Popular travel accommodations site TheTopHotels.com recently acquired the domain TopHotels.com in an apparent move to expand its coverage. While the original website covers top-rated hotels in Bukovel, it remains to be seen whether the new domain will introduce more locations.
The new domain, TopHotels.com, has been bought for $380,000. The steep cost can be attributed to the popularity and potential traffic brought on by the keywords “Top Hotels”. The domain has been considered a premium choice for the content aggregation it can deliver, especially as many competitive brands offer hotel rating and review platforms.
The Bukovel-based platform has been up since 2007, with its old domain still active. The new domain is currently locked behind a sign-up prompt, though this will likely be removed once the site has been properly migrated or redirected.
Many brands are following suit on domain name changes, particularly as international primacy has seen another shake-up with the creation of the U.S. digital dollar. Globalization in commercial platforms has been furthered in the digital space thanks to digital currencies. Along with advancements in AI and automation, 2023 is seeing more business investments trend toward tech.
The business name generator tool on Namechk has seen a lot of movement, particularly with new small businesses and existing entities seeking out a rebrand. This tool generates a variety of domain options based on user input, checking for duplicates and generating a list of available domains and social media usernames that match the business name or keyword entered. The tool is quite comprehensive and enjoys popularity largely due to the feature being a free service without the need to log in or sign up.
With these factors, the cost comes down to the actual pricing of the domain, web hosting, and name registration. Many popular web hosting services allow migration of sites, though an easy way to maintain this is to simply acquire the new domain and redirect it to the existing site. TopHotels.com has arguably used this tactic with their new domain, dropping the “the” in favor of a broader approach.
Domain registration maintains its pricing of $9 to $14.99 per year, depending on the extension and registrar used by the business. It’s become more important than ever to register domains to prevent legal disputes, domain squatters, and further expenses trying to solidify one’s brand from malicious entities and similar competitors. As of March, the World Intellectual Property Organization has already recorded 1,488 cases of domain name disputes in 2023 alone.
As even major companies like Dell continue to deal with $1 billion settlements over defrauding and disputed stock swaps, businesses must take care not to unnecessarily cost themselves more than they have to due to unresolved conflicts. Going through legitimate domain registrars like Domain.com are easy ways to avoid such an issue, especially as it already shows alternated TLDs to help secure your brand across the board.
The most popular extensions remain .com, .net, and .org. In 2023, users are still likely to base their trust on the top level domain extension more than the domain name itself. This gives you more leeway to adjust your brand accordingly, so long as it matches standards that help it rank up on search engines.
