The Opportunity

I have many websites and keep building more. Finding cool domain names is constantly a challenge. All three- and four-letter and most meaningful five- and six-letter domain names are already taken. Where to find new names? Here you will learn some simple techniques for creating great domain names.

The Problem

When needed a new domain name, I would do it the old fashion way. We would sit down with my wife in front of the computer and would come up with the words and word variations. I would plug each name candidate into a domain name search tool to see if name is taken.

You can do it at almost all hosting companies before you open an account. My favorites today are BlueHost and GoDaddy. We used to use go to Network Solutions, but after learning about their crazy reservation system we stopped.

This manual domain registration approach is no longer effective. It takes too long and almost anything you come up with is already taken. We need a different way to come up with domain names and automate checking name availability.

The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang

We often used a Microsoft Word to quickly find the synonyms for words. Open Microsoft Word, type in a word of interest and press Shift-F7. A window comes up that shows the synonyms. This used to work well, but not anymore.

The domain names with the common words in the English vocabulary are already taken. But there are many more colorful words in the English language than what we use daily. Open up The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang and browse it. Alongside all sort of obscenity and vulgar you find here, there are also many short, catchy and colorful words – many are very appropriate for the domain name.

The Domain Name Generator

Manually generating word candidates and checking the domain name availability one by one is a big waste of time. It is much more effective to use a domain name generator like MakeWords. It will quickly create numerous name variations and will bulk check domain name availability.

Step1. Here is how I do it. Let’s say we are interested in a new domain name around the word “phone”. Got to MakeWord web site and select “Keyword Lists” tab. Type in the “phone” into the “keyword” field, select “Verbs: Research” in the “List” drop down, select “Show only available domains” checkbox and oppress “Search” button.

Step 2. Review definitions and synonyms. For the word “phone” we have the following: telephone, phones, telephones, cellular, wireless, telephony, telecoms, handset, telecom, cable. Very nice.

Step 3. Review the list of generated domain names. Notice that total of 34 variations were created and checked, but only 13 are currently available and shown. Notice that at least two candidates: PhoneConduct.com and PhoneExperiment.com are quite good.

Step 4. Continue to Extended Search, which allows you to combine many other standard nouns, verbs, adjectives, suffixes and affixes to your keyword.

MakeWords is good, but not the only one domain name generator out there. The Web Squeeze names five great sites for domain name generation: BustAName.com, DomainExposer, dotomator.com, domain-generator.net and nameboy.com. Many sites for you to choose from, but the concept is the same. Enjoy!

The Final Word

Realize that anywhere there is a serious competition - the computers ought to be used for competitive advantage. It is not possible to compete effectively without a help from the machine. If you are about to enter the competitive environment make sure you have some Software Secret Weapons that play on your side and help you compete!