This is something I get asked about by clients and business owners probably once/month on average, for the past several years. More often, I’m not exactly “asked” per se, but rather told about such efforts after the fact — meaning that the person has already spent the money on new domain acquisition.

While the title of this article sounds fairly simplistic, the issue is actually much more complex. That’s because there are many potential motivations for purchasing domain names — many perfectly valid ones and probably a few that aren’t so wise. So, let’s look at some.

Common Motivations for Purchasing Domain Names

1. Good, Reasonable Motivations

• Plans to develop a primary web site
• Plans to develop additional web sites for the business and/or mini-sites (e.g., each business unit or industry or niche might have its own distinct domain)
• Desire to use the domain for email
• Desire to use the domain for some other purpose (e.g., development, testing, staging, file server, utility server, etc.)
• Intention to use the name as a memorable shortcut to your site or pages deep within you site (e.g., you print “Visit XZY.com” on your print brochures, and when…