What is the Importance of a Premium Domain Name?

Specifically, Premium domain is an alphanumeric string that uniquely identifies a website. Domains were adopted in the 1980s to make it easier for the user to recall and remember a specific IP of a web server. Therefore, by typing in a specific domain, we reach the related website. At the suggestion of your partner, you have decided to create your company’s website to use as a showcase for your work and attract new customers. At the moment, however, you do not have much time available to devote to the construction of the website and, for this reason, you would just like to check the availability of the domain of your interest and, if necessary, proceed with the purchase to avoid that in the future it is “busy”.

The dynamics of modern public relations require more and more organizations to focus on the Internet as a means of attracting customers, as a field for advertising and promotion of their activities, as well as a means of concluding (and in some cases – and implementing directly in virtual environment) of contracts with clients (so-called distance contracts). Building and maintaining corporate websites and e-shops, web-based applications, social networks and the like are just some of the many examples of this.

Particularly relevant against the background of this trend is the question of the nature of domain names:

• how the law regulates this phenomenon,
• how it can be protected in case of violations and many others.

The answer to the above questions first involves a brief clarification of the functions from a technical point of view that the domain performs.

What technical role does the domain play?

The Internet is a global network in which users can access devices or resources.

In order to distinguish the individual devices and resources from each other, a unique identification number, called an Internet Protocol address ( IP address ) , is technically “attached” to each of them for the time they are connected to the Internet.

Such IP addresses are attached not only to any personal computer that is connected to the Internet, but also to:

• servers that host a website,
• directly to a website or
• to another service that communicates via the Internet .

In this way, individual devices and resources are recognized on the Internet.

However, storing and accurately reproducing any IP address is extremely inconvenient and impractical for people, which is why a special system has been created for convenience – the so-called DNS system (Domain Name System), which technologically connects the IP address with an understandable for people a verbal expression (the so-called “domain”).

For technical reasons, this address must be unique in the world, ie. it is inadmissible for two or more completely identical domains to exist (duplicate) leading to different devices or resources on the Internet.

How to proceed then for an evaluation?

There are many features to consider, here are the main ones:

• be memorable: perhaps the most important feature of a domain. Being easily remembered can lead to huge savings on marketing and advertising costs;
• keyword: the value is obviously linked to the word contained in the domain. A valuable product category or a profitable sector guarantees a high value of the name. The reason is obvious. If the sector is characterized by significant investments, the related premium domains will also have high valuations, thanks to the advantages they bring to the user, compared to competitors;
• brand strength: a domain is considered premium (ie “precious”) when in itself it constitutes a strong and recognizable brand. Concrete examples can be the 99acres.com, makaan.com real estate portals which have successfully focused on super premium domains in the sector;
• historicity: for obvious reasons, an attractive domain has several years of registration behind it, a historicity that brings a slight advantage from the point of view of positioning on the web. Any residual visits from previous web projects should not be overlooked;
• SEO power: in addition to visits, inherited from previous projects, you can also receive citations and links from other sites, important elements in the practice of SEO (ie positioning on search engines);
• direct visits: as we mentioned in the section dedicated to the historicity of a name, premium domain names are likely to receive visits from a previous project that has left traces on third party sites. The source of direct visits, however, is not only this: often there are visits deriving from direct typing (ie users who type the domain with its extension in the address bar exactly). It is evident that it is a phenomenon that only concerns the so-called “exact match”, ie domains composed only of a single word of a commercial good, followed by the extension (mainly .it for the Italian market).

Consider that these are certainly small volumes, but of great value: a user, who voluntarily types the web address of a premium domain, consisting of a commercial word, is certainly a potential customer interested in buying. A few dozen visits already targeted can bring the site owner numerous additional sales at the end of the year; a great advantage for an online business.