Getting a good domain name

Domain Names - Almost everything is taken

Last time I checked it felt like almost every English dictionary word was taken. When a customer comes, he will not be ready for a compromise. So how you satisfy the customer ?

How does one get a good domain in a world where thousands of domain names are being registered everyday?

1. It must be easy to remember (most important).
2. It must as closely describe the web site content as possible (This can really help you get good rankings on a search engine). Though there are exceptions to this rule (Yahoo.com being the most notable exception).
3. It must be as short as possible.
4. It must be easy to spell. (you don't want your visitors to misspell their way to other sites)
5. It must be sufficiently different from the names of other popular sites.
6. It must NOT be the name used by a famous brand or company.
7. Avoid hyphen/underscore in the domain name

Remember domain names like business.com have fetched millions of dollars when they were sold by their original owners.

Of course you could have many more prefixes and suffixes and therefore a lot more combination for domain name would be possible. This as you will realise could be a lot of handwork.

Sites like qwho.com or betterwhois.com are fast and return detailed information about the registered domain name. Detailed information which includes registrant name and address, helps you contact the owner of the domain name in case you want to purchase the domain name from him/her.

Using register.com one can make whois queries for multiple domain names with one or two keywords at the same time. It automatically constructs domain names and gives you a report within seconds.

Get a .com! and if not, then aim for a .net or a .org. Most major Websites use a .com

Avoid under score, hyphens and digits in the domain name.

Use the common right spelling : Avoid using 0 instead of o in your domain name like yah00.com or g00gle.com

Keep your domain as short as possible with a meaningful name.

Avoid using a prefix or suffix with the domain name. The commonly used prefixes are I (Internet), V (Virtual) and E (Electronic).

Avoid a negative word in your domain name to get traffic.

Never use the name of a registered company in your Domain Name. It may lead to legal issues in future.