5 Ways to Think Up a Great Domain Name That's Still Available
by Marcia Yudkin
Published on this site: March 17th, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
I'd be a zillionaire if I earned a dollar each time someone
complains that all the great domain names are already taken.
It's just not true, however. Even in a highly competitive
industry, you can think up original, appealing domain names
for businesses by using naming tactics that few people use,
such as these:
- Focus on results. What is the outcome or end result
that people want to have from buying a certain product or
service? How do they feel when they have finished the transaction?
My own company name, Named At Last, falls into this category.
- Look for puns. Make a list of relevant keywords,
say each out loud and play around with the sounds. Puns
are much less likely than other kinds of names to have been
registered because their component parts are not actual
words. For instance, the name Sitesfaction, for a web design
company, was a finalist in our first naming contest - and
an available domain at that time despite tens of thousands
of web design firms in the English-speaking world.
- Think slang. Let your imagination and memory fly
around for pleasing-to-the-ear expressions. As of today,
the domain BoyOhBoyToys.com for an online toy store is unregistered,
as is a domain for its sister store AttaGirlToys.com.
- Go symbolic. Suppose you're an expert on the horror
genre and want to start a paid online community for horror
fans. Horrorific.com, horrorgate.com and Horrornet.com are
all taken, but as of today, the less obvious and more vivid
FrightOwl.com is not.
- Vary real words. "Google's name is a play
on the word googol, which refers to the number 1 followed
by one hundred zeroes," says the Press Center of the
world's most successful search engine. "The word was
coined by the nine-year-old nephew of mathematician Edward
Kasner," it continues - providing another hint for
creative naming: consult a kid.
Happy Naming!
Marcia Yudkin is the author of 6 Steps to Free Publicity
and ten other books hailed for outstanding creativity. Find
out more about her new discount naming company, Named At Last,
which brainstorms new company names, new product
names, tag lines and more for cost-conscious organizations,
at www.NamedAtLast.com
|
