Web development, design, and site optimization.

Tucows (AMEX:TCX, TSX: TC) has just announced the launch of their YummyNames site, which lists domains from their portfolio of names for sale online. The company has before sold individual and groups of names directly and via various brokers and is now formalizing some of their offering under a new brand.

“YummyNames, the public face of our domain portfolio service group, provides an additional means by which to realize the value of our domain portfolio assets to drive continued growth for the Company,” said Elliot Noss, President and CEO, Tucows.

There are “ten thousands of names” listed on the site; Tucows’ portfolio is estimated to contain more than 70,000 domain names. Sample names listed for sale are countryrock.com, divorced.com, lemons.com, listener.com, mygarden.com, thepub.com, tool.com and veggies.com. While the site stats that “These premium domains are priced starting at $500 USD”, it appears that none of the names has actually listed a fixed price at this point. Names are being offered for purchase or lease. The site lists previous clients such as: Bell Mobility, CanWest Global Communications, EMI Music, General Motors, Grand & Toy, Harlequin Enterprises, Johnson & Johnson,  Microsoft, Nestle and RBC Royal Bank.

The Tucows domain portfolio mostly consists of names that were not renewed by registrants, as well as domain names that were purchased as part of the Netidentity acquisition. S

[via Press Release]

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By Wendy Kennedy

It’s not cliche to say that today every dollar counts. Times are tight — for some, times are very tight — and business owners across the country are looking at every dollar they spend to make sure they are getting the return they need from the money they invest.

So why then, in times such as these, would anyone be willing to pay thousands of dollars for a simple domain name? The answer is easy: because those simple domains (often called premium domains) can make a difference.

THE AGE OF THE PREMIUM DOMAIN

A premium domain is a domain that has been registered previously and is back on the market for resale (it’s like a used car lot for domain names … but these items have not depreciated in value — in fact, it’s quite the opposite situation).

You see, today there are about 76 million dot com names registered worldwide. That means the chances of finding a very intrinsic dot com (shopping.com, flowers.com) are slim. These names were snapped up years ago but now, these early domain registrants are increasingly willing to part with their prized domain names for the right price. Some of these sales live in infamy (consider Pizza.com that sold for $2.6 million in 2008 or Business.com that sold for $7.5 million in 1999) but the average premium domain price tag ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

SO WHAT CAN A PREMIUM DOMAIN NAME DO FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

• The Impact of the Instant Online Brand: First and foremost, a simple domain name gives your online business an instant brand. Premium domain names are generally easy to remember, easy to type and instantly associated with a product or service (Cars.com, Meat.com, Vodka.com). A business owner need not invest much to help potential visitors understand what they might expect to find on sites like these. The domain itself creates an instant online brand that continues to define your online business for as long as you have it.
• More Traffic from Direct Navigation: Your instant brand will generate traffic from direct navigation. As surprising as it may seem to those of us who use Google multiple times per day — some internet users simply type what they are looking for into their internet browser address line (Shoes.com) … if your site resides at a no nonsense domain like this, you will reap the benefits of what’s called “direct navigation” (customers coming directly to your site because they typed you domain directly into their web browser) without spending one dollar on marketing your site.
• Increased SEO ranking: Your domain names do have an impact on your search engine rankings, so the more basic and easily associated your domain name is with the product or service potential customers are searching for … the more likely it is that you’ll rank high in the search results. (Just type hotels into your Google search bar … I’ll bet Hotels.com is one of the first links returned).

About 80% of US adults are online (that’s an audience size that’s hard to reach through traditional offline marketing). What’s more, the brand you build online can keep working for you long after your catalog or most recent flyer has been discarded.

So the bottom line is: what may seem like an extraordinary expense on first glance is actually not so outlandish considering the benefits you could reap from the right domain name.

My advice for small businesses is not to count out your domain name when you’re planning your marketing spend. Compare the return you could receive with your other marketing efforts (online and offline) and do a little research to see if the right domain name is available for your business. (Register.com — and other domain registrars like us — have search tools to help you understand what domains are available to best represent your brand). At a time when every dollar counts, a premium domain might just be the best way to put your marketing dollars to work for you.

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About the Author: Wendy Kennedy is the creator and editor of the Register.com Learning Center (an online resource site for small businesses). Wendy has also served as a consultant with over ten years of experience developing marketing and awareness programs with small businesses and entrepreneurs.