The category killer domain name SSL.com has just hit the market.
But the SSL.com is not just a domain sale.
It includes a profitable business, federal trademarks and patents pending”
The domain name is being brokered by MediaOptions.com
Here are some interesting facts from the Press Release:
“The domain is being sold by SSL Corp, the profitable business running SSL.com for the past 12 years”
“SSL’s across the industry are sold with hefty margins, averaging a whopping 70% profit, with most businesses needing them in order to function online. ”
“The sale of the SSL.com domain name and business provides a unique opportunity for an edge over the competition in a highly profitable industry with proven year over year growth.”
“Netcraft, the respected internet researcher specializing in security features, documents a steady growth of about 30% each year in the number of websites using SSL.
Furthermore, Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) became the leader in SSL sales when they acquired that business from VeriSign (Nasdaq: VRSN) in 2010 for a reported $1.28 billion in cash.
“Along with the existing customer base and premium domain name SSL.com, the sale also includes federal trademarks, vanity phone numbers, and patents pending. SSL.com issues their own root certificates – and one of their pending patents could be significant in how the industry presents brands within the SSL image.”
“Andrew Rosener, CEO of Media Options, commented, “With a premium domain like SSL.com and the intellectual property associated with it, a new owner could easily multiply profits with just a little bit of marketing, SEO or strategic partnerships.”
“Within the SSL industry, the average profit margin per certificate is around 70% – a significant profit for any industry. ”
“Unusual, however, is the SSL.com budget for marketing. Due to its unique domain name, the existing customer base for SSL.com has grown organically, without requiring financing, with virtually no product marketing or advertisement. ”
“The SSL.com domain name itself attracts customers, inspiring confidence.”
“In addition, the domain has tremendous value for search engine ranking. ”
“In fact, last week, a former Google search specialist underlined the importance of a domain name needing to include the keyword for the product a website sells, citing that as the very first in his list for increasing search engine ranking. ”
“The domain SEO.com was acquired in 2007 for a rumored $5 million. ”
“Premium properties like this are so exclusive, in fact, that eager investors snapped it up and actually formed an SEO company to build on the domain. ”
“Two and three letter .COM domains are among the most valuable and sought after internet properties, with Fortune 500 companies owning the majority. Earlier this year, Media Options assisted Restoration Hardware in their acquisition of the domain RH.com”.
“SSL’s are used around the world to secure data typed through websites.”
“Almost every internet user encounters SSL’s regularly: Anytime someone shares a name, email address, or credit card through a website, that information should be secured through an SSL. Security-conscious internet users know to look for either the “https” or padlock icon or green in the address bar on the top of the browser- that proves that an SSL provider like SSL.com has secured the page.”
“Media Options is based in Panama City, Panama”
Unfortunately it looks like it has a Google penalty on it. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Home page does not rank in top 100 results for “SSL”. Perhaps the existing customer base will keep this afloat, but claiming that “the domain has tremendous value for search engine ranking.” is a bit misleading, as very few penalized sites have resurfaced in the past year. The jury is still out on that.
Not trying to rain on anyone’s parade, and especially Andrew’s, but I’m sure that any potential buyer would do their due diligence any way.
I don’t think it’s been penalized, just poor seo/sem development. Just did a search for ‘ssl.com’ ssl.com and ‘what is ssl’ and ssl.com comes up in both searches on the first page. If the site was penalized, ssl.com wouldn’t even come up in the results.
False. There’s a difference between being deindexed and penalized. Most Penguin penalized sites will pop up if you type in the whole address, rather than just the keyword. The fact that this does not rank in the top 100 for “SSL”, even with meager SEO efforts, is telling in my view.
I don’t know why he made a comparison with the seo.com
sale, as ssl.com is a very different domain name from a
valuation point of view…