Sedo: How Buying & Selling Domains Can Bolster the Value & Profitability of Your Dating Website

The Short Version: If you want to create a successful dating site, you have to have a good name for it. Something simple and catchy. Something that resonates with singles so they’ll want to join. After you’ve come up with a meaningful name, the next step is finding a relevant domain name. The most sought-after domains are likely already registered with the domain registrar — but that doesn’t mean they’re currently in use and unavailable. Many businesses turn to Sedo, the largest domain marketplace on the web, to find and purchase strong domains in every category, including dating and relationships. Since 2000, this international brokerage team has helped millions of customers buy, sell, and park domains. The trade platform gives you the ability to monetize unused web addresses as well as invest in marketable domains. If you want to increase traffic and revenue on your dating websites, start with the basics by obtaining a premium domain on Sedo’s secure marketplace.

Back in 2000, three German college students, Tim Schumacher, Marius Würzner, and Ulrich Priesner, had a passion for technology and soccer. The three friends had fun playing recreational soccer together and decided to program a computer game dealing with German Bundesliga soccer clubs.

One of the clubs liked the game so much that they bought it from the young programmers. However, the club was not interested in the domain they’d registered: offensive.de. After selling the game, the boys found themselves stuck with a domain they no longer had any use for.

They wanted to sell it but couldn’t find any service that facilitated and supported the buying or selling of domains. “That was the moment where they realized the future potential of this business,” said Frank Tillmanns, Sedo’s Senior Sales Consultant in Cologne, Germany.

Tim, Marius, and Ulrich founded Sedo, which stands for search engine domain offers, to help entrepreneurs like themselves buy and sell domains more easily. Today, Sedo handles every one in two of the world’s domain transactions. The company runs a comprehensive and beginners-friendly domain marketplace with approximately 18 million domains for sale. Dating brands can use this resource to acquire dating-specific domains such as dating-, relationship-, gender-, or love-.

Owning a popular domain can help dating brands expand the reach of their businesses online.

Sedo is the world’s largest secondary domain marketplace with millions of clients clamoring over popular domains. Since the company’s founding, Sedo has seen over 400,000 domain sales in total. Frank has brokered several six- and seven-figure domain name sales throughout his career, including having been involved in the $13 million sale of sex.com, which made the Guinness Book of World Records for the most expensive domain sale to date.

“Obviously most, if not all, premium domains (meaning one-word generics or very short two or three-letter domains) have been registered a long time ago,” Frank explained. “It is nearly impossible to still be able to register such a domain on the primary market today. So, if you need a prime piece of online real estate (that is how we refer to premium domains), the only chance is to acquire it from the secondary market.”

Based in Cologne, Germany, with a US office in Boston, Massachusetts, Sedo offers an alternative to registering a domain from a domain registrar. In the secondary market, anyone can buy or sell domains that have already been registered, and Sedo provides the world’s largest secondary domain marketplace for anyone to use. This opens up a world of possibilities for business owners looking to expand their reach by gaining a premium domain.

With Sedo’s help, businesses find hassle-free avenues to generating revenue on the web. Currently, more than 2 million registered clients from more than 150 countries regularly use Sedo to market niche services. The company excels at buying domains and selling domains on behalf of clients. If you have a domain you’re no longer using, you can make a tidy profit by selling it. Or, if you’re in need of a relevant domain to house your dating brand, you can find the right fit in a vast open marketplace. Sedo’s available domains cover all kinds of verticals, languages, and TLDs.

Sedo offers extensive registry services for industry leaders in more than 150 countries.

Sedo, as the world’s largest secondary domain marketplace, offers a variety of useful web services, including domain brokerage, domain transfers, domain parking, domain appraisals, and brand protection services. These services can help dating brands monetize unused domains, market themselves through premium domains, and turn a profit in the online space. For instance, as part of the domain parking package, Sedo will publish a template website with advertising links on the client’s domains, generating revenue with every click.

The range of services provided by Sedo all support the growth and expansion of online businesses, including dating websites. “Being a Domain Broker myself, I would have to say that we are most proud of our professional and personalized Broker Services,” Frank said, “which cater to the individual needs of our clients.”

Sedo refers to premium domains as “prime online real estate” because such clear and simple terms are well-situated for high web traffic. A premium domain (like relationships.com, which redirects to Christian Mingle) instantly ups the site’s visibility, so online daters have an easier time finding your services. Frank compared it to a store in an easy-to-get-to and convenient location versus a store tucked away on a hidden street or a far-off neighborhood.

“Premium domains are expensive, but the extra cost easily pays off,” he said. If people have difficulty spelling or remembering your site’s name, you could lose customers before they even have a chance to see your brand. You need to make sure your site is easy to find — and the fastest way to do so is by owning a premium domain that has the following three characteristics:

1. Easy to remember
2. Easy to spell
3. Uses relevant keywords

These three valuable qualities make websites stand out to web browsers everywhere. “If users can easily and directly navigate to the site they wish to visit,” Frank told us, “they will be thankful for a good and easy user experience!”

That means more conversions and higher traffic for site operators, which can only be good news for a dating site hoping to grow a loyal base of singles. A premium domain can effectively market your services and thus attract your target audience. As Frank said, “Advertising for a site like Dating.com will be so much more effective than for something like Purrsonal-Datez.biz!”

Sedo cultivates a diverse team of individuals working out of Cologne, Germany, and Boston, Massachusetts. With flat hierarchies and a friendly atmosphere, the company encourages team members to have a voice in the growth and development of the business.

“Our team is the best in the world!” Frank said. “We are an extremely international bunch of about 130 fun people in two offices, coming from all over the world and speaking many different languages.”

The Sedo team handles domain sales on behalf of clients in search of a specialized domain name.

Many Sedo team members maintain close friendships with their colleagues and spend time with one another after business hours. Frank has been with the company for nearly nine years and spoke highly of Sedo’s combined work ethic and team unity.

Over the years, the international team has brokered major deals in the domain marketplace, including a two-letter domain sold for seven figures in 2015. As team leader for the Brokerage Team, Frank was involved in that sale as well as the record-breaking brokerage of Sex.com for $13 million.

In the dating industry, reputation matters. Online daters are more likely to be drawn to a well-named .com, equating a good name with good services. A strong domain name can increase your trustworthiness in the eyes of the internet, and a memorable name will ensure your customers come back.

Millions of clickable domains are available in Sedo’s domain marketplace. Site owners can use the global company’s services to sell unwanted domains, gain ownership of premium domains, and market themselves on the web more effectively. From three guys on the soccer field to a 130-person company, Sedo has grown as a brand by providing a reliable domain trading network and by catering to the needs of online services.

Sedo makes premium domains available to businesses of all shapes and sizes. By investing in a premium domain, you’re raising the capacity of your site to rank in search results, appeal to niche audiences, and generate revenue. It’s a sound business move, and Sedo’s professionals back you every step of the way.

“Premium domains are valuable assets that usually keep their value (or even increase in value) like a good real estate property,” Frank said. “In other words, premium domains are always a good investment!”