How to pick a good domain name

Finding a domain name you like that is still available for purchase can be very difficult nowadays. Here are some good tips to help you get the domain name you like:

Make it short

It is easier to remember a short website address, and also easier to type into the browser.

Easy to spell

Make sure it is easy to spell and easy to pronounce your domain name.

Go for a generic name

You could take advantage if have a generic domain name such as weather.com. Quite often people just type such names directly into their web browsers without doing search.

Add hyphens

If your preferred name has already been taken by someone else, you could add hyphens to make it yours. But try not using too many hyphens, one or two is enough.

Get a digit or close to "A" for the first character.

Try to get the first character of your domain name as close to "A" as possible, or use a digit. In the business directories, website starting with digits will be listed first then the rest will be listed in alphabetical order. If you use a digit, it is a good idea to register your domain name with both the numerical and written versions. (e.g. 5starhotel.com and fivestarhotel.com).

Check with a dictionary or a thesaurus

A dictionary or a thesaurus could give you inspiration to come up with a unique and catchy domain name. The websites like Google and Yahoo are very standout.

Try to avoid trademarked names

You can use uspto to search trademarks, to get more information about the trademarks, go to: www.isoc.org and smallbusiness.yahoo.com

When you have selected a name, then I suggest you go to a site like GoDaddy.com for the domain name registration. Currently GoDaddy charges $9.99 per year for a domain name registration, which is a good price compared to dotster.com which charges $15.25 per year. Yahoo is a good choice too, currently offers domain name registration for $9.95 per year. Once you finish building your website, finding a web host and publishing your site, you need to update the DNS entries related to your domain name.