Sure, they sound pretty odd, but premium Donuts domains are actually one of the hottest new developments in the domain name industry. You’ve seen them as you explore the web, but you probably never knew it. In this article, we’ll dive deep into premium Donuts domains. What are they? Why are they? How do you get one? Plus much, much more.
What are Donuts Domains?
Since the beginning of the internet, websites have been part of a top-level domain or TLD. The TLD is the last part of the website’s address. The most famous and popular TLD is, of course, .com. Most of the biggest websites on the planet use this TLD, including Web Hosting Sun. The other popular TLD are country codes, such as .co.uk, .co.za in South Africa and .ng in Nigeria. After that, you have other quite well-used TLDs, such as .org, .net, and .edu.
Donuts domains have come along to shake things up a little. Donuts domains have brought new TLDs to market, and their extremely distinctive. Here are some examples of TLDs you can use through Donuts domains:
- .today
- .agency
- .life
- .games
- .solutions
What are Premium Donuts Domains?
Of course, not all domain names are created equal. Among these exciting Donuts domains are domain names that fit together so well with their TLD, that they become extremely sought after. Because they’re sought after, they also have more value. These are called premium Donuts domains and are treated separately from their other domain names regarding price and availability.
The company behind Donuts domains enlisted industry veterans to decide what domain names would have more value, and therefore become premium. They could be memorable words, or 1, 2, or 3 character domains.
Examples of Premium Donuts Domains
Here is a quite comprehensive list of premium Donuts domain extensions you can use:
.abogado, .academy, .accountant, .accountants, .actor, .adult, .agency, .airforce, .apartments, .archi, .army, .asia, .associates, .attorney, .auction, .audio, .auto, .band, .bar, .barcelona, .bargains, .bayern, .beer, .berlin, .best, .bet, .bid, .bike, .bingo, .bio, .black, .blackfriday, .blog, .blue, .boutique, .build, .builders, .business, .buzz, .cab, .cafe, .cam, .camera, .camp, .capital, .car, .cards, .care, .careers, .cars, .casa, .cash, .casino, .catering, .center, .ceo, .chat, .cheap, .christmas, .church, .city, .claims, .cleaning, .click, .clinic, .clothing, .cloud, .club, .coach, .codes, .coffee, .college, .community, .company, .computer, .condos, .construction, .consulting, .contractors, .cooking, .cool, .country, .coupons, .courses, .credit, .creditcard, .cricket, .cruises, .dance, .date, .dating, .deals, .degree, .delivery, .democrat, .dental, .dentist, .desi, .design, .diamonds, .diet, .digital, .direct, .directory, .discount, .doctor, .dog, .domains, .download, .earth, .education, .email, .energy, .engineer, .engineering, .enterprises, .equipment, .estate, .events, .exchange, .expert, .exposed, .express, .fail, .faith, .family, .fans, .farm, .fashion, .film, .finance, .financial, .fish, .fishing, .fit, .fitness, .flights, .florist, .flowers, .football, .forsale, .foundation, .fund, .furniture, .futbol, .fyi, .gal, .gallery, .game, .games, .garden, .gift, .gifts, .gives, .glass, .global, .gmbh, .gold, .golf, .graphics, .gratis, .green, .gripe, .group, .guide, .guitars, .guru, .hamburg, .haus, .healthcare, .help, .hiphop, .hockey, .holdings, .holiday, .horse, .host, .hosting, .house, .how, .immo, .immobilien, .industries, .info, .ink, .institute, .insure, .international, .investments, .io, .irish, .jetzt, .jewelry, .juegos, .kaufen, .kim, .kitchen, .kiwi, .land, .law, .lawyer, .lease, .legal, .lgbt, .life, .lighting, .limited, .limo, .link, .live, .loan, .loans, .lol, .london, .love, .ltd, .ltda, .luxury, .maison, .management, .market, .marketing, .mba, .media, .melbourne, .memorial, .men, .menu, .miami, .moda, .moe, .mom, .money, .mortgage, .movie, .nagoya, .name, .navy, .network, .news, .ngo, .ninja, .nom, .nom, .nyc, .okinawa, .one, .ong, .onl, .online, .ooo, .osaka, .paris, .partners, .parts, .party, .pet, .photo, .photography, .photos, .physio, .pics, .pictures, .pink, .pizza, .place, .plumbing, .plus, .poker, .porn, .press, .productions, .promo, .properties, .property, .protection, .pub, .qpon, .quebec, .racing, .recipes, .red, .rehab, .reise, .reisen, .rent, .rentals, .repair, .report, .republican, .rest, .restaurant, .review, .reviews, .rich, .rip, .rocks, .rodeo, .run, .ryukyu, .sale, .salon, .sarl, .school, .schule, .science, .scot, .security, .services, .sex, .sexy, .shiksha, .shoes, .shop, .shopping, .show, .singles, .site, .ski, .soccer, .social, .software, .solar, .solutions, .soy, .space, .srl, .store, .stream, .studio, .study, .style, .supplies, .supply, .support, .surf, .surgery, .sydney, .systems, .tattoo, .tax, .taxi, .team, .tech, .technology, .tel, .tennis, .theater, .theatre, .tienda, .tips, .tires, .today, .tokyo, .tools, .top, .tours, .town, .toys, .trade, .training, .tube, .university, .uno, .vacations, .vegas, .ventures, .vet, .viajes, .video, .villas, .vin, .vip, .vision, .vodka, .vote, .voting, .voto, .voyage, .wales, .watch, .webcam, .website, .wedding, .wiki, .win, .wine, .work, .works, .world, .wtf, .xxx, .xyz, .yoga, .yokohama, .zone
Why Donuts Domains?
That’s simple. They’re called donuts domains because the company that sells them are called Donuts. Donuts was founded in 2013 by founders, Paul Stahura and Richard Tindal.
They’re based in Bellevue, Washington, and have recently sewn up domination of the boutique TLD industry by purchasing their nearest competitor, Rightside Group. The price of this deal was $213 million.
After the Rightside acquisition, Donuts now owns more than 200 TLDs. They also employ more than 40 people globally.
Why are Premium Donuts Domains Worth Getting?
The main advantage of premium Donuts domains over standard web addresses is distinctiveness. Pick the right premium Donuts domain and you’ll have a web presence that is extremely memorable, shareable and noticeable.
If you’re in business, and there is a Donuts domain TLD relevant to your industry, you can match the prefix and the TLD to make something truly relevant. Imagine running a video games studio with the web address video.games? It’s difficult to put a value on that.
Currently, the orthodoxy in the domain industry still places inordinate value on the .com TLD. However, with new domains being released all the time by Donuts, this viewpoint may not last forever. At the moment, premium Donuts domains are relatively easy to obtain and could be underpriced compared to their future value. If you can register some good ones yourself, they could make you a profit if you decide to sell them on later.
If you’re in this field, think seriously about investing in premium Donuts domains while other people are thinking about .coms.
How to Get a Premium Donuts Domain
There are 3 ways to get a premium Donuts domain. The right one for you depends on how badly you want one, as well as your budget and availability.
The most effective way to get them is when they first come out, although this is probably the most expensive. Register with Donuts to be notified about new releases, and get a place in the priority queue on release.
The first phase of release is called Sunrise, when trademark holders can register their domain names before they’re released to the public. This initiative is designed to eliminate cybersquatting.
The price, which is set by Donuts, is high at this stage, but it’s worth it to secure your trademarked domain name.
The next phase is Landrush, or Early Access, where people who have registered with Donuts can attempt to the buy the domains they want. The prices are highest on the first day of release, and drop every day that the domain isn’t sold. It’s a reverse auction pricing strategy.
For the average domain name enthusiast, this is the best chance to get the domain you want. The price will be higher at the start, but it will reflect how badly you want the domain.
Finally, Donuts domains go on general release to everybody, and the fees are lower. You can search the Donuts.domains site to see what is available and what isn’t. Then you can choose which domains company you would like to buy it from.
Of course, you could also buy a premium Donuts domain that is available from a reseller. Check the domains-for-sale sites you usually use to see what is available.
To conclude, premium Donuts domains could be the next big thing in domain names. The fascination with .coms can’t last forever. Premium Donuts domains are memorable, distinctive and competitively priced, especially if you don’t mind waiting for one.
Do you own any premium Donuts domains? What ones do you wish you owned? Leave us a comment to let us know.
