Domain Glossary
91 terms matching your filter
.co
Colombia's ccTLD — marketed as a startup-friendly alternative to .com.
.com
The world's most valuable and recognized TLD — the gold standard for domain investing and commercial websites.
.crypto Domain
Unstoppable Domains' original blockchain extension — purchased once, stored as an NFT.
.eth Domain
A blockchain domain on the Ethereum Name Service — serves as a wallet address and Web3 identity.
.io
The ccTLD for British Indian Ocean Territory — widely adopted by tech startups and developer products.
.net
The second most established gTLD — generally worth a fraction of the equivalent .com.
A Record
A DNS record that points a domain to an IPv4 address.
Afternic
A GoDaddy-owned domain marketplace with massive registrar distribution, showing Buy Now options at 100+ registrars.
BIN Price (Buy It Now)
A fixed purchase price for a domain that buyers can pay immediately, with no negotiation.
Brandable Domain
A made-up or coined domain name that works well as a memorable brand (e.g., Zillow, Spotify).
Broker Fee
The commission paid to a domain broker for facilitating a sale — typically 10–20% of the sale price.
ccTLD (Country-Code Top-Level Domain)
A two-letter TLD tied to a specific country, such as .uk, .de, or .ca.
Cloudflare
A leading internet infrastructure provider offering DNS, CDN, security, and at-cost domain registration.
Comparable Sales (Comps)
Past sales of similar domain names used as benchmarks to estimate a domain's value.
Crypto Wallet
Software or hardware that stores blockchain private keys — controls ownership of Web3 domains and crypto assets.
Dan.com
A domain marketplace known for low commissions, fast payments, and clean landing pages.
DNJournal
A leading domain industry news publication that tracks weekly sales reports and market trends.
DNS (Domain Name System)
The internet's phonebook — translates domain names into IP addresses.
DNS Propagation
The time it takes for DNS changes to spread across all servers globally, typically a few hours.
Domain Aftermarket
The secondary market where previously registered domains are bought and sold.
Domain Age
How long a domain has been registered — older domains often carry more SEO authority and trust.
Domain Appraisal
An assessment of a domain's market value, either by automated tools or experienced human appraisers.
Domain Auction
A competitive bidding process where domains are sold to the highest bidder.
Domain Backorder
A service that automatically tries to register a domain the moment it expires and becomes available.
Domain Conference
Industry events where domain investors, brokers, and registrars network, learn, and conduct business.
Domain Escrow
A secure service where a neutral third party holds payment until the domain transfer is complete.
Domain Expiration
When a domain's registration period ends and it becomes available for re-registration.
Domain Extension
The suffix at the end of a domain name — another word for TLD (e.g., .com, .org, .io).
Domain Flipping
Buying domains at a low price and reselling them quickly at a higher price for profit.
Domain Forwarding
Automatically redirecting visitors from one domain to another URL.
Domain Hack
A domain where the TLD completes a word or phrase — like "del.icio.us" or "instagr.am."
Domain Investing
Acquiring domain names to sell at a profit — combining market research, valuation, and patience.
Domain Lander (Landing Page)
A simple "For Sale" page shown to visitors of a domain listed on the market.
Domain Lock
A security feature that prevents a domain from being transferred without explicit unlocking.
Domain Name
A human-readable internet address that maps to an IP address, such as "example.com."
Domain Name Wire
A leading domain industry blog covering news, major sales, and ICANN policy — run by Andrew Allemann.
Domain Newsletter
Email publications covering domain sales, news, and investment strategies — essential reading for investors.
Domain Parking
Displaying ads on a domain that has no full website, earning pay-per-click revenue.
Domain Portfolio
A collection of domain names owned and managed by an investor or company.
Domain Privacy (WHOIS Privacy)
A service that hides your personal contact info from the public WHOIS database.
Domain Transfer
Moving a domain's registration from one registrar to another.
Domain Valuation
Estimating the market value of a domain name based on comparables, traffic, keywords, and demand.
End User
A buyer who purchases a domain to use for a real business or project, rather than to resell.
ENS (Ethereum Name Service)
A blockchain-based naming system on Ethereum that maps human-readable .eth names to wallet addresses.
Escrow.com
The leading domain escrow service recommended by ICANN — protects both buyer and seller in transactions.
Estibot
An automated domain appraisal tool that estimates value based on SEO and sales data.
Expired Domain
A domain whose registration has lapsed, potentially available for acquisition at auction or drop.
Flippa
A marketplace for buying and selling websites, apps, and domains — focused on digital businesses with revenue.
Geographic Domain
A domain containing a geographic location name — city, region, or country — valued for local traffic and business.
GoDaddy Auctions
GoDaddy's platform for auctioning expiring domains and aftermarket listings — the largest by volume.
GoDaddy Domain Appraisal
GoDaddy's free automated domain valuation tool — a quick reference based on comparable sales data.
gTLD (Generic Top-Level Domain)
A TLD not tied to a specific country — includes .com, .net, .org, .io, and hundreds of new gTLDs.
Hand Registration
Registering a domain at standard price directly from a registrar — as opposed to buying from another owner.
Holding Cost
The annual renewal cost of keeping a domain registered — a key consideration for large portfolios.
HTTPS
The secure, encrypted version of HTTP — required for trust, SEO, and data security.
Inbound Inquiry
A purchase inquiry from a buyer who contacts the domain owner directly — the main source of most domain sales.
IP Address
The numerical address of a server or device on the internet that domain names resolve to.
Keyword Domain
A domain containing descriptive words relevant to the business (e.g., Insurance.com, Hotels.com).
Make Offer
A domain listing format where buyers must submit an offer rather than seeing a fixed price.
Marketplace Commission
The percentage fee a domain marketplace charges on completed sales — typically 10–25%.
NameBio
The largest database of historical domain sale records, used by investors to research comparable sales.
NamePros
The largest domain investing community forum — used for sales, appraisals, and industry discussion.
NamesCon
The largest annual domain industry conference — the premier networking and deal-making event for professionals.
Nameserver
A server that stores and serves DNS records for a domain name.
NFT (Non-Fungible Token)
A unique blockchain token representing ownership of a specific digital asset — how Web3 domains are issued.
NFT Domain
A domain name represented as an NFT on a blockchain — purchased once, stored in a crypto wallet.
OpenSea
The largest NFT marketplace, where Web3 domain names like .eth can be traded as NFTs.
Portfolio Tracker
A tool to track domain acquisition costs, renewal dates, listings, and sales across a portfolio.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
An ad model where each click earns revenue — the basis of domain parking income.
Premium Domain
A domain name valued well above standard registration cost due to its quality, length, or keywords.
Privacy Proxy Service
A service that replaces your personal WHOIS data with generic proxy contact details to protect your identity.
Registrant
The person or organization that owns a registered domain name.
Registrant Verification
The process of confirming a domain registrant's contact information is accurate — required by ICANN.
Registrar
An ICANN-accredited company that sells and manages domain name registrations.
Registrar Transfer
Moving a domain from one registrar to another while keeping it active — adds one year to registration.
Registry
The authoritative organization that maintains the master database for a specific TLD.
Reserve Price
The minimum price a seller will accept in an auction — bidding must meet or exceed this to complete the sale.
Second-Level Domain (SLD)
The main part of a domain name — the "example" in "example.com."
Secondary Market
All transactions involving already-registered domains — auctions, private sales, and marketplace listings.
Sedo
One of the world's largest domain marketplaces, strong in European markets, offering sales, brokerage, and parking.
SSL/TLS Certificate
A digital certificate that enables HTTPS encryption and verifies a website's identity.
Subdomain
A prefix to a domain name (e.g., "blog.example.com") created for free via DNS.
TLD (Top-Level Domain)
The rightmost part of a domain name — e.g., .com, .net, .org.
Transfer Timeline
The time from sale agreement to completed domain transfer — days for pushes, up to weeks for full transfers.
Unstoppable Domains
A company selling blockchain-based domain names (.crypto, .nft, .wallet) as one-time purchase NFTs.
Wallet Address
The long alphanumeric string used to receive cryptocurrency — Web3 domains replace these with human-readable names.
Wayback Machine
The Internet Archive tool for viewing historical website snapshots — used by domain investors for research.
Web3
The vision of a decentralized internet built on blockchain, enabling user-owned domains and digital identity.
Web3 Username
A blockchain-based, user-owned identity that works across decentralized applications.
WHOIS
A public database showing who registered a domain name and when it expires.
WWW (World Wide Web)
The classic subdomain prefix for websites — "www.example.com" — still common but optional today.