What's one thing about domains you wish someone had told you earlier?

[nicenicnicenic is verified member.]

Looking back, there's always that one thing you only understand after using domains for a while.
What's something you wish you had known earlier before your first few registrations?
Curious to hear lessons from both beginners and long-time users.

 

[Ricado]

Looking back, there's always that one thing you only understand after using domains for a while.
What's something you wish you had known earlier before your first few registrations?
Curious to hear lessons from both beginners and long-time users.

The following reflects my personal experience over more than twenty years in domains, shared for reference only.

The domain market is an investment market, not an art collection.
A domain only has real value when someone is actually willing to use it.

The domain industry itself is not a scam, even though it does attract its share of hype and bad actors.

In the end, domain investing is less about what you choose to buy, and more about knowing when to say no.

 

[leonidleonid is verified member.]

I’ve written this many times already, but I wish someone had told me back in 2009 that it wasn’t too late to start domaining.

I missed that train, even though over 15 years ago I was already collecting domain names.

 

[nicenicnicenic is verified member.]

The following reflects my personal experience over more than twenty years in domains, shared for reference only.

The domain market is an investment market, not an art collection.
A domain only has real value when someone is actually willing to use it.

The domain industry itself is not a scam, even though it does attract its share of hype and bad actors.

In the end, domain investing is less about what you choose to buy, and more about knowing when to say no.

And discipline, more than taste, is what keeps people in the game long enough to win.

I’ve written this many times already, but I wish someone had told me back in 2009 that it wasn’t too late to start domaining.

I missed that train, even though over 15 years ago I was already collecting domain names.

Yeah, but while we were focused on the station we thought mattered at the time, the tracks were already shifting.

 

[Ricado]

And discipline, more than taste, is what keeps people in the game long enough to win.

Yes, discipline is a great word.
Discipline, for me, is mostly about what I choose not to register.

I only register domains I clearly understand and know who they’re for.
I set a maximum cost per domain and walk away once it’s exceeded.
I also limit my registrations to no more than three per day.

 

[nicenicnicenic is verified member.]

Yes, discipline is a great word.
Discipline, for me, is mostly about what I choose not to register.

I only register domains I clearly understand and know who they’re for.
I set a maximum cost per domain and walk away once it’s exceeded.
I also limit my registrations to no more than three per day.

That line hits home. I’ve seen plenty of people with great instincts burn out simply because renewals piled up faster than sales.

 

[accurate]

Buy .com only.

 

[cactusfly]

"You can build on any extension. COM is not #1 priority."

 

[nicenicnicenic is verified member.]

Buy .com only.

"You can build on any extension. COM is not #1 priority."

Guys, this might need a friendly duel to resolve, huh? Someone grab the popcorn!

 

[beatz]

That "brandable" is a reseller self-delusion. If you have to write novel-length rationales why someone should buy your name, you don't have a product. It's a senseless strategy. But i learned that lesson pretty fast

Also, the reality of startups not branding themselves after a domain just because you happen to have it for sale.

The most important thing is something nobody had to tell me as it was obvious: Generic is king.

 

[beatz]

Forgot one thing: That the domain business at its core really is not rocket science. It's much more simple than we cosplay it isn't

 

[nicenicnicenic is verified member.]

That "brandable" is a reseller self-delusion. If you have to write novel-length rationales why someone should buy your name, you don't have a product. It's a senseless strategy. But i learned that lesson pretty fast

Also, the reality of startups not branding themselves after a domain just because you happen to have it for sale.

The most important thing is something nobody had to tell me as it was obvious: Generic is king.

Forgot one thing: That the domain business at its core really is not rocket science. It's much more simple than we cosplay it isn't

I agree with your last point more than most people would admit: at its core, domaining isn’t complicated.

It’s about supply, demand, timing, and discipline. We sometimes over-intellectualize it to make it feel sophisticated.

The fundamentals are simple. Executing them consistently is the hard part.

 

[Ricado]

That "brandable" is a reseller self-delusion. If you have to write novel-length rationales why someone should buy your name, you don't have a product. It's a senseless strategy. But i learned that lesson pretty fast

Also, the reality of startups not branding themselves after a domain just because you happen to have it for sale.

The most important thing is something nobody had to tell me as it was obvious: Generic is king.

If we’re talking about completely invented words with no structure or linguistic logic, I 100% agree.

Pure made-up “brandables” without phonetic balance or semantic anchor rarely hold value.

Generic is king in liquidity.
Brandable is king in identity.

Single-word generics today are scarce and expensive.

In real brand development, the path is usually more practical.

When I work on brand positioning, I typically explore three directions:

1. Two-word combinations.
   Clean, adaptable, cost-efficient.
   Alliteration when possible.
   Example: Pink Pace.
2. Structured variations of existing words.
   Familiar roots, distinct form.
   Example: Accorden.
3. Phonetic positioning.
   Owning the sound without drifting into typo territory.
   Example: Vueer.

I usually prepare several structured options in advance.
Brand strategy starts from direction, not from what happens to be available.

Opening a restaurant isn’t about waiting for guests before buying ingredients.
Preparation shapes the outcome.

So I collect domains that meet defined structural criteria.
Some come with a clear development direction — not long explanations, but positioning clarity.

It’s simply part of the process.

 

[beatz]

Well, that's what i've been doing for my clients the last 15 years - branding

My point is, "brandable" from a domainer's point of view in terms of collecting them for selling them later is not a promising strategy. Because you basically hope for THAT ONE BUYER who desperately needs exactly that name. While availability of domain names is an aspect in deciding on a brand name, in reality the order is first deciding on a brand name based on several aspects, and then checking if the name is available (or indeed, has to be bought off). But especially nowadays, startups have several alternative options to buying your domain: For instance, they can go with a different brand name, add a suffix, or decide on a different tld. Super especially as nowadays much of the marketing relies on social media and AI and less on rankings in Google search, let alone your website.

In my 15 years of branding experience, i don't think i ever had a client who based their decision on a *brand name* on a nice sounding for sale domain name they happened to stumble across. That's not a thing with real world clients - i consider it to at least partially be a wishful thinking pipe dream amongst domainers. Doesn't exclude the occasional real world sale of course, but i think the majority of "brandable" domains get traded amongst domainers themselves.

In a nutshell, branding in the real world generally isn't based on availability of a for sale domain, but other aspects.

 

[Ricado]

Well, that's what i've been doing for my clients the last 15 years - branding

My point is, "brandable" from a domainer's point of view in terms of collecting them for selling them later is not a promising strategy. Because you basically hope for THAT ONE BUYER who desperately needs exactly that name. While availability of domain names is an aspect in deciding on a brand name, in reality the order is first deciding on a brand name based on several aspects, and then checking if the name is available (or indeed, has to be bought off). But especially nowadays, startups have several alternative options to buying your domain: For instance, they can go with a different brand name, add a suffix, or decide on a different tld. Super especially as nowadays much of the marketing relies on social media and AI and less on rankings in Google search, let alone your website.

In my 15 years of branding experience, i don't think i ever had a client who based their decision on a *brand name* on a nice sounding for sale domain name they happened to stumble across. That's not a thing with real world clients - i consider it to at least partially be a wishful thinking pipe dream amongst domainers. Doesn't exclude the occasional real world sale of course, but i think the majority of "brandable" domains get traded amongst domainers themselves.

In a nutshell, branding in the real world generally isn't based on availability of a for sale domain, but other aspects.

So here’s one thing for brand investors:
A brand domain worth long-term investment isn’t valuable because it sounds like a brand — it’s valuable because you know who would need it.

On another note, you mentioned AI and search engines. As AI shifts from keyword matching to semantic interpretation, domains with clear meaning and positioning may age better than those built purely for search algorithms.

As search evolves toward understanding intent and context, clarity, memorability, and market alignment become structural advantages rather than cosmetic ones.