The Value of a Domain Name

[tracourt]

I performed SEO services for almost 4 years for a dealer. I provided him with the domain of www.houston(insert their brand here)dealer. I was very clear with who owned the domain. In fact, every invoice I reminded them that I was the owner of the domain.

Guess what? Yep, got fired,terminated, let go, whatever you call cut backs these days.

I need a bilt of help here with the monthly value of this domain. I do NOT want to sell it, just rent it. It has a first page ranking in many keywords. I just need to start charging them or let someone else pay for it, but honestly I don't know how to figure it's worth.

Somebody give me some insight please.

Jay

 

[Alex Snyder]

What were they paying you before you were fired? That's what I'd charge! .....just kidding

I really have no idea what those domains would be worth. How nasty are their competitors? What would those competitors pay for them? If you're heartless enough, checking with competitors might be the best way to gauge the value.

 

[joe.pistell]

Jay,

Everything revolves around your relationship with your ex. Did you leave on good terms? Do you have your Domain Ownership stated on paper, or, is it verbal?

Taking this from your ex-employer's view, here are some rambling thoughts he'll want to know

• Who has the power or leverage in this negotiation?
• What will it cost me if I DIY
• Who is the host and has the copyrights and possession of the files?
• What will happen to the Domains if I don't buy/rent them.
• Will the domains have any value detached from the content that I own?
• What value are these content-less domains in my competitors hands?
• What real revenue did these produce?
• Can I tie you up in court and freeze your use or sale of the Domains and drain your cash?

Again, From your ex's desk, he should ask his attny, if it is in writing, how obligating is it? If' it's not in writing, what legal grounds does he have to sue you for performing a company task as an employee and you assuming ownership of the Domains, (due to a domain's low cost of ownership), He'll position himself stating that you assumed ownership while preforming an employed task (assuming that you created these domains while under your ex's employment) and made no unique business relationship while employed.

Lastly, your price you ask will amplify or reduce the ex's legal maneuvering. SURELY, this is not new. There must be a boat load of legal precedent on this situation all over google.

 

[ghen]

I believe that no matter what you say if this went to court you would lose the domain. Stop screwing around and give it to them to avoid the bad reputation.


If the domain was Houstoncardealer then sure, you could own it perfectly fine. But if the name is www.houstonporterdealer.com or www.houstoncheckeredflagdealer.com then you're violating their brand and blackmailing them.

This is a very clear cut matter. If you're using their advertised official name they will sue and win.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersquatting

 

[tracourt]

let's restate some facts.
1. I am not an employee, but a vendor.
2. It's not the dealers name, it is the brand (ex:houstonforddealer.com)
3. Every invoice stated "Tracourt retains ownership of the domain name"

 

[NickCybela]

Jay,

GoDaddy.com has a certification process that will give you a value range. I'd recommend going through that.

 

[joe.pistell]

let's restate some facts.
1. I am not an employee, but a vendor.
2. It's not the dealers name, it is the brand (ex:houstonforddealer.com)
3. Every invoice stated "Tracourt retains ownership of the domain name"

Wow Jay,

Now everything is different! Ball's in your court Dude! This is a local business opportunity, I don't believe godaddy can put a real "true market" number on it. You're in a LARGE market too. Nice.

It's as simple as you name the price. I'd get a 2nd party interested asap.

If I were to price it, I'd look at the traffic and leads it generated and compare it to the cost of a google adwords campaign that produced similar results, then, come up with a fair fraction of that amount for the domain(s) use.

You have the domain, the ex-client will have to start all over again, but, they have the content? I guess it all depends on how hard and how long it'll take to do it with out you AND how well your old work was working.

Very interesting indeed.

 

[Jason Walter]

I personally would think the traffic to the site and even some other factors like lead volume, phone call etc might be needed to make the determination. I mean if they are getting thousands of unique visitors, a ton of calls I would say you should get a pretty penny. Especially if it branded well on search... Do you have some of those statistics?

 

[ghen]

let's restate some facts.
1. I am not an employee, but a vendor.
2. It's not the dealers name, it is the brand (ex:houstonforddealer.com)
3. Every invoice stated "Tracourt retains ownership of the domain name"

Thanks for the needed clarification. Joe's right, now the ball is in your court because that's such a generic name.

http://houstonchevydealer.com/ ?

I can't find a houston (blank) dealer dot com that is first in google anymore.

 

[joe.pistell]

Micro sites that I have seen usually have low traffic (long tail) and poor call to action (little lead volume). So little value is here. But, there is more value to micro sites than just leads and traffic. If the site has any "authority" then it's highest value may come from the links back to the main site.

JD Rucker's / TK's brilliant www.__*__inthenews.com network is an example of a theme based of site "assisting" search engines in discovering the content of other sites they are pointing to (aka very very high quality link farm).

IMO, This is another factor in the"value" of a micro-site network.

*Toyota in the News | Toyota Dealer News | New Toyota Vehicles | Toyota Blog
*Ford in the News | Ford Dealer News | New Ford Vehicles
*Honda in the News | Honda Dealer News | Honda New Cars