In order to evaluate your domain name yourself before paying for a domain name appraisal, ask yourself the following fifteen questions:

Extensions

The first questions have to do with the top-level domain your domain name has.

1. Is the top-level domain (TLD) of your domain name .com?

2. Is the top-level domain (TLD) of your domain name the .net or .org version of a popular .com site?

Length

The next questions have to do with the length of the domain name, in characters and words.

3. Is the length of the domain name (without the TLD extension) less than five characters?

4. Is the length of the domain name (without the TLD extension) three words or less?

Meaning

The next questions have to do with what the domain name means or represents.

5. What does the domain name mean? Is the name integrally connected to a high-paying market, such as some type of popular technology?

6. Is your domain name a popular phrase? For example, do you just happen to have a domain name that’s identical to the latest words on Donald Trump or Paris Hilton?

Ease of Use

The next questions have to do with how usable your domain name would be for users.

7. Is your domain name instantly memorable?

8. Can your domain name be pronounced in a reasonable way so that they could then reproduce it later, if you were to wish to say it to someone on the phone or use it in a radio advertisement?

9. Does your domain name include no dashes or hyphens?

10. Does your name include no numbers?

11. Is your domain name spelled in the expected way, with no misspellings or typos or is your domain name a popular misspelling of a highly-rated website?

Marketing Interests

The next questions have to do with the business potential of your domain name.

12. Does your domain name reflect a concept that would fit a business or product (rather than, say, your personal identity)?

13. Does your domain name contain one or more high-frequency keywords? How many searches were performed on your domain name recently?

If you answered “yes” to at least some of these questions, you may wish to take the follow-up step of getting your domain name appraised. Read the article “Domain Appraisal” for more information.

A Final Note

You may be able to document to the penny what you are currently earning with a particular domain name, given the content that you have on the site. But the value of the domain name itself is more a matter of speculation, taste, and preference.