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Profile photo for Pat McCarthy

Choosing a company or product name goes beyond just finding an available domain name. However, I know that for most web startups finding a good domain name is really the major piece. Here are the factors to consider:

1. Logic: Does the name make sense for your product or business? Obviously this isn't a hard and fast rule as there are exceptions of companies with strange names that are unrelated to their actual business that have succeeded such as delicious, flickr, etc. Additionally, there are some names that very loosely related such as Google (math) and Yahoo (feeling of excitement), but

Choosing a company or product name goes beyond just finding an available domain name. However, I know that for most web startups finding a good domain name is really the major piece. Here are the factors to consider:

1. Logic: Does the name make sense for your product or business? Obviously this isn't a hard and fast rule as there are exceptions of companies with strange names that are unrelated to their actual business that have succeeded such as delicious, flickr, etc. Additionally, there are some names that very loosely related such as Google (math) and Yahoo (feeling of excitement), but are still basically nonsense words.

2. Length: The shorter the better, but don't be so focused on length that you change it a bizarre name that doesn't make sense like frtb.com. Additionally, a one word name is usually easier/better than two or three word name.

3. Spelling: Once again there are examples of companies with misspelled names that have succeeded (Digg, Flickr), but why add this additional hurdle? How many people hear about Digg and Flickr from a friend and go type in dig.com or flicker.com? That's lost traffic you may never get back.

4. Domain extensions: You'll also want to try and acquire as many of the other domain extensions besides .com. These include .net, .org, .info, .biz, .ws, .me., .io, .us, and if you are going to be global and have sites in other countries you should consider those as well. If you can't acquire the .com, I'd recommend finding a name where you can find it instead. Once again, there are a few examples of companies like del.icio.us that managed to succeed, but note that they did buy the domain name delicious.com when they had enough money to pay the price later on.

5. Ability to pivot: Many companies end up changing their business model dramatically during their life. If your name is too specific to one particular model, it may constrain you from pivoting to the right model later on.

6. Don't be too generic: All the above advice would seem to point people to a simple one word name. While this can be great if you can secure such a domain name and also not have trademark issues, there can be a downside to your name not having any personality or not being memorable if it's too boring. Luckily, unless you're willing to write a huge check to acquire a short one word name, you'll have to compromise on one of the categories above.

The bottom line is that naming is tricky without having to worry about a domain name as well. Combine the two of them, and you've got a difficult challenge that requires significant thought and research.

Profile photo for Quora User

Choosing a great name for your startup is trickier than most founders and brand managers believe. The best brand names wander into our subconscious, unnoticed. They assimilate smoothly into different parts of our lives and take on real meaning, whether you're talking about jumping into an Uber, going on a Tinder date, or Whatsapping a friend.

Still, there is more to a great name than just being memorable. A great name needs to offer the right foundation for a company to build upon. It also has to be available.

Here are some steps that might help in naming your startup:

1. Start by knowing your au

Choosing a great name for your startup is trickier than most founders and brand managers believe. The best brand names wander into our subconscious, unnoticed. They assimilate smoothly into different parts of our lives and take on real meaning, whether you're talking about jumping into an Uber, going on a Tinder date, or Whatsapping a friend.

Still, there is more to a great name than just being memorable. A great name needs to offer the right foundation for a company to build upon. It also has to be available.

Here are some steps that might help in naming your startup:

1. Start by knowing your audience.

Starting with a clear idea of exactly what message you want to send, and whom you want your brand to resonate with will help you first choose a style (preeminent, playful, pragmatic, modern, intriguing, powerful) which will be the north star on the road to choosing a brand name.

For example, if you are selling consumer-based products, and your target consumers are millennials or generations Y or Z, you will have a bit more flexibility to think outside the box with intriguing names like Urban Decay or playful names like Squatty Potty. However, if you are a corporate company aiming for baby boomers, you'd be smart to choose something more classic like Stone Eagle Advisors or Zenith Capital.

Explore our expert-curated selection of intriguing, powerful, pragmatic, and classic names. We have hand-picked the best names on the web for just about any venture! Explore now.

2. Focus on your brand, not business

Before brainstorming name ideas, write down some traits that are unique to your brand. Many startups make the mistake of explaining their features or business in the name. This leads to boring and dull names. For example, if you write:

“We are opening a high-end seafood restaurant in Everett, Washington.”

Your name ideas will likely have these undertones:

  • High-end = classic name
  • Everett = local restaurant and location themes

This may - but likely will not - fit your vision.

If you write

“We are opening a unique, hip, seafood restaurant. The decor will be minimalist. The food will be top-notch, but the ambiance will be more casual.”

Your name ideas will likely have undertones that more accurately represent your brand:

  • Unique, hip = fresh, modern name
  • Minimalist decor = straightforward name

3. Visualize the key ideas

The next step is to come up with the different ideas and images to convey in your name which are inherently linked to your brand. Instead of focusing on the descriptive element -- i.e., what you sell -- focus on expressing one or two other core concepts that are essential to your brand, culture and values.

For example, if you are a food-delivery startup, your ideas could convey images of healthy living, ethically sourced products or great customer service and quick delivery time.

4. Know the danger zones

Once you have your style, themes, and purpose clearly laid out, it’s time to really start experimenting. But before trying out different names, you should know which areas to avoid. With so many trademarks out there, the freedom to use almost any particular English word is becoming slim. The common danger zones are:

  • Single English words
  • Power words -- like force, united, omni, icon
  • Symbolic words - like bridge, spring, sage, rocket

But just because you can’t use one stand-alone word doesn’t mean you can’t combine these words into something original. Some types of names that have been attached to powerful brands include:

  • Transmutations -- Zappos, Zumba
  • This and that -- Haute and Bold, Crate & Barrel
  • Compounds -- SnapChat, WordPress
  • Visual Story -- Ice Mountain, Red Bull
  • Blends -- Groupon, Instagram

While compounds and transmutations are great, you should say the words out loud to make sure they stay within the following three guidelines:

  • Is the name easy to say? It should roll off the tongue, rather than twist it.
  • Is the name easy to hear? Consumers should be able to hear your brand name then quickly type it into Google to find you.
  • Is the name easy to spell? Simple misspellings such as Flickr, Xero and Lyft are much easier to trademark, but if they are hard to spell, problems could result.

5. Harness the collective genius of Crowdsourcing!

Considering the more than 6.7 million trademark applications to date, and the fact that there are only 171,476 words in the English language, choosing a great new name that’s awesome and available requires creativity.

What’s better than one creative mind? 300,000! At Atom, we have built the world’s #1 naming community, with over 300,000 creatives from across the globe. By combining crowdsourcing, AI, and gamification, we have not only made the naming process fun, we are disrupting the traditional agency model.

Not only can you get hundreds of ideas from our naming community, we also help you test those ideas with your target audience to determine which names resonate the most with your customers. Our unique naming process also includes all aspects of critical validation (e.g. URL availability, Linguistics Analysis and comprehensive Trademark screening).

We were recently recognized by Inc Magazine as one of the most innovative companies in the Inc 500 list.

Take a look at some naming examples from Atom’s creative community.

If you want to see even more name ideas for your inspiration, feel free to explore over 100,000+ brand names created by our naming community.

Here’s how you can get naming support from Atom.com:

Option 1: If you’d like to browse names, our Premium Name Marketplace features over 30,000 names hand-picked by our branding experts. The AI-powered search will help you find ones that you’ll love quickly and easily.

Option 2: You can work directly with the largest naming community on the globe through our one-of-a-kind agency-style crowdsourcing process. If you’d like to learn more about our naming contests, click here.

Happy naming, and remember: When it comes to naming a brand, fortune favors the brave!

Profile photo for Patrick Breitenbach

I believe the best bang for your buck is putting together two (one syllable) words that are loosely related to what your service does. For example (not all strictly following the rule): StubHub, Facebook, PayPal, FriendFeed, FourSquare, Salesforce, Craigslist, YouTube, LinkedIn, Groupon, ZenDesk, WordPress, BetFair, NetFlix, DropBox, FlipBoard, TellMe, MySpace, MeetUp, TechCrunch, QuantCast. You can likely figure out a "good name" and it won't be too expensive (maybe free) to secure. Common one word names are great but very expensive. Instead, get clever: Skype, Yelp, Joost, Yammer, Geni, Twit

I believe the best bang for your buck is putting together two (one syllable) words that are loosely related to what your service does. For example (not all strictly following the rule): StubHub, Facebook, PayPal, FriendFeed, FourSquare, Salesforce, Craigslist, YouTube, LinkedIn, Groupon, ZenDesk, WordPress, BetFair, NetFlix, DropBox, FlipBoard, TellMe, MySpace, MeetUp, TechCrunch, QuantCast. You can likely figure out a "good name" and it won't be too expensive (maybe free) to secure. Common one word names are great but very expensive. Instead, get clever: Skype, Yelp, Joost, Yammer, Geni, Twitter, Loopt, Digg (but be careful with the mis-spellings).

The Igor naming guide is a good read before you go through the naming process. I would recommend reading the shorter version: http://www.igorinternational.com/process/naming-guide-product-company-names.php

Profile photo for Joanne Ho-Lee

I would say that your domain would depend on what type of business you're in. Like Mike Russell suggested above, if you have a specific type of customer in mind, you could register an entire phrase like "iwanttonamemystartup.com" or "adviceonnamingstartup.com" for example, and you'll be the top on Google's page when someone searches for that phrase.

If you're aiming for short 2 word domains, I would suggest using the following websites to help you find something unique.

1.) http://poets.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/wn
Find similar words using this Thesaurus on steroids.

2.) http://domai.nr
Type in a p

I would say that your domain would depend on what type of business you're in. Like Mike Russell suggested above, if you have a specific type of customer in mind, you could register an entire phrase like "iwanttonamemystartup.com" or "adviceonnamingstartup.com" for example, and you'll be the top on Google's page when someone searches for that phrase.

If you're aiming for short 2 word domains, I would suggest using the following websites to help you find something unique.

1.) http://poets.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/wn
Find similar words using this Thesaurus on steroids.

2.) http://domai.nr
Type in a potential word or phrase, and it'll give you some inspiration. Their "domain availability" check is slightly inaccurate however...

3.) http://www.morewords.com/ends-with/io
Need to find out what words end in letters similar to those obscure country level domains? *.io, *.re *.ly etc.. Replace the last 2 letters at the back with whatever country domain that you like.

4.) http://iwantmyname.com
Run your word and cross check with multiple domain extensions.

5.) http://brandstack.com/logo-design/
Buy a logo along with a domain. Some of the designs have an accompanying domain name which would complete your branding in one swift step. Looking at the logos would help you get some ideas too.

6.) http://www.dotomator.com/
A domain name generator. Helps to combine different words together. You might actually come across something useful.

Where do I start?

I’m a huge financial nerd, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time talking to people about their money habits.

Here are the biggest mistakes people are making and how to fix them:

Not having a separate high interest savings account

Having a separate account allows you to see the results of all your hard work and keep your money separate so you're less tempted to spend it.

Plus with rates above 5.00%, the interest you can earn compared to most banks really adds up.

Here is a list of the top savings accounts available today. Deposit $5 before moving on because this is one of th

Where do I start?

I’m a huge financial nerd, and have spent an embarrassing amount of time talking to people about their money habits.

Here are the biggest mistakes people are making and how to fix them:

Not having a separate high interest savings account

Having a separate account allows you to see the results of all your hard work and keep your money separate so you're less tempted to spend it.

Plus with rates above 5.00%, the interest you can earn compared to most banks really adds up.

Here is a list of the top savings accounts available today. Deposit $5 before moving on because this is one of the biggest mistakes and easiest ones to fix.

Overpaying on car insurance

You’ve heard it a million times before, but the average American family still overspends by $417/year on car insurance.

If you’ve been with the same insurer for years, chances are you are one of them.

Pull up Coverage.com, a free site that will compare prices for you, answer the questions on the page, and it will show you how much you could be saving.

That’s it. You’ll likely be saving a bunch of money. Here’s a link to give it a try.

Consistently being in debt

If you’ve got $10K+ in debt (credit cards…medical bills…anything really) you could use a debt relief program and potentially reduce by over 20%.

Here’s how to see if you qualify:

Head over to this Debt Relief comparison website here, then simply answer the questions to see if you qualify.

It’s as simple as that. You’ll likely end up paying less than you owed before and you could be debt free in as little as 2 years.

Missing out on free money to invest

It’s no secret that millionaires love investing, but for the rest of us, it can seem out of reach.

Times have changed. There are a number of investing platforms that will give you a bonus to open an account and get started. All you have to do is open the account and invest at least $25, and you could get up to $1000 in bonus.

Pretty sweet deal right? Here is a link to some of the best options.

Having bad credit

A low credit score can come back to bite you in so many ways in the future.

From that next rental application to getting approved for any type of loan or credit card, if you have a bad history with credit, the good news is you can fix it.

Head over to BankRate.com and answer a few questions to see if you qualify. It only takes a few minutes and could save you from a major upset down the line.

How to get started

Hope this helps! Here are the links to get started:

Have a separate savings account
Stop overpaying for car insurance
Finally get out of debt
Start investing with a free bonus
Fix your credit

Profile photo for Benoit Fallenius

Adrian Aoun and Joel Postman - Trademarkability is a good business advice from both of you. Even if you don't plan to register a trademark (too expensive, generic domain name), you should check that you are not messing with somebody else's trademark.

We have just launched a free trademark similarity search for the US and European market: http://www.markify.com. You can now fast and easy test your new name there and avoid future conflicts. Make it the last check before you buy an expensive domain name.

Profile photo for Quora User

Try and make your new primary name something easy to remember and easy to spell. You also need to think about a domain strategy that might include longtails in your chosen vertical to 301 to specific pages in your site and pass authority. These longtails can be used in specific PPC marketing campaigns to help lower the CPC and drive up the QI thru an exact keyword match.

Profile photo for Johnny M

I once met a man who drove a modest Toyota Corolla, wore beat-up sneakers, and looked like he’d lived the same way for decades. But what really caught my attention was when he casually mentioned he was retired at 45 with more money than he could ever spend. I couldn’t help but ask, “How did you do it?”

He smiled and said, “The secret to saving money is knowing where to look for the waste—and car insurance is one of the easiest places to start.”

He then walked me through a few strategies that I’d never thought of before. Here’s what I learned:

1. Make insurance companies fight for your business

Mos

I once met a man who drove a modest Toyota Corolla, wore beat-up sneakers, and looked like he’d lived the same way for decades. But what really caught my attention was when he casually mentioned he was retired at 45 with more money than he could ever spend. I couldn’t help but ask, “How did you do it?”

He smiled and said, “The secret to saving money is knowing where to look for the waste—and car insurance is one of the easiest places to start.”

He then walked me through a few strategies that I’d never thought of before. Here’s what I learned:

1. Make insurance companies fight for your business

Most people just stick with the same insurer year after year, but that’s what the companies are counting on. This guy used tools like Coverage.com to compare rates every time his policy came up for renewal. It only took him a few minutes, and he said he’d saved hundreds each year by letting insurers compete for his business.

Click here to try Coverage.com and see how much you could save today.

2. Take advantage of safe driver programs

He mentioned that some companies reward good drivers with significant discounts. By signing up for a program that tracked his driving habits for just a month, he qualified for a lower rate. “It’s like a test where you already know the answers,” he joked.

You can find a list of insurance companies offering safe driver discounts here and start saving on your next policy.

3. Bundle your policies

He bundled his auto insurance with his home insurance and saved big. “Most companies will give you a discount if you combine your policies with them. It’s easy money,” he explained. If you haven’t bundled yet, ask your insurer what discounts they offer—or look for new ones that do.

4. Drop coverage you don’t need

He also emphasized reassessing coverage every year. If your car isn’t worth much anymore, it might be time to drop collision or comprehensive coverage. “You shouldn’t be paying more to insure the car than it’s worth,” he said.

5. Look for hidden fees or overpriced add-ons

One of his final tips was to avoid extras like roadside assistance, which can often be purchased elsewhere for less. “It’s those little fees you don’t think about that add up,” he warned.

The Secret? Stop Overpaying

The real “secret” isn’t about cutting corners—it’s about being proactive. Car insurance companies are counting on you to stay complacent, but with tools like Coverage.com and a little effort, you can make sure you’re only paying for what you need—and saving hundreds in the process.

If you’re ready to start saving, take a moment to:

Saving money on auto insurance doesn’t have to be complicated—you just have to know where to look. If you'd like to support my work, feel free to use the links in this post—they help me continue creating valuable content.

Profile photo for Quora User

Just some of the many:

-Trademarkability in your target countries
-Ability to buy the .com, .net. .org, etc. for your domain
-Easy of remembering it and spelling it when heard

Then again, don't take my advice, i work for wavii.com :-)

Profile photo for Tim Olson

First, keywords.

Sure. You can list a ton of one word url’s of famous brands. We will assume you have neither resources or time to build out such a brand.

So keywords are even more important than your business name.

Second, be ready to buy several TLD names, but then rank only one.

You didn’t say if your business was local, but we can start there. Best is going to be citykeyword-dot com. If your keyword is 2 or 3 real words, fine. But not more than 3.

Example: Our company is Dent Terminator but main url is TulsaHailRepair dot com.

If you want to rank local this is best practice.

You will also buy and

First, keywords.

Sure. You can list a ton of one word url’s of famous brands. We will assume you have neither resources or time to build out such a brand.

So keywords are even more important than your business name.

Second, be ready to buy several TLD names, but then rank only one.

You didn’t say if your business was local, but we can start there. Best is going to be citykeyword-dot com. If your keyword is 2 or 3 real words, fine. But not more than 3.

Example: Our company is Dent Terminator but main url is TulsaHailRepair dot com.

If you want to rank local this is best practice.

You will also buy and keep other keyword+local names as well. If you buy names at Namecheap.com, they will let you have these extra names all resolve to your main site.

You can also use them in advertising and tracking as well.

If you want to play with names and keywords, Domain Name Search is fun and fast.

Once you settle on a name, always link back to it on all social media sites. Be sure and use https in front of it where allowed. This lets it resolve as a link. Especially important on the you tubes.

Profile photo for Metis Chan

With today’s modern day tools there can be an overwhelming amount of tools to choose from to build your own website. It’s important to keep in mind these considerations when deciding on which is the right fit for you including ease of use, SEO controls, high performance hosting, flexible content management tools and scalability. Webflow allows you to build with the power of code — without writing any.

You can take control of HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript in a completely visual canvas — and let Webflow translate your design into clean, semantic code that’s ready to publish to the web, or hand off

With today’s modern day tools there can be an overwhelming amount of tools to choose from to build your own website. It’s important to keep in mind these considerations when deciding on which is the right fit for you including ease of use, SEO controls, high performance hosting, flexible content management tools and scalability. Webflow allows you to build with the power of code — without writing any.

You can take control of HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript in a completely visual canvas — and let Webflow translate your design into clean, semantic code that’s ready to publish to the web, or hand off to developers.

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Discover why our global customers love and use Webflow | Create a custom website.

Profile photo for Jason Paden

There’s only one thing to consider…

-value

Is your domain going to be worth money

if said startup follows the other 90% of

startups and closes the doors

for good within the first 4 years.

So that’s leads to the question..

“What makes a domain Valuable?”

  1. …buy a brandable domain.

Look at Google, did they use GoogleSearchEngine .com

Did Facebook use facebooksocialmedia .com

No.

2. Make it short. Don’t go over ten characters,

seriously…

So many people make the mistake of buying

Exact match Keywords as domain names because

the CPC is high.

So Dumb. Just because the CPC for “Mesothelioma Legal Help Center

is super s

There’s only one thing to consider…

-value

Is your domain going to be worth money

if said startup follows the other 90% of

startups and closes the doors

for good within the first 4 years.

So that’s leads to the question..

“What makes a domain Valuable?”

  1. …buy a brandable domain.

Look at Google, did they use GoogleSearchEngine .com

Did Facebook use facebooksocialmedia .com

No.

2. Make it short. Don’t go over ten characters,

seriously…

So many people make the mistake of buying

Exact match Keywords as domain names because

the CPC is high.

So Dumb. Just because the CPC for “Mesothelioma Legal Help Center

is super super high doesn’t mean that it’s a valuable domain name.

But watch someone is going to read this and go buy.. oh wait someone

already did…wow

mesotheliomalegalhelpcenter .com is a thing…

3. Go with a .com

You can get other TLD’s and the domain

still be valuable, even ccTLD’s and gTLD’s

can hold massive value.

But the likelihood of that happening to

people that don’t understand domaining very well

dwindles everyday.

Stick with what works .com retains value.

“Brandable, Short domains with the tld .com, that’s the best way to go for Startups.”

***Don’t Startup until you’re between the ages of 39–50. At that age the likelihood of the Startup becoming a 10 year + running company is like 5x as likely. In your 20’s get a job at a huge corporation and learn. Treat it as your road to Mastery. Plus you’ll learn things that premature startup owners never learn if they haven’t experienced working for large companies. SCALE.***

Profile photo for Dan Goldin

I would opt for something shorter rather than longer unless it's easily remembered/spelled. Honestly, don't worry about the name too much and just make a kickass product.

If you still can't think of a clever name, you can take a look at some obscure extensions like ".io" and add them on to regular sounding words.

Profile photo for Quora User

The name matters! I’ve been building websites since I was 17. The following are considerations I take when doing domain research for Startersoft clients:

  • Length: Keep it short!
  • Words: Keep them easy-to-spell!
  • Searchability: Make the combination unique!

If you cannot find something short, consider creating a term. Avoid using words like e x o t i c, a d u l t and x x x for sites for internet filtering purposes. Sketchy words may create email related problems down the road, too.

Profile photo for Jonathan Reese Wilhelm

Make sure to choose a name that you can register for on your domain, facebook, twitter, and any other online sites you may use.

Profile photo for Michael Gorman

I am providing my opinion here, I have worked in the field of information technology since 1995, I have been active and interested in the internet for over 20 years, so it is up to you if you regard my opinions as being useful or not; I always advise people to read widely, and to not take only one view point into consideration.

Domain names are tricky, there is an enormous range of opinion, urban myth, technical double-talk, everyone seems to have something to say about them.

The idea that you should only select a .com TLD is very common, this was promoted in so many forums and blogs. The .com o

I am providing my opinion here, I have worked in the field of information technology since 1995, I have been active and interested in the internet for over 20 years, so it is up to you if you regard my opinions as being useful or not; I always advise people to read widely, and to not take only one view point into consideration.

Domain names are tricky, there is an enormous range of opinion, urban myth, technical double-talk, everyone seems to have something to say about them.

The idea that you should only select a .com TLD is very common, this was promoted in so many forums and blogs. The .com of course is very popular because it was the original domain association, we automatically think of it.

The situation these days is that there are now lots of TLD options, and it does not matter much which one you choose, in terms of ranking, or performance on the world wide web, you can read white papers and so forth on the topic.

I think you should consider a domain name as being like a brand name, or a creative title for your project.

It obviously does not matter much if the name matches your subject, Google, Twitter, YouTube are hardly exact match names!

We have all seen people striving to exactly match their business area with their name, we come across such offerings as: watchmoviesonlinefree - and other unsavory spammy sounding places!

I think we need to have a branded, niche specific title which offers a friendly, reasonable invitation to visit. Creative names are cool!

For example I called my digital agency “iWritebox” - which is certainly not an immediate association with web development, or internet media, but it suggests ‘Writing’ of course. I am looking for the long term game, not the reflex action of a money hungry hacker!

Gary Vaynerchuk chose his own surname - vaynermedia - to use, and this also is a great choice, your name/area dot whatever.

I had a quick look at the current options for TLD’s, and there are now over 1,000!

Are you telling me that all of these are ‘useless’ and only the .com is legitimate?

Nonsense!

I think we need to think about:

  • The subject area we work with
  • The people who ‘inhabit’ that area
  • Our own sense of humor & aesthetics
  • What we feel comfortable with for the long term

We need to avoid being too hasty, or too whimsical, that can come back to haunt us.

A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet! As the saying goes - names are probably not as important as we like to think.

Some people stress and strain about names, domain names included, think of the drama around naming a new baby!

You just need to settle on something, choose your favorite and live with it for a week or so, then decide if you can work under the name, because it will become your identity, your presence.

Profile photo for Alexander Jarvis

One: is it available…

Honestly, naming is such a waste of time. I hate it. Everything is gone.

Delivery Hero was almost called the furious fork.

Otherwise, you want to optimise for:

  1. Memorability
  2. Can you say it to someone without spelling it for them
  3. Keep short as possible
  4. SEO benefit if it relates to your industry. I managed to get perfectpitchdeck for pitch decks…
  5. Get the .com not something else like .io (ideally)
  6. Don’t pay too much for it! You can always rebrand it you become a big deal
  7. Can you build a brand around the name if you are consumer focused (what does the logo and icon look like)

Honestly, f

One: is it available…

Honestly, naming is such a waste of time. I hate it. Everything is gone.

Delivery Hero was almost called the furious fork.

Otherwise, you want to optimise for:

  1. Memorability
  2. Can you say it to someone without spelling it for them
  3. Keep short as possible
  4. SEO benefit if it relates to your industry. I managed to get perfectpitchdeck for pitch decks…
  5. Get the .com not something else like .io (ideally)
  6. Don’t pay too much for it! You can always rebrand it you become a big deal
  7. Can you build a brand around the name if you are consumer focused (what does the logo and icon look like)

Honestly, focus on execution. Get a good enough name and focus on traction. There is just soooo much to do and naming is a pain in the ass.

Profile photo for Joel Postman

As

Quora User

points out, trademarkability is something to consider. In the U.S., you are more likely to get a trademark on what is called a "fanciful" name than a regular English-word name. This is why you see trademarks with words like "Kleen" substituted for "Clean" and "Kw...

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There are many different options for website hosting, with a wide variety of price points and functionality. Knowing what you need, what types of website hosting are available, and what to ask a prospective web host will help you find a web hosting provider that is a good fit for your company.

The six main considerations for choosing a website hosting option are speed, security, support, scalability, price, and hosting environment type.

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just make sure to choose a domain name that is easy to remember, reflects your brand, and is easy to spell and pronounce. It should also be unique and not too similar to other established brands in your industry.

Today, the majority wants to register short domains in popular extensions (ie, .com, .net, and .org). But these popular domains are getting hard to register. for this, get.it.com is providing a third-level domain, ".it.com". This can be a good option if you are looking for a one word domain. You can use this extension as an acronym for Information technology, Italy, Income tax, Item, I

just make sure to choose a domain name that is easy to remember, reflects your brand, and is easy to spell and pronounce. It should also be unique and not too similar to other established brands in your industry.

Today, the majority wants to register short domains in popular extensions (ie, .com, .net, and .org). But these popular domains are getting hard to register. for this, get.it.com is providing a third-level domain, ".it.com". This can be a good option if you are looking for a one word domain. You can use this extension as an acronym for Information technology, Italy, Income tax, Item, Internet Technology, Instructor, Inspection Traveler, and so on.

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Choosing the right domain name is crucial for your success online. A domain name is actually your business name. I don't blame you if you take more than a couple of days to choose one as it is the key.

So you never leave a chance to regret in future while selecting a domain name.

Tips to Choose a domain name

1. Choose a Brandable Domain Name: The domain name which you choose should be a brandable one. It should not be a niche-specific one even if you start a micro-niche blog. Because you will face difficulties when you scale your blog in future.

2. Always Choose a .com Domain Extension: Always rem

Choosing the right domain name is crucial for your success online. A domain name is actually your business name. I don't blame you if you take more than a couple of days to choose one as it is the key.

So you never leave a chance to regret in future while selecting a domain name.

Tips to Choose a domain name

1. Choose a Brandable Domain Name: The domain name which you choose should be a brandable one. It should not be a niche-specific one even if you start a micro-niche blog. Because you will face difficulties when you scale your blog in future.

2. Always Choose a .com Domain Extension: Always remember to choose a .com extension as the majority of the blog has a .com extension. Also, there is a psychological factor because most of the people type .com after a domain name.

3. Short and Easy to Remember: Your domain name must be short and easy to remember. A long domain name is hard to remember, and there are chances to make typos while they type a long domain name.

4. Avoid Hyphens and Numbers: It is not recommended to include numbers and hyphens on a domain name as there is some chance for typos.

5. Use Domain Name Suggestion Tools: If you find it hard to find a domain name for your business, then you can use any of the domain name suggestion tools to choose a perfect domain name for your blog.
Leandomainsearch is a fantastic tool which can suggest you some perfect domain name on your niche for free. Try this tool before you choose a domain name for your blog.

6. Name Availability in Social Media: Social Media is an excellent source of the targeted audience. It is favourable to have an exact name of your brand on social media for your online success. So you must check the availability of your brand name on social media before you register a domain name.
Use tools like
Namechecker to check the availability of your brand name on various social media platforms.

7. Check Whois Database: Checking the Whois database is essential while choosing a domain name for your blog. It helps you to understand whether it is a new domain name or dropped domain name. Do not select a domain which is dropped multiple times in the past. The chances are high it to be a Google Penalized or Banned domain. So avoid such domain names.

8. Check Wayback Machine: Wayback Machine is a free resource that you should check before buying a domain name, especially if it is dropped previously. It gives you some valuable insight into your domain name. Wayback Machine shows you an old version of your chosen domain name. It gives you an idea about the blog niche, design and layout.

9. Do Not Repeat the Same Alphabet Together: Make sure you do not repeat the same alphabet on the domain name as it increases the chance for typos.

10. Do not Include Other Brand Names on Domain Name: Make sure you do not include brand names on your domain name. It may lead to legal actions against you because of Copyright Issues.

For Example: Do not book domain name like whatsappstatus .com, Facebookstatus. com, etc.

11. Book Quicky: You should book your domain name with a reliable domain registrar before it taken by someone else. Also, make sure that you book your domain name with a reliable and trusted domain registrar to avoid any problem in the future.

I think this article was helpful for you in choosing the best domain name for your blog.

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You already know how crucial it is to get the right domain name, so let's go over some key suggestions to get you going. With the help of the expert advice provided here, you can select the best domain name for your company or website. A unique domain name helps your brand's marketing initiatives in addition to making your website stand out. But it takes more than just a beautiful domain name to launch a website. The first thing to do is think of a memorable company name.

Top-level domain (TLD) extensions are the final characters in your URL that come just after your website's name. Some of the

You already know how crucial it is to get the right domain name, so let's go over some key suggestions to get you going. With the help of the expert advice provided here, you can select the best domain name for your company or website. A unique domain name helps your brand's marketing initiatives in addition to making your website stand out. But it takes more than just a beautiful domain name to launch a website. The first thing to do is think of a memorable company name.

Top-level domain (TLD) extensions are the final characters in your URL that come just after your website's name. Some of the most well-liked TLDs are /com, /org, and /net. Undoubtedly, /com is the most widely used TLD out there. That being said, if the/com domain name you've been eyeing is already taken, it's not the end of the world. Other TLDs like /XYZ, /shop, /club, /online, /art, /inc, and even. the party is growing in popularity. If you are in the e-commerce business, you may use a domain like /biz or /shop; you can even use/marketing or/technology if you want to be more particular about what you have to offer. Country codes, or ccTLDs, are also often utilized. A growing number of businesses have begun to use ccTLDs like /co/UK (England), /io (Indian Ocean), /ai (Anguilla), and /co (Colombia) in recent years.

Do you want users to be able to find your website when they search on Google? Creating articles is not the only use for keywords. Where the content of your website appears in search results and how search engines interpret it are both influenced by your domain name. You must try your hardest to include pertinent keywords in your domain as a result. Select domain-specific keywords that are pertinent to your website and your intended audience. Search engine optimization (SEO) strategies can be helpful if you're struggling for inspiration. Apart from Google Keyword Planner, which is a complimentary utility that facilitates fundamental keyword research like analyzing words based on search volume, Semrush, Moz, and Ahrefs are respectable and well-liked choices.

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Brett Fox gives some good information.

Personally, I think it’s subjective, and because it’s subjective, if you care, you can change it later.

These days the most important things are:

  • Is it easy to remember?
  • I it easy to spell?
  • Is the domain name miraculously not taken?

If you can answer “yes” to all three of these, then you have a winner, until you decide you need to change the name to be “more meaningful”.

The whole “more meaningful name” thing is an existential crisis that most companies go through at least once, when they aren’t getting traction on anything else, and so they decide to exercise c

Brett Fox gives some good information.

Personally, I think it’s subjective, and because it’s subjective, if you care, you can change it later.

These days the most important things are:

  • Is it easy to remember?
  • I it easy to spell?
  • Is the domain name miraculously not taken?

If you can answer “yes” to all three of these, then you have a winner, until you decide you need to change the name to be “more meaningful”.

The whole “more meaningful name” thing is an existential crisis that most companies go through at least once, when they aren’t getting traction on anything else, and so they decide to exercise control over something where they actually have control.

It’s like a person who obsessively cleans their house, because it’s the only thing they have control over in their life.

Pick something that meets the three major criteria listed above, and you’re probably not going to angst over it too much.

And if you find that’s not the case, and the angst is rising… go clean your sink.

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As an internet marketing and make money online expert with 10 years of experience, I have come across numerous individuals looking to establish their online presence. One crucial aspect of building a successful website is choosing a good and unique domain name.

Here, I will provide you with valuable tips to help you select a domain name that stands out and resonates with your target audience:

  1. Reflect your brand identity: Your domain name should align with your web design company's brand and mission. Consider your company's values, target audience, and unique selling points. Incorporate relevant

As an internet marketing and make money online expert with 10 years of experience, I have come across numerous individuals looking to establish their online presence. One crucial aspect of building a successful website is choosing a good and unique domain name.

Here, I will provide you with valuable tips to help you select a domain name that stands out and resonates with your target audience:

  1. Reflect your brand identity: Your domain name should align with your web design company's brand and mission. Consider your company's values, target audience, and unique selling points. Incorporate relevant keywords that represent your expertise and industry.
  2. Keep it concise and memorable: Aim for a domain name that is short, simple, and easy to remember. A concise domain name is more likely to stick in people's minds and increase the chances of them returning to your website.
  3. Avoid hyphens and numbers: Hyphens and numbers can make your domain name appear complicated and less professional. They can also lead to confusion when verbally communicating the domain name. Stick to letters and make it seamless to type and pronounce.
  4. Research domain availability: Before finalizing your domain name, conduct thorough research to ensure it's available for registration. Use domain name search tools to check if your desired name is already taken.
  5. Consider future scalability: As your web design company grows, you may diversify your services or expand your target audience. Choose a domain name that allows for future scalability. It should have the flexibility to accommodate potential changes and business growth without limiting your brand's online presence.
  6. Test for brand ambiguity: Make sure your domain name doesn't unintentionally resemble or associate with existing brands or entities. Conduct a search to avoid any potential legal conflicts or confusion with competitors.

In conclusion, by following these tips, you can choose a good and unique domain name that captures the essence of your business, resonates with your target audience, and contributes to your online success.

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Choosing the right domain name for your business is crucial for establishing a robust online presence. Key factors to consider include:

  1. Relevance: Ensure the domain reflects your business name, brand, or industry to make it easy for customers to associate with your products or services.
  2. Memorability: Opt for a domain that is easy to remember, spell, and pronounce. Avoid complex spellings or hyphens that might confuse potential visitors.
  3. Short and Simple: Keep the domain concise to enhance memorability and reduce the risk of typos. Shorter domains are also easier to type and share.
  4. Keywords: Includ

Choosing the right domain name for your business is crucial for establishing a robust online presence. Key factors to consider include:

  1. Relevance: Ensure the domain reflects your business name, brand, or industry to make it easy for customers to associate with your products or services.
  2. Memorability: Opt for a domain that is easy to remember, spell, and pronounce. Avoid complex spellings or hyphens that might confuse potential visitors.
  3. Short and Simple: Keep the domain concise to enhance memorability and reduce the risk of typos. Shorter domains are also easier to type and share.
  4. Keywords: Include relevant keywords that align with your business or industry if possible. This can improve your website's visibility in search engine results.
  5. Avoid Numbers and Hyphens: Numbers and hyphens can be misunderstood (Is it "2" or "two"?) and may lead to errors when typing the domain.
  6. Brand Consistency: Align your domain name with your brand identity. Consistency helps in brand recognition and reinforces your business name.
  7. Domain Extension: Choose an appropriate domain extension (e.g., .com, .net, .org) based on the nature of your business. .com is widely recognized and often considered more professional.
  8. Availability on Social Media: Check the availability of your chosen domain name on major social media platforms. Consistent branding across channels is essential.
  9. Trademark Check: Ensure the chosen domain name doesn't infringe on existing trademarks. Conduct thorough research to avoid legal issues in the future.
  10. Future Scalability: Consider the future growth and diversification of your business. Select a domain name that allows scalability and won't limit your expansion.
  11. Privacy and Security: Protect your personal information by opting for domain registrars' privacy protection services. This helps to prevent spam and identity theft.
  12. Ease of Spelling: Choose commonly used and easy-to-spell words. This reduces the chances of users mistyping your domain.

By carefully considering these factors, you can choose a domain name that represents your business effectively and contributes to its success in the online sphere.


I enjoy responding to these queries and hope you and other Quorians find them useful.

By joining my Quora Space, you can support the work I do for you.

This is where I respond to inquiries before everywhere else.

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Read the Igor Naming Guide: http://www.igorinternational.com/process/naming-guide-product-company-names.php

The key is to recognize that names that lead to good branding/positioning are counterintuitive when you first hear them. The best names probably sounded stupid at first to many of the people coming up with them, so be open-minded and avoid the following like the plague:

  • Descriptive names. When your name describes what you do, it locks you into doing that for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, businesses change, and a few months or years down the road, you will likely come to regret you

Read the Igor Naming Guide: http://www.igorinternational.com/process/naming-guide-product-company-names.php

The key is to recognize that names that lead to good branding/positioning are counterintuitive when you first hear them. The best names probably sounded stupid at first to many of the people coming up with them, so be open-minded and avoid the following like the plague:

  • Descriptive names. When your name describes what you do, it locks you into doing that for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, businesses change, and a few months or years down the road, you will likely come to regret your decision. Your name should be a blank canvas so your business/product can build a brand around it and totally own it in the minds of your customers (ex. Apple, Virgin).
  • Trendy names. Don't get so caught up in playing it safe that you use a trendy name. How many startups are called "Something-ly", or "Something-ify", or "Something-r"? The point is that you don't want to have a me-too name that sounds like everyone else, and you especially don't want a name with an expiration date.
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It takes a surprising amount of time to find good domains, particularly in the .com space. The good news is there are now dozens of top level domains that you could choose from that might fit your project (.bike, .best, .chat, .click, .coffee...)

List of many of the new top level domains:
https://www.hover.com/pricing

You can also get creative with two-letter country codes as seen with sites like http://delicio.us.

Country code top-level domains

You'll want to make a list of every word you can think of related to your project and then break out a thesaurus and look up every word related to every o

It takes a surprising amount of time to find good domains, particularly in the .com space. The good news is there are now dozens of top level domains that you could choose from that might fit your project (.bike, .best, .chat, .click, .coffee...)

List of many of the new top level domains:
https://www.hover.com/pricing

You can also get creative with two-letter country codes as seen with sites like http://delicio.us.

Country code top-level domains

You'll want to make a list of every word you can think of related to your project and then break out a thesaurus and look up every word related to every one of those. Then think of plausible mis-spellings of the names that might still be available.

Creativity, persistence and patience should get you there.

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Selecting the right domain name is a crucial step in establishing your online presence. Here are some tips to guide you through the process:

  1. Relevance to Your Business:
    Choose a domain that reflects your business or brand. It should give visitors an idea of what your website is about.
  2. Keep it Simple and Memorable:
    Opt for a name that is easy to spell and remember. Avoid complex words or combinations that might confuse potential visitors.
  3. Short and Sweet:
    Shorter domain names are easier to remember and type. Aim for brevity without sacrificing clarity.
  4. Avoid Special Characters:
    Stick to alphanumeri

Selecting the right domain name is a crucial step in establishing your online presence. Here are some tips to guide you through the process:

  1. Relevance to Your Business:
    Choose a domain that reflects your business or brand. It should give visitors an idea of what your website is about.
  2. Keep it Simple and Memorable:
    Opt for a name that is easy to spell and remember. Avoid complex words or combinations that might confuse potential visitors.
  3. Short and Sweet:
    Shorter domain names are easier to remember and type. Aim for brevity without sacrificing clarity.
  4. Avoid Special Characters:
    Stick to alphanumeric characters to prevent confusion. Special characters or hyphens can make a domain harder to remember.
  5. Consider Keywords:
    If possible, include keywords related to your business or industry. This can enhance your website's search engine visibility.
  6. Check Availability:
    Verify the availability of your chosen domain. You can use domain registration platforms to check if your desired name is taken or still available.
  7. Choose the Right Domain Extension:
    While ".com" is the most common and widely accepted extension, consider others like ".net" or ".co" if your preferred ".com" is unavailable.
  8. Protect Your Brand:
    If your business has a unique name, consider registering multiple extensions to prevent others from using a similar domain.

When it comes to domain registration, it's essential to consider renewal costs. Many registrars offer low initial prices but significantly raise them upon renewal. KemuHost stands out by providing transparent and consistent renewal rates. This ensures that the cost you pay initially remains the same during renewals, offering a cost-effective and reliable option for maintaining your domain over time.

Remember, your domain is a key part of your brand identity, so choose wisely to make a lasting impression online.

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If you buy a non-com domain name you have to research the .com version. Is it developed? Who is behind it? What's the rank in search engines? How many backlinks? Is it blacklisted somewhere?

If the .com is not developed and you will develop a non-com (with the same words) you will drive up the value of the .com and if you want to buy it later it will have an inflated price because of you. So, better try to buy the .com before you start our project.
If the .com is developed as a mini-site for Adsense or a lead generator then again you can try and buy it before you start your project (the owner w

If you buy a non-com domain name you have to research the .com version. Is it developed? Who is behind it? What's the rank in search engines? How many backlinks? Is it blacklisted somewhere?

If the .com is not developed and you will develop a non-com (with the same words) you will drive up the value of the .com and if you want to buy it later it will have an inflated price because of you. So, better try to buy the .com before you start our project.
If the .com is developed as a mini-site for Adsense or a lead generator then again you can try and buy it before you start your project (the owner will probably want to sell all: the domain and the site).
If the domain is fully developed then maybe the owner won't sell (unless you come up with a good offer). You are out of luck then...

Anyway, the .COM is the king so you should try to buy it first. Don't be shy to invest some dollars (which you hopefully have). It can get more costly in the future (ask DropBox, Facebook, MyPunchBowl, Twitter and others).

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1) Get creative.
I agree with a lot of the considerations that other people have posted, but by starting with a list of 'considerations' you make a pretty small target that can be impossible to hit.

2) A strong first impression.

A great name is an introduction, not the whole story. Imagine if someone introduced themselves and tried to tell you their whole life story all at once. With naming, you're dealing with a lot of the same issues, don't try to say everything at once. I know your idea is intricate and nuanced and can save the world, but unless you start with something small and easy to

1) Get creative.
I agree with a lot of the considerations that other people have posted, but by starting with a list of 'considerations' you make a pretty small target that can be impossible to hit.

2) A strong first impression.

A great name is an introduction, not the whole story. Imagine if someone introduced themselves and tried to tell you their whole life story all at once. With naming, you're dealing with a lot of the same issues, don't try to say everything at once. I know your idea is intricate and nuanced and can save the world, but unless you start with something small and easy to grasp, people won't pay attention. Pick one big idea that will get the conversation started, and use that as the basis for coming up with names.

3) Be memorable
A great name will catch their attention, or make them smile, or make them ask questions. These are the things that make names memorable. If you start with a big list of rules, you're going to end up with alphabet soup which will mean nothing to the people you're trying to communicate with.

4) Look at some great names

Think about some of the greatest names out there. Like Apple, or Starbucks, or Caterpillar. You would never get to any of these by following a narrow set of rules. So maybe the first rule should really be “Get rid of all the rules and use your imagination to capture the power of what you are doing."

If you're interested, I also wrote a blog post about how to name your startup here: http://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/how-to-name-a-startup/

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Key factors are:

Meaning: What does the name mean literally is important, but also what are the secondary meanings or meanings of the word roots. Is that relevant to your business or product? Quora is neologism, or made up name, but has the same roots as "question" or "inquire" which fit what Quora is all about. Perhaps the best example of a short name with great alternate meanings is Mint from mint.com. Mint is a plant, it is a fresh taste, and it also is the word for a place that prints money.

Availability of a domain name: This means the .com for most companies, but some companies cho

Key factors are:

Meaning: What does the name mean literally is important, but also what are the secondary meanings or meanings of the word roots. Is that relevant to your business or product? Quora is neologism, or made up name, but has the same roots as "question" or "inquire" which fit what Quora is all about. Perhaps the best example of a short name with great alternate meanings is Mint from mint.com. Mint is a plant, it is a fresh taste, and it also is the word for a place that prints money.

Availability of a domain name: This means the .com for most companies, but some companies choose cute spellings for some such as http://about.me/ or http://art.sy/ Many good domain names are owned by domain squatters so you may need to buy one.

Opportunity for trademark protection: To get a trademark you need to be able to show distinctiveness of the name. It is easiest to get trademark protection for invented or "fanciful" names. "Quora" is a good example of a fanciful mark. It isn't a word by itself. Arbitrary marks like "Amazon" or "Kayak" are also relatively easy to register if the term is unrelated to its meaning (Amazon.com's business isn't really related to the river of the same name and Kayak.com sells flights and hotels, not kayaks. You can do a basic US (federal) trademark search at http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/tess/index.html but if you want to really get an opinion about the trademark potential of a name, consult an IP lawyer.

Ease of pronunciation / spelling / recall : Is it obvious to someone who has never heard your brand out loud how to pronounce it? Is it obvious to someone who hears your brand how to spell it if they need to do that? These both affect people's perception of your brand, how well they can remember it, find your website later when someone tell's them about it at a party, etc.

Other factors that might matter (generally more for consumer internet companies):

  • Availability of the name in other namespaces (e.g., Twitter, Facebook)
  • Search term competition - How hard is it to get to the top of Google's search results for your name (sometimes a problem for dictionary words)


In general, coming up with good names is hard. Availability of domain names makes it especially difficult.

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The safest way to look up a domain name's availability is to do a command-line whois search (e.g. "whois hayst.ac"); Some registrars will log domain searches and buy them before you can. Only a few will do that, but it might be best to avoid playing registrar bingo with your future web presence/brand.

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A name is a name except when your insane! There are abstract names and then there are names that draw a direct relation in your mind. Apple could be argued as being abstract. Is it meant to represent Newtons apple falling on his head? Snow white biting the apple and falling asleep? Or something else?

Years ago google was a company name. After years google became synonymous with search and did not represent the full array of products the company has so they changed the name to alphabet.

github is a direct relation example. It is a hub for your git repos.

Both abstract and direct relational strateg

A name is a name except when your insane! There are abstract names and then there are names that draw a direct relation in your mind. Apple could be argued as being abstract. Is it meant to represent Newtons apple falling on his head? Snow white biting the apple and falling asleep? Or something else?

Years ago google was a company name. After years google became synonymous with search and did not represent the full array of products the company has so they changed the name to alphabet.

github is a direct relation example. It is a hub for your git repos.

Both abstract and direct relational strategies have benefits. Sometimes your company is designed to be be the umbrella for many businesses/products so an abstract nem makes sense. Other times you have 1 product and what people to know exactly what the company/product represents. If you are lucky then you companies name will become synonymous with the problem customers are trying to solve. Do you have a Kleenex? Did you google it? I have to run out and grab sole post-its…..,

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Below is a summary and other related tips for finding a perfect domain name, buying and keeping it for your website:

  1. Choose a unique, uncommon or brandable domain name
  2. Choose a domain name that’s short and precise
  3. Choose a domain name that will be easy to pronounce and spell
  4. Avoid hyphens, numbers or unnecessary characters in your domain name
  5. Use a keyword in your domain name if it fits in
  6. Avoid doubled letters or repeated words
  7. Go fo a TLD like .com or stick with the most popular ones
  8. Don’t limit your website’s potential with your domain name
  9. Target your area
  10. Avoid trademark issues
  11. Buy your domain name

Below is a summary and other related tips for finding a perfect domain name, buying and keeping it for your website:

  1. Choose a unique, uncommon or brandable domain name
  2. Choose a domain name that’s short and precise
  3. Choose a domain name that will be easy to pronounce and spell
  4. Avoid hyphens, numbers or unnecessary characters in your domain name
  5. Use a keyword in your domain name if it fits in
  6. Avoid doubled letters or repeated words
  7. Go fo a TLD like .com or stick with the most popular ones
  8. Don’t limit your website’s potential with your domain name
  9. Target your area
  10. Avoid trademark issues
  11. Buy your domain name from the best companies
  12. Check if there’s a discount or coupon code
  13. Buy from trusted registrars like Namecheap and Godaddy
  14. Pay for more than a year. You could get a huge discount too
  15. Don’t tell your competitors about your domain name
  16. Buy other TLD extensions for your domain name like .net, .org, etc to avoid competition in future
  17. Set your domain name payment to auto-renew so you can focus on more important things
  18. Don’t resolve to use trendy names in your domain because of its popularity. Most trendy things do expire after some time.
  19. No matter how odd or cool your domain name sounds, once you have kept it on an active blog for up to a year, don’t change/rename it. Changing your domain name will definitely break your SEO, you will lose money, time, branding, visitors and search engine rankings. We do not recommend changing your domain once your blog has been live for any considerable amount of time.
  20. Quickly visit social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc to see if your domain name is available for usage on their platform. An example is to check if Premiums Dot or Twitter / Account Suspended is available.
  21. Don’t buy domain names from third parties without checking the history of the domain to avoid regrets in the future.
  22. Make sure your website address is mobile-friendly by making it short.
  23. Always do the registration of your domain yourself or monitor it and have the passwords and other security-related credentials safe with you.
  24. If you’re stuck with brainstorming for new domain name ideas, use a domain name generator like Bust A Name, NameMesh, and DomainWheel
  25. If your registrar has a 2-factor authentication feature, please enable it for extra protection. Your domain is more important than your website content most times.15. If your registrar has an app for smartphones, that’s great. Use it too.
  26. Your domain name should support marketing campaigns.
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There are two factors that are important when picking a domain for your website:

  1. Creativity
  2. Availability

One without the other isn’t worth much. A good creative name has to be available and not registered yet if you want to use it.

When it comes to creativity, it pays to be different. Pick names that are different than names your competitors use. This will make your brand stand out. People will be more likely to notice your brand.

There are new domains registered every day, and it’s getting harder and harder to find available ones. You can try alternative extensions if .com is registered. Popular a

There are two factors that are important when picking a domain for your website:

  1. Creativity
  2. Availability

One without the other isn’t worth much. A good creative name has to be available and not registered yet if you want to use it.

When it comes to creativity, it pays to be different. Pick names that are different than names your competitors use. This will make your brand stand out. People will be more likely to notice your brand.

There are new domains registered every day, and it’s getting harder and harder to find available ones. You can try alternative extensions if .com is registered. Popular alternatives include .co, .io, and .app if applicable.

Or, if this sounds too hard to for, you can always outsource the task to a naming freelancer or agency.

Tip 1: Keep Your Domain and Website Name as the Same

Remember that you domain name should be your website name. This is because when people think about your website, the first thing that flashes on their mind will be your site name, thus if this name is also your URL, they will automatically know where to go. For instance, when people think of HowsHost.com, they only need to type this site name into the browser, without the need to search for the web address.

In fact, this practice is especially important if you hold your site as an e-commerce one. Generally, you name your online stores with the

Tip 1: Keep Your Domain and Website Name as the Same

Remember that you domain name should be your website name. This is because when people think about your website, the first thing that flashes on their mind will be your site name, thus if this name is also your URL, they will automatically know where to go. For instance, when people think of HowsHost.com, they only need to type this site name into the browser, without the need to search for the web address.

In fact, this practice is especially important if you hold your site as an e-commerce one. Generally, you name your online stores with the company name, brand name, or the type of the main products, so you need to choose your domain accordingly, which can effectively reflect your business.

Tip 2: Focus on the Domain Name with .com Extension

It is worth trying to grab a .com domain name when you set up a new site, after all, the .com is the mostly used TLD, and is preferred by both visitors and search engines. Also, we highly recommend you redirecting other domains with different extensions to your main domain name that ends in .com.

For instance, if you have purchased the domain name like Domain Names, Web Hosting, and Free Domain Services, then you’d better register mydomain.net, http://mydomain.org, http://mydomain.info, etc, and redirect them to http://the.com domain. The biggest advantage of this practice is that you can avoid loss caused by people who purchase a domain name which is different from yours only in the extensions, thus eliminate the potential possibility of traffic stealing and losing. Note that many web hosts offer unlimited parked domain service for free.

Tip 3: Keep Your Domain Short but Not Obscure

It is far better to select a domain name which is short in length, because it makes easy for people to type and remember. Conversely, if your domain is long with a series of unrelated letters like http://tohwtognoe.com, how can people recall it and type it into the address bar? Besides, from the online marketing point of view, the shorter your domain name is, the more likely people will be to introduce your site to their friends.

However, keeping the domain short doesn’t mean that you have to name your domain like http://bwh360.com when your original choice is Web Hosting Review - Find Best Hosting 2018. In some cases, you need to expand your domain with some specific words, which can clearly explain your site, and in the meanwhile, make people feel easy to remember and type correctly.

Tip 4: Make Your Domain Name Be Unique

A unique domain name can be remembered easily. As a matter of fact, many single-word domains are not available, and you had better create a special word. Here are the suggestions: trying to compound two simple words (Facebook), to use a phrase, to blend some parts of two words, to tweak a word, to affix a word with a suffix or prefix, or to create a unique name that is creative and can be easily used as a brand name.

Tip 5: Keep Your Domain Name Simple

Keep away from some complex spellings and pronouncing because they are hard to remember. It is one thing to come up with a great characteristic name that is not difficult to remember. Another point you need to pay attention is to avoid hyphens. This is because when there is a hyphen in one domain name, people are very likely to forget where the hyphen should go, or even totally forget that this domain is separated by a hyphen.

What’s more, a hyphenated domain name might make readers confused with some similar domains. For example, if people want to type your domain, which is bluehost-hosting-review, but type in bluehosthostingreview instead, that might take advantages to your competitors, not to you.

Tip 6: Make Your Domain Rich in Keyword

Choose a domain name that is full of keywords that are related to the website. That is because when people think about your website, the first thing that comes to their mind is your website name. For example, if the website is something about cars, the site name might be http://Carsale.com or We Do the Research, You Do the Driving which must contain with the word “car”. Besides, including the keywords that people usually enter when searching for the products or services can help to improve your ranking in search engines (which increases traffic) and just makes more sense to the customers.

Tip 7: Make Your Domain Name Easily Understood

When readers look at or hear your domain name at the very beginning, this domain name should be easily understood which clearly tells what the website is about. Thus, it is very important for you to choose a domain that is easy-to-understand and can be used as a brand as well. The goal is to make the domain name to be passed on easily and to be memorable. This is more likely to happen if people don’t have to stop and think about how to say or spell it.

Tip 8: Focus on Your Website Content

Never choose a domain name of “cosmetic.com” for a fishing website. You have to make sure that the domain and your website content are highly related. It is possible that your website may contain multiple categories. In this case, you’d better choose a broad word that can summarize all your categories perfectly. For instance, if you website is used for the selling of balls, sneakers and sportswear, then you can choose the domain of “http://sportselling.com” or something else.

Tip 9: Avoid Duplication

Before purchasing the domain name, you have to make sure that it has not been used as the trademark and business name by any others. After all, domain duplication or infringement issue can cause a great mess for your fortune and website operation.

How to Choose a Domain Name For Your Web Presence

Tip 10: Try Your Best to Avoid Hyphens and Numbers

You always need to bear in mind that anything that can cause confusion and misunderstanding should be avoided. In this case, you’d better not to add any numbers or hyphens into your domain name. After all, if people hear your domain name, they can be confused that whether you are using the Arabic numbers or spell the number out. Also, they may forget the exact number and the number location. As for the dash or the hyphens, people are likely to forget the existence.

Tip 11: Make Your Domain Name Brandable

This tip is really important for some business sites or the official portals and platforms. Making your domain brandable means when people see or hear your domain name, they will realize your brand instantly. Generally, a brandable domain name has the following features.

  • No hyphens and numbers for they sound strange and unprofessional.
  • The domain should be easy to say and to remember.
  • The uniqueness must be ensured.
  • No trademark infringement against other business.

Tip 12: Do Not Use Doubled Letters, Numbers and Characters

We highly recommend you to avoid the use of double stuffs, including characters, letters and numbers. After all, the double situation may confuse your readers and most people are likely mis-spell your domain name unintentionally. This can lead to the loss of traffic.

Tip 13: Leave Some Rooms to Grow and to Expand

Generally, we do not recommend you to use a specific keyword for your domain name. After all, this may limit your future possibilities and growth. For instance, if your website currently is about biscuit cooking and you use the word of “biscuit”, it can be hard for you to make your web content broad to other baking fields.

In this case, when choosing a domain name, you can make it related to your target niche but not to be specific. This gives you enough room to grow and does not require you to move to a new domain when you want to add something new to your website.

Tip 14: Act Fast

You should know that domain names sell really fast. After all, they are not the expensive stuff and the registration process is quite simple. In this case, many people will register their target domain far before they start creating a website. Therefore, once you have found a perfect option, you’d better make the purchase as quickly as possible.

Tip 15: Choose A Trust-worth Domain Registrar

There are many bad stories that some small domain registrars suck for their customers’ domain names. Typically, many registrars prevent their customers moving away by locking the domain name. In the worst case, some SCAM registrars directly take the domain name to be their own if you’re closed to be successful. So, you shall register a domain name with a trust-worth provider. It can be InMotion Hosting, BlueHost, and HostMonster.

Profile photo for Cindy Alvarez

Much like naming a child, a startup name should:

  • Have a phonetic pronunciation. People don't like sounding stupid - if they think there's a risk they'll say your startup name wrong, they might just decide to not mention it
  • Not have strong negative associations. Ask a few people outside of the bay area echo chamber what [X Name] reminds them of. I don't care how irrational it is, if your startup name sounds like a bodily function or like a name that some telemarketing company would use, I will be biased against you.
  • Not be easily mistaken for something different. Cadio changed its name after

Much like naming a child, a startup name should:

  • Have a phonetic pronunciation. People don't like sounding stupid - if they think there's a risk they'll say your startup name wrong, they might just decide to not mention it
  • Not have strong negative associations. Ask a few people outside of the bay area echo chamber what [X Name] reminds them of. I don't care how irrational it is, if your startup name sounds like a bodily function or like a name that some telemarketing company would use, I will be biased against you.
  • Not be easily mistaken for something different. Cadio changed its name after (in part) realizing that Google searches for "cadio" were met with "Did you mean cardio?" Blog post: http://www.masschallenge.org/blog/when-google-hates-your-name-why-we-renamed-our-startup


Beyond that it really doesn't matter. Having a kickass product will make up for whatever stupid- or generic-sounding name you end up with. :)

Profile photo for Mike Dorsey

Step 1: check GoDaddy.com (or your favorite registrar) to see if it's unavailable...never been registered. If its available, buy it for ~9/yr

Step 2: if it's unavailable, check the URL in your browser to see if the site itself looks old, undeveloped, or 'parked', meaning its just got a lot of ads on it. This is a hint about whether the owner will be willing to sell. Look on that site for a "make an offer for this domain" button and consider submitting an offer.

Step 3: Go to Whois.sc or your favorite Whois tool to look for the name/email/phone of the person who registered the name. If their

Step 1: check GoDaddy.com (or your favorite registrar) to see if it's unavailable...never been registered. If its available, buy it for ~9/yr

Step 2: if it's unavailable, check the URL in your browser to see if the site itself looks old, undeveloped, or 'parked', meaning its just got a lot of ads on it. This is a hint about whether the owner will be willing to sell. Look on that site for a "make an offer for this domain" button and consider submitting an offer.

Step 3: Go to Whois.sc or your favorite Whois tool to look for the name/email/phone of the person who registered the name. If their contact info is listed, then you can contact them directly to make an offer.

Finally, a few pointers: don't offer something like $20 for a good name - it will be a major turnoff to the domain owner and you may lose the chance to make another offer. Be sure to research historical prices for similar names, through sites like dnforum.com, or www.dnsaleprice.com. If all of this seems too complicated, there are also domain brokers who can help you.

Update: David makes a good point about the security issue; in fact, I used to use a third-party domain checker and had a great name swiped out from under me and later realized that they were spying on my checks and buying ones they liked. So like he said, it's best to avoid any potentially shady third-party tools and stick to the GoDaddy's of the world...and if you're command-line handy, go David's route.

Profile photo for Phil Anderson

The 1990s advice was get something people will remember: "Cars.com" if you sell cars. But most people these days will just Google for your business name, so I'm not convinced it's worth the money for these short common domains.

Therefore the most important thing you can do is create a company name that matches your domain name, and check what the competition is for that term on Google. So even if you can get the domain "FlatScreenTV.com", that's going to be an incredibly popular search term for things that are not your brand.

There is also a balance, where people need to know how to roughly

The 1990s advice was get something people will remember: "Cars.com" if you sell cars. But most people these days will just Google for your business name, so I'm not convinced it's worth the money for these short common domains.

Therefore the most important thing you can do is create a company name that matches your domain name, and check what the competition is for that term on Google. So even if you can get the domain "FlatScreenTV.com", that's going to be an incredibly popular search term for things that are not your brand.

There is also a balance, where people need to know how to roughly spell it when they search on Google, so try not to get too tricky or use a homonym or homophone. I've registered things in the past like BudgetSimple.com, or ChimSoft.com which is an easy to acquire domain name, is descriptive and yet has very little competition on Google.

Profile photo for Kate Hutchinson

You should try the tool Namecheck.com: it lets you search for available domain names, social media names and trademarks in one search. It's a great tool for brainstorming, just type in a name you're looking for and see what comes up!

Best of luck.

http://www.namecheck.com

Profile photo for Melissa Dafni

It really depends on a lot of factors and everyone has their own formula. Some common factors (that may be weighted differently) are the age of the domain, how generic the domain is, CPC, traffic, how it was used in the past or is being used, whether other TLD extensions are registered, similar sales, potential number of buyers, how much it previously sold for, length, the buyer, the seller, what the market can withstand, what they can sell it for. And the list can go on and on depending on each individual. The problem with appraisal algorithms is they can't take into account the intangibles.

It really depends on a lot of factors and everyone has their own formula. Some common factors (that may be weighted differently) are the age of the domain, how generic the domain is, CPC, traffic, how it was used in the past or is being used, whether other TLD extensions are registered, similar sales, potential number of buyers, how much it previously sold for, length, the buyer, the seller, what the market can withstand, what they can sell it for. And the list can go on and on depending on each individual. The problem with appraisal algorithms is they can't take into account the intangibles. Sometimes it may seem like there is no rhyme or reason, and there may be, or they may have used a lot of data or an algorithm to determine the value.

Profile photo for Joseph Carroll

Three ways to find a great domain with specific requirements

1. UNREGISTERED

LeanDomainSearch: I've personally spent countless hours on this tool feeling like a mad scientist. Best used if you have a word that you know you want included in the domain. For example, if I know I want "Flip" in my domain, LDS will produce a list of all available two word domains including the word "Flip". After you find a name you like, simple hand register it with your preferred domain registrar.

2. OFF THE DROP

Drop Lists: I like downloading droplists on Estibot and importing them into excel so that I can sort by di

Three ways to find a great domain with specific requirements

1. UNREGISTERED

LeanDomainSearch: I've personally spent countless hours on this tool feeling like a mad scientist. Best used if you have a word that you know you want included in the domain. For example, if I know I want "Flip" in my domain, LDS will produce a list of all available two word domains including the word "Flip". After you find a name you like, simple hand register it with your preferred domain registrar.

2. OFF THE DROP

Drop Lists: I like downloading droplists on Estibot and importing them into excel so that I can sort by different metrics such as Estibot Value, CPC, # of searches/mo, etc. When you find a name you like you can use services such as SnapNames or Pool to buy it off drop.

3. ACQUISITION

Marketplace Search: Acquiring a domain from someone else is another viable opportunity, and a marketplace is probably your best bet on this front. Domains listed on a marketplace are generally going to be more expensive than domains that are hand registered or picked up off the drop, but they'll also generally be higher-quality. Flippa's marketplace search for domains would be a great place to start your journey.

Profile photo for Michael Pastore
  1. Hear it sing, “Great name!” When I first think of the name, it has to make me shout “Great name!” … Then, before buying it — after sleeping and thinking about it for another 24 hours — the domain name still needs to makes me shout “Great name!”
  2. Dot Com is Still King. Things may change — and I hope that they do change — but for now, the most valuable names end in .com
  3. Watch the Renewal Fee. I never buy a name with a high (more than $ 150 per year) yearly renewal fee.
  4. Beware of Trademark Troubles. Never buy a name that contains a trademarked word. … I bought Wordpressweek .com, and then put up a ni
  1. Hear it sing, “Great name!” When I first think of the name, it has to make me shout “Great name!” … Then, before buying it — after sleeping and thinking about it for another 24 hours — the domain name still needs to makes me shout “Great name!”
  2. Dot Com is Still King. Things may change — and I hope that they do change — but for now, the most valuable names end in .com
  3. Watch the Renewal Fee. I never buy a name with a high (more than $ 150 per year) yearly renewal fee.
  4. Beware of Trademark Troubles. Never buy a name that contains a trademarked word. … I bought Wordpressweek .com, and then put up a nice website there, until one day I noticed that were no other websites with the word “wordpress” in them (except Wordpress dot com and Wordpress dot org). But the nice guys who run Wordpress don’t care about monopolizing that name, do they ? … They sure do. … And now I will have to move whole site to another domain name.
  5. Include the Key Word. If my website is about fish, I insist that the word “fish” is somewhere in the domain name. Not a synonym or a synecdoche for the word fish — the word itself.
  6. Ignore feedback. Bertrand Russel wrote “If 50 million people said a foolish thing, it will still be a foolish thing.” … I never bother asking friends or colleagues about the domain name, I trust myself to make a good choice.
  7. Learn from the Pros. … Websites such as Domain Sherpa feature interviews with domain name professionals (“domainers”) . Watch their videos — and also YouTube videos — by leading gurus, and learn how the these experts think about the subject of choosing valuable names.
  8. Keep a Notebook with You. Keep a notebook in your pocket — or use “Google Keep” on your phone — and keep track of ideas for good domain names — the best ones strike you unexpectedly, at any hour of the day or night.
Profile photo for Jonathan Seitel

I think a lot of good things have been covered in this thread already, so I won't rehash them. One thing I will suggest is the "newb test."

Once you and your partners have come up with a name you like, run the name by your mother (or anyone who isn't terribly plugged into Silicon Valley) and see if they can deduce something about what your startup does. If yes, it's probably a good name. If they think it's clever, even better.

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