How To Choose A Domain Name
If you want to launch a new website, one of the most important first decisions you make will be what is the website going to be called.
This process nearly always follows the same path: you think of a name you like, you ask people you know about it and they say its great to, you go to register the domain name, you are informed the domain name is already taken, you think of another name and repeat.
The problem with the explosion of the internet, and the ease with which any domain can be registered by anybody, whether they intend to use it or not, is that when a legitimate website owner who wants to register a domain for a new project, invariably finds it has already been taken, and more then likely they never intend to use the domain for a project themsleves, they just hope someone will want it bad enough that they will pay big money to buy it from them.
This situation of course leaves genuine people looking to start a new website with a real challenge, i.e. deciding on a name where the matching domain name is actually available.
You can often get the name you really want, its just that you need to pay a lot more then the few dollars it costs to register a new domain as you have to buy it from the person who registered it and owns it currently.
So if the perfect domain is not available and you are stuck, then this is where you need to get creative!
There are lots of great ways to find a good unregistered domain, clearly in many instances most people would like the .com version of their chosen domain name, but if its not available then you can choose a different extension such as a .biz for example.
Also, if your product or service is aimed at a specific country, then you may be able to get your chosen name with the relevant country extension, such as a .co.uk, or .in for example.
If none of these options are available to you then you can try other ways, such as using a hyphen in the domain name, its not ideal but may allow you to use the words and phrases you want to use rather then seeking alternatives.
If you do find that you have no option other then think of a new name, then you will probably need to make it at least two words long, and more likely three. Just about all single word domains in the most popular extensions have long since been registered, and very many two word domain names have also been taken. You will probably need to come up with domain names with two or three words, this coupled with different domain extensions, or the use of a hyphen will normally produce a result that is acceptable, and more importantly, available!
Happy hunting!
This process nearly always follows the same path: you think of a name you like, you ask people you know about it and they say its great to, you go to register the domain name, you are informed the domain name is already taken, you think of another name and repeat.
The problem with the explosion of the internet, and the ease with which any domain can be registered by anybody, whether they intend to use it or not, is that when a legitimate website owner who wants to register a domain for a new project, invariably finds it has already been taken, and more then likely they never intend to use the domain for a project themsleves, they just hope someone will want it bad enough that they will pay big money to buy it from them.
This situation of course leaves genuine people looking to start a new website with a real challenge, i.e. deciding on a name where the matching domain name is actually available.
You can often get the name you really want, its just that you need to pay a lot more then the few dollars it costs to register a new domain as you have to buy it from the person who registered it and owns it currently.
So if the perfect domain is not available and you are stuck, then this is where you need to get creative!
There are lots of great ways to find a good unregistered domain, clearly in many instances most people would like the .com version of their chosen domain name, but if its not available then you can choose a different extension such as a .biz for example.
Also, if your product or service is aimed at a specific country, then you may be able to get your chosen name with the relevant country extension, such as a .co.uk, or .in for example.
If none of these options are available to you then you can try other ways, such as using a hyphen in the domain name, its not ideal but may allow you to use the words and phrases you want to use rather then seeking alternatives.
If you do find that you have no option other then think of a new name, then you will probably need to make it at least two words long, and more likely three. Just about all single word domains in the most popular extensions have long since been registered, and very many two word domain names have also been taken. You will probably need to come up with domain names with two or three words, this coupled with different domain extensions, or the use of a hyphen will normally produce a result that is acceptable, and more importantly, available!
Happy hunting!
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