As the number of available .com domain names shrinks, they are becoming a valuable investment for domain speculators. The .com top-level domain is undoubtedly the most memorable for customers and has become the ultimate generic TLD. This is what makes .com domains so desirable for businesses.

Not having a website is no longer an option, even for small businesses; customers expect it and will often look up a business’s website for contact details and information about their products and services. Finding that a business does not have a website is a blow to that business’s credibility, as far as the customer is concerned.

Having a good website with a strong domain name is a real asset for any business. Customers can view and even order products and services at any time of the day or night. A website can be up and running for a tiny fraction of the cost of a television advertisement, and for about the same price as a single printed ad – and it lasts forever, running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

However, many businesses already online are looking to change their domain names to something more memorable for their customers. Long, confusing or ugly names don’t attract traffic like snappy, short domain names do, and many companies will pay large sums of money for the type-in traffic afforded by a good domain name. Anysoft, for example, a software company based in Massachusetts, paid $30,000 for any.com, which has since proved invaluable; according to Emily Shains, it has been a vital marketing tool which is really easy for their customers to remember.

Even governments are willing to shell out huge sums of cash for the best domain names. The New Zealand government spent NZ$1million of taxpayers’ money on newzealand.com; when questioned about the purpose of this, Mark Burton, New Zealand Tourism Minister, assured critics that "There is no question that this domain will provide an invaluable portal for... commercial entry into New Zealand for those interested in tourism, commerce, and industry. The South African Government offered US$10 million for southafrica.com. It has also been reported that korea.com was sold for US$5 million to True Net, Korea's largest Internet service provider."

Buying and selling Domain Names, clearly, can be extremely lucrative. You just need to be in the right place with the right name at the right time.

Author: Natalie Catchpole