Top 7 Reasons Your Domain Name Won't Sell

Many people have tried to make money buying and selling domains names over the past decade. A few have done well, and those who came aboard early definitely had an advantage. Now that most of the good .com domains have been claimed, you might have more of a chance of selling your domain name, but you have to know the rules. Here are my top 7 reasons why your domain name may not be selling.

1. It's overpriced.
   
   Most people believe that their domain name is worth far more than it is. Unless it is a single word domain, and ideally a word that many people would be typing into the search engines, the domain will have little value on it's own. If you want to sell it, price it right, or you will be renewing it for life.
   
   
2. It's not a dot com domain.
   
   Sure there are some decent websites and domains that are not dot com, but for the most part, a non dot com domain provides traffic for the dot com domain. The exceptions are those websites that are build exclusively to generate Internet traffic. I even own a few non dot com domains, but it would be rare that I would pay big money for one.
   
   
3. You have numbers in the domain.
   
   This is just silly to me that people would replace the letter "o" with a zero. I don't get the logic. Please refrain from thinking this is "cute" or somehow considered marketing. You will own this domain forever (or until you let it expire).
   
   
4. Your domain name is too long.
   
   While it can be interesting to have a domain name that is a phrase or a sentence, the general consensus is that shorter is better.
   
   
5. You have a hyphenated domain without having the non hyphenated version.
   
   Funny story here; I actually broke this rule myself, but it was strictly for testing purposes. Hyphenated domains can often generate some search engine value based on the keywords used in the domain. If you don't have the non hyphenated version, it is similar to a non dot com where a percentage of your traffic will do to the non hyphenated domain.
   
   
6. Your domain is not brandable.
   
   Some people make up short words in an effort to own a short domain name. Sometimes these are brandable (like bixxer.com) and other times that just aren't. If you are making up a name, just think of how it would sound as a brand and people saying it all the time. You never know, you may find the next Digg, Plurk, Twitter, or Reddit.
   
   
7. The domain has no revenue.
   
   If you are trying to sell a domain and it is just parked, it would seem to have less value than if you put up a single page website and put some content about the topic related to the domain. At worst you might even make some money by serving contextual ads on the page.

Anthony Kirlew is the founder of a.k.a. Internet Marketing (an online marketing consulting firm) and the author of The Internet Marketing Guide for Small Business. He acquired much of his domain expertise in the school of hard knocks, having owned in excess of 100 domain names. He has a domain resource website where you can purchase or list premium domain names [http://www.domain-names-for-sale.us/].