9 tips on choosing your next great domain name!

The question is this: Are these tips only for your next domain name? What if you don’t even have one? Well…these are for your first domain too… so you can keep reading!

You’d probably have read a lot (or none) about how to choose a domain name. I’ll try to sum it up in 9 tips and still keep or the flavor ;)

1. There is nothing like “.com”

Sure, you can choose any other domain you want but if you are in for business… don’t. There is only one exception. This is if you target a local market and you are not in the U.S.

2. As short as it gets

Short and to the point is the key here. It isn’t easy anymore to find good, short, memorable .com domain names but it’s worth trying.

3. No Hyphens

Hyphens can surely make up for a lost desirable domain name but nobody is going to remember how to spell “my-best-domain” and if it spelled without the hyphens your competitor gets the traffic.

4. Both Singular and Plural

If you register a domain name that makes sense either in singular or plural get both and redirect the one making less sense to the other.

5. Does it make sense?

I have already mentioned it but let me strech it a little bit more. The domain must make sense in relation to your actual site. Few are going to remember it if you name your www.vroooom.com and you are selling pancakes. (www.vroooom.com is great for cars though… now you’re getting it huh? :) )

6. Easy to type.

Enough said. Users have to type it don’t they? Make it easy to them.

7. No possible misspellings

If there are no possible misspellings nobody is going to mispell it heading all the way to the smart guy that registered your domain’s misspelling to steal your thunder… and your money.

8. Use a thesaurus. Believe me it’s easier this way

Imagine this. You have tried any related to your business/idea/hobby etc. keyword and still haven’t found an available .com. The need for a thesaurus should be apparent to you by now.

9. Let Ajax help you

Nobody has the time to submit a form and wait for the result every time he wants to check for a domain name availability. Not to mention the number of times you are going to misspell the captcha word (see? misspelling = bad… read point 7. Ajax tools are hear to help you get availability of domains as you type.

Tools

There are numerous tools out there to make the job easier. So let me introduce you to some:

NameStation – Automatically creates domain names and lets you know whether they are available for registration

Dot-o-mator – A name suggestion service to help you decide the domain of your next .com empire

AptDomain – Combine keywords to find the domain name you always wanted

Wordoid – A name creator service for naming domains, products etc.

DomAjax – Ajax domain name searching

Now that you found it hurry to register it before you lose it. (I’m sure you don’t want to get over the whole procedure once again). I’ve compiled a list of some popular registrars to help you with the task. I personally use www.namecheap.com. Reliable, fast and it throws in some extras too but please choose any of the others too… or your personal favorite.

Registrars

1. NameCheap

2. Register.com

3. Network Solutions

Instant Domain Availability check

Wanna get trying domain names right here, right now? Check out the embedded Ajax domain name availability search tool below.