Every domain inquiry starts with the same question: is this name worth a serious offer? Without a method, the answer drifts toward gut feeling or toward the last sale someone read about. The five criteria below turn that question into a comparison you can repeat for every candidate on a shortlist. They describe how professional buyers look at a name; they are not a valuation and do not replace legal checks.
The 5 criteria
1. Keyword strength
Does the name contain a core term of the industry? In the Bitcoin space, words such as bank, custody, trust, lending or tax describe a business before the homepage loads. Generic words — "hub", "world", "online" — add little. Two questions help: would a customer use this word to describe the service, and would a regulator or investor understand it without explanation? A strong keyword can carry a weaker ending; a weak keyword rarely benefits from a strong one.
2. Ending (TLD) fit
.com is the global default for commercial brands. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the country endings .de, .at, .ch and .li carry the same trust locally — often more, because they signal a local presence. App-style and newer endings work as additions to a main domain, rarely as the only address. The right question is not "which ending is best?" but "where will my customers look for me?". A Swiss private bank is expected on .ch; a global exchange on .com.
3. Brand fit
A domain is used out loud: in pitches, on the phone, on stage. Test it by saying it once and asking someone to type it. Hyphens, unusual spellings and long chains of words fail that test. Count the word units — two are ideal, three are the limit. Check whether the name works in both English and the local language, and whether it still makes sense when the business grows beyond its first product.
4. Provenance
A name carries history. Look at the registration record, the archived versions of the site, and the backlink profile. A past life as spam or gambling can stay attached to a domain in search engines for years. A clean history with no misuse is the baseline for a brand. Ask the seller what the name was used for; a professional seller can answer.
5. Defensive role
Is the name a single asset or part of a set? If the same name exists on other endings, whoever owns them can build look-alike sites or confuse customers. Buying a set closes that gap in one step. When evaluating, note which variants exist, who holds them, and whether they can be acquired together.
Score and compare
Give each criterion a score from 1 to 5 and write one sentence of reasoning next to it. The sentence matters more than the number: it forces a clear answer and makes the comparison readable for colleagues. A simple table is enough:
| Criterion | Question | 1 point | 5 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword | Does the word describe the business? | Generic word | Core term of the industry |
| Ending | Is it where customers look? | Unrelated ending | .com or the home country ending |
| Brand | Does it pass the spoken test? | Hyphens, long, hard to spell | Two word units, spelled as spoken |
| Provenance | Is the history clean? | Misuse in the archive | Clean record, documented use |
| Defence | Are the variants covered? | Variants with third parties | Set available together |
Compare candidates side by side rather than judging one name in isolation. A name that scores lower on keyword but higher on ending and defence can be the better choice for a regional brand.
Common mistakes
- Judging the name without the use case. The same domain can be ideal for a bank and useless for a media brand. Write the use case down first.
- Ignoring protected terms. Words such as bank, foundation, fund or trust are regulated in many countries. The domain transfers the name, not the right to use the term — check the licence situation before planning the brand.
- Skipping the trademark search. Search the relevant registers for live marks in your class before you make an offer.
- Buying the anchor and leaving the variants. If the country versions stay on the market, the defensive gap stays open.
From scorecard to offer
Once a name passes the scorecard, the next step is the offer. On a make-offer portfolio, the buyer names a figure together with a short description of the project and the timeline. The buyer's guide covers the full process, and the escrow guide explains how the transfer is settled safely.
