How to pick a great domain name

[BrianJump]

Since the late 1990's, many Internet marketers have stated that there are no more good domains. If you believe that, go to www.greatdomainstoday.com and look at the recent domain sales info and be sure to check the registration dates..some have only been registered weeks before domain sale completion.

So what are some of the key points in looking for a good domain name?

1) IF you are building a company website, the company name of course is a good start, but lets say for example you paint cars...carpainting.com would be a good choice as well (Earl Scheib has done just that, FYI)

2) The shorter the better.
Thats right..the less words, the easier it is to recall..

3) No hyphens. None. Its hard enough to remember the wife's birthday, I dont need to remember where the hyphens go and what the urls was again...

4) Acronyms or mispellings are not a great way to build memory or recall with your repeat visitors..

5) Generic. Aside from a company name, is your domain generic in nature?
(paperbags.com, beachtowels.com, etc )

6) Does your domain match an industry niche or entire industry? Example- lets say you manufacture ball bearings, but you choose bearings.com as a domain...hmm..does that drive people to your site via a niche term or wide, broad term?

7) Marketable and brandable- is your term/domain easy to remember, and can users guess the content via the domain?

The above options will not guarantee a home run, but when used properly, are sure to get you in the game with a domain that will not only serve you well, might bring some decent valuation in no time at all.

For more domain valuation be sure to visit www.greatdomainstoday.com

[sitemaster]

Great post! Also be sure to check out some of the free online domain spinners as they often come up with some interesting available domains.

[bobchrist]

Using a single hyphen is nothing bad especially if you get a good domain name IMO, it is easy to remember due to conjunction of two words and sometime more appropriate.

[WPOSolutions]

Seems pretty sound advise, and if your not bothered about a .com TLD then you can still find some nice brand-able names going cheap.

[bluegrass special]

Something else I have seen a lot of lately, is people thinking that because a word is in the dictionary that it counts as a "dictionary word" in domaining terms. Xurel is in the dictionary but there aren't many people that would know that or what it means. The dictionary is filled with words that have little to no value for domain purposes.

If you have to convince your audience that it is in the dictionary, then it doesn't count as a dictionary word for domaining purposes.

[alinasandor]

Great advise! Also, using your name is good if your business is directly linked to your name, like mine is. I am a freelance illustrator/writer that has my name out there pretty well now and I get a lot of hits from searches of my name. My clients think of my name and bam! they're at my site again.
Also, I think using .com makes your domain a lot easier to remember. I hate trying to remember if a site is .com or .org or .biz! I usually just type in .com and hope for the best.

Alina Sandor

[BrianJump]

Using a single hyphen is nothing bad especially if you get a good domain name IMO, it is easy to remember due to conjunction of two words and sometime more appropriate.

IMHO if you can avoid it, do so...if the term traditionally has had a hyphen in it, then of course since it is human nature, go with it..:)

[OMI]

Great pre-registration advice!

[rawwebdesign]

Hey DPers,

I just finished writing this long guide to being a domainer. It's prints out great too if you don't want to read it all in one sitting-

The Penguin Guide to Domaining:
http://www.uglytheme.com/penguin-guide-to-domaining-how-to-invest-in-domains-and-be-an-above-average-domainer-all-on-one-page/

-Brad

[karter9977]

Nice Post!

[BrianJump]

Nice Post!

agreed! and thanks

[chilove]

Great post! Thanks so much!

[birdsq]

thx for your advice