Two common types of domains investors go for are exact match (those which match a product or service) and brandable (those which can be used for many different types of businesses). Most of the good domains that fit these two categories have long been registered which means investors who want them will need to try and acquire them from someone else. However, each day new terms pop up in this world. Buzzwords, memes, slang terms, news topics, and even new technologies all present opportunities for getting new domains at hand registration costs.
Lots of times these terms will take hold and enter the common vernacular. Sure, there are other times when they fizzle out. But, these “trendy” keywords are ripe for domain investing. Just remember, as an investor you should always be somewhat cautious. When investing money based on something that’s trendy it might sound like a good idea, but always remember that trends come and go. If you purchase trendy domains and wait too long to sell, the trend might become outdated.
One great example would be i-domains. Remember when Apple first released the iPhone? It became extremely popular for people to begin registering all sorts of domains that had the letter “i” in front of them. While “i” prefix domains have been popular for the last decade or so, the early days of internet actually favored “e” as the prefix to domain names. Companies like eBay and eHarmony were both launched in those early days. The “e” prefix was popular because it stood for electronic and then a certain thing called e-mail really got this trend going.
When you see domains that use the “e” prefix these days you might be thinking “old” rather than trendy. In fact, the same goes for “i” domains. Apple finally started dropping the letter from its product names and going with simply Apple instead (Apple Watch, Apple Music..etc.). Because of that, the popularity of i-domains is now declining as well.
Trend and Keyword Opportunities
So, what are some of the hot topics floating around in 2019? Artificial intelligence and self-driving cars quickly come to mind. But like the example above, these might not pan out like people want or expect.
Consider what domains you might register to take advantage of self-driving cars. First, you’d need to figure out what they will ultimately be called. Will they be called self-driving? Or will autonomous cars be the most-used term? If this technology were to actually go mainstream then we will most likely call self-driving cars just “cars” once all of them are self-driving.
For the past few years crypto currency terms were extremely popular. Cryptocurrency.com sold last year for a rumored $12 million. BTC (short for bitcoin) sold for $1 million back in 2014. It’s possible that the value of these domains will increase over time, but domain investors should definitely be forgiven for taking the money they could at the time. Much like the price of bitcoin and other crypto currencies, the value of these domains can spike and then fall rapidly.
Trends Can Pay Off
There are several reasons domain investors will buy domains with new trends. If you spot a trend early enough then you can register valuable domains before other people catch on and possibly flip them for huge returns. Some terms that started as trendy really took off and are still popular today, such as “blog.”
Just remember not to put all of your eggs in one basket or you might be holding on to domains worth absolutely nothing. If you plan to buy domains based on trends, don’t hesitate to sell them for a good profit rather than thinking you’ll hold off and wait for more. That day may never come before the trend is gone forever!
