domain name from an ad you saw only to later visit the domain name directly. These effects are very real, it is instinctive human nature. Harness the power of a premium domain name today before it is lost to another business, or worse, a competitor.