What Is A Premium Domain?

Date First Published: 14th January 2022

Topic: Computer Networking

Topic: Network Identifiers

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty Level: 5/10

CONTENTS

Why Are Premium Domains So Expensive?
What Were Some Of The Most Expensive Premium Domains?

A premium domain refers to a domain name that is already owned by a registrant or an organisation, but is for sale and available for purchase, normally at a very high price, costing hundreds or even thousands of pounds. The price of a premium domain is often determined by the registry, which is based on the value of the domain, or it can be determined by the registrant. An image of what a premium domain looks like can be seen in the above screenshot.

Note:

If a domain name shows no content in a web browser and displays a message that says that it is for sale at a very high price, then it is a premium domain.

Why Are Premium Domains So Expensive?

The main reason why premium domains are very expensive and are the most expensive type of domains are:

The domain is a short and memorable name - Domains that are short and memorable are easier for visitors to remember when typing the web address. It is believed that the more memorable a domain name is, the better it is. Long domain names are often more difficult to remember, and therefore, of less value.
The domain name will easily show up in search engines - Premium domains will give people an advantage in terms of SEO (search engine optimisation). This is because premium domains often contain highly valuable keywords, which are often searched for, and most premium domains are already a few years old, meaning that most search engines have already discovered and crawled the domain name. As a result, the website will receive more traffic and more people will be able to find it in popular search engines, such as Google and Bing.
Brandability - When a domain is suitable for being used as a brand name, this will increase its value as well as its price.
The domain is owned by another registrant - When a domain is owned by someone else and they sell it, they have the ability to sell it for whatever price they want in the hope that they get an offer.