May 28, 2018
Many in the domain name trading game aren't particularly fond of names that are hyphenated. However, it's claimed a recent sale of such a name pulled in very big bucks.
NewsBTC reports a group of investors has purchased the Block-Chain.com domain for USD $1 million, making it third highest price paid for cryptocurrency domain name ever. There was no site associated with the sale, it was just the name.
Not everyone is convinced by the report though; and much of the doubt has to do with the hyphen (-) in the name, which generally drags down values considerably.
Still, it may come back to the old wisdom of what something is worth is what someone will pay for it.
So what's the fuss about with hyphenated domains? Well, they have their advantages and disadvantages.
On the plus side, using a hyphen can provide a greater range of choice of names as many prime non-hyphenated two-word combinations in extensions such as .com have already been snapped up. The use of a hyphen can also help avoid potential issues with what's known as "slurls" in some circumstances.
However, hyphenated domains can pose some challenges in relation to recall (most folks are used to domain names where the words run together) and they can be harder to promote via radio (yes, that still exists) and via word of mouth. This can also lead to traffic winding up on the non-hyphenated version of the name, which may be a direct competitor.
It's these disadvantages that play a role in generally weighing heavily on the value of a hyphenated name compared to its non-hyphenated equivalent.
While resale value of a domain usually won't come into play for most registrants, it's still something to bear in mind when considering registering a website address.
For those registering Australian domain names such as .com.au, thankfully there are still plenty of non-hyphenated choices available; so it may not mean having to resort to using a hyphen in order to get the web address of your choice.
Trivia - the highest price paid for a hyphenated domain appears to be around USD $209,900 for Hotel-Reservation.com back in 2009.
Related: Should Hyphens Be Used In Domain Names?
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