So you're ready to launch your website but coming up with that perfect domain name that isn't already taken continues to elude you, eh? Join the club. Year-over-year the number of registered domains grows by about 7%. That means that by this time next year, the current count of nearly 275 million registered domains will be just over 300 million. A great domain name can be found, though. Follow these steps and you'll be on your way.
I can't tell you the number of times I've had a great idea for a domain only to find out it was taken. In 1996 first domain I ever purchased was not exactly the domain named I wanted. A friend and I were putting together an online music calendar for local bands. We wanted, what else, MusicCalendar.com but it was taken by a group in California (and they weren't even using it at the time.) So we settled for Music-Calendar.com and launched our fledgling business. (Note: MusicCalendar.com is for sale if anyone wants it and Music-Calendar.com appears to promote a Japanese energy drink – I have no idea why they’d choose that domain, though.)
With many millions fewer registered domains, back then it was a lot easier to find a domain name, but we still had to adjust the name we wanted. Following the concepts below, you can come up with any number of alternate domain names if your preferred one is already taken. Or you can come up with the perfect name that you just haven't been able to stumble across quite yet.
We're going to make some lists so grab a pencil and paper, use a spreadsheet or word processor, or try out this Domain Name Brainstorming guide (PDF.) The guide comes with the examples below so you can take it with you have have a cup of coffee, glass of wine, or a burger on your lunch hour and still have the examples to help you generate your ideas.
List of Names
My dad once tole me that someone's name is their most important possession. It's how they're identified by themselves and the world. That's true of your business, too.
The infamous Blueberry Behemoth
Put together a list of names that are associated with your business: your name, your business name, your brand identity (if it's different,) your product names, well known slogan and mottos, etc.
For the restaurant Waffles & News, the Harrisons (see the PDF referenced above for more details on this fictional couple and their fictional restaurant) chose: Waffles & News, Robert, Rebecca, Harrison, Robert And Rebecca Harrison, The Harrisons, Blueberry Behemoth, Strawberry Wafcake, and several other well known menu items.
If you have a uniquely named business, this may be all it takes for you to get your domain name. Or you might just get lucky and stumble upon an available gem. But, just in case you come up with some other brilliant domain names, don't stop here. Go ahead and finish the exercise.
List of Professions
There are a lot of electricians in every city around the world. But how many are named Steve? So tacking "the electrician" onto the end of a name could turn into a unique and very memorable domain: SteveTheElectrician.com. FYI ... if you're name is Steve and you're an electrician, I have great news for you: that domain is available. At least as of the time of this writing.
Create a list of professions associated with your business. Using a thesaurus (like www.thesaurus.com,) come up with alternate words for those professions, too.
The Harrisons came up with restaurant, diner, breakfast house, coffee shop, cafe, grill, bistro, chef, cook, journlist, reporter, and newshound.
List of Locations
If you have a brick & mortar business, even if you ideal domain is taken you might be able to append a location that would differentiate it. Especially since your location would be an important keyword for finding your business (see List of Keywords below.)
Write a list of all locations associated with your business: city (or cities if you have multiple locations,) states, regions, neighborhoods, and even streets are good ways to identify and differentiate your business.
The Harrisons selected Lubbock, Texas, West Texas, Llano Estacado, South Plains, Depot District (a cultural district within city,) 19th Street, and Crickets Ave.
List of Keywords
While you might think of yourself as a lawyer, chef, or plumber, someone might not Google those terms. Instead, they might be searching for "I want to sue my partner," "best gourmet meal in town," or "water is backing up into my shower." Sure, your blog posts will help make sure those words and phrases are a part of your website, but having them in the domain name can be a good tactic, too.
Think of all the words associated with your business: generic names for your products, verbs associated with your services, or just any word that you might use if you were searching for your business but didn't know the name.
The Harrisons wrote down breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, meal, food, waffle, waffles, news, media, headlines, eggs, eggs Benedict, cuisine, gourmet, and fare.
Put Your Domain Name Together
I like to lay the lists next to each other in a row and stare at them while trying to assemble domain names. I've seen other people do it with Post-It notes and still others use fancy list generation programs to help them out. Whatever method you select, start building short, memorable domain names for your website. They might be just one word or phrase from one of your lists or they might be a mash of several. Don't get too hung up on a cool domain name at the beginning. Keep building the list until you've exhausted everything that sounds reasonable. Then look through them. There's a winner in there somewhere.
The Harrisons created their final list with the following entries: WafflesAndNews (their brand and business name,) DepotWaffleHouse, WafflesNews19th, WafflesNewsCricketsAve, LubbockGourmetWaffles, StrawberryWafCake (one of their biggest selling products,) and BlueberryBehemouth (another top seller.) Their first choice was the name they'd selected for the business. As it turned out, it was available and now that website is live. Note: the business Waffles & News is fictional but there is a website for it since I built it for a group exercise. If Waffles & News were real, I'd eat there all the time.
The Quick Takeaway
There are a lot of ways to come up with a domain name. This is just one that has worked for me and lots of other people. Your first choice should always be your business name, your personal name, or your brand. But if that's taken, this exercise can help you find a close 2nd place finisher that might even be a bit more descriptive.
What's your domain name and how did you come up with it?