Tips for finding brandable domain names
December 5, 2007 by Nameclerk
Filed under Domain Name Articles, Domain Name Tips
Not everyone is looking for keyword rich, generic domain names. Many Internet startups are looking for a simple, catchy name or phrase to build their online identity around. Brandable, web 2.0 style domain names have gained popularity in recent years mostly due to the explosion of social-networking sites.
Finding the right brandable domain name requires a lot of creativity and also a bit of luck.
I’ve found the following resources to be of great use when brainstorming for brandables.
Dotomator.com creates unique domains by combining different categories of word lists to make short, brandable domains. I’ve messed around with many different combinations and found many of the domains to be available. The word lists can also be used outside the dotomator platform to help you create your own terms. Additional inspiration for brandable domain names can be found using ther web 2.0 domain generator. The tool creates names one at a time and adds them to a column on the right side. These names can be used as is, if available, or further altered by changing key letters within the names to come up with completely new terms.
Makewords.com is another domain name generator which uses a very sophisticated interface that delivers surprisingly good results. In addition to brandable domains, Makewords.com can create hundreds of keyword rich names using a user supplied word and combining it with a number of keyword theme categories. They’ve also created a new domain search tool at http://www.randomainer.com which looks promising but I haven’t had a chance to give it a full test drive yet.
This is a straightforward web 2.0 domain name generator that presents the user with 15 terms at a time. There are no user input variables and many of the terms include numerals. The main advantage of this tool is the speed in which it generates the names. Click the “make more” button and you’re instantly presented with 15 more names. Click it long enough and you’ll find plenty of catchy, memorable names. The disadvantage is that you’ll have to copy the terms you like into notepad and check them for availability at another site.
Hopefully these resources come in handy the next time you're looking for that perfect web 2.0 style brandable domain name.
Frank raises a good point as the targeted type-in traffic acquired from keyword rich domains gives a leg up to any new site, not to mention the built in SEO benefits. Purchase an older, keyword rich domain and you’re in even better shape. That’s the exact strategy I used when finding a domain for this site.
There is definitely a demand for brandables though, particularly in the social-networking and blogosphere space. Sometimes a brandable name just fits better than a rigid keyword domain, especially for non-commercial, self interest sites that might not have the financial means to acquire a quality type-in domain. I wouldn’t recommend them to domain investors for long term holds. They don’t monetize well and unlike keyword rich, type-in domains, there is a large untapped supply of them which puts a hard cap on their values.
The bottomline is it is essential for a website to have a name that someone can easily memorise and also do well in the search engines especially if the website is new. In these cases it may be best to have more than one name.
There some good tools at http://www.domainnamesoup.com to find available domain names. It takes a while to get used to some of them, but it’ll keep you going for a while
A great place to find unique brandable domain names is http://comcloset.com
You See My Name Is Steve, I’m From New Jersey. So My Website Is JerseySteve.com and my blog Is JerseySteve.net I Use The Same Naviagation On Both My .Net & Com Names
One resource that I have found helpful in searching for brandable domain names is freshdrop.net. You can use their powerful search features to scan tdnam.com, pool.com, namejet.com, ebay, snapnames.com, etc. for keyword combo names, premium 5 letter domains, etc.
Once domain i picked up this way is FENGO.com, which by the way, i now have on auction at Sedo.com !
Check out http://www.namecombo.com It’s a really good bulk domain name generator and company name generator. You can find available domain names from a huge selection of word lists. You can customize lists with your own words which lets you come up with literally thousands of possible domain names incorporating your keywords if you wish. It offers bulk domain name lookup and domain registration. There is also both a three word version and four word version which are great for keyword driven domain name variations.
@Laura,
I like it. Thanks for pointing it out.
-Bill
It cracks me up that none of the brandable domain sites are on a brandable domain themselves.
Except: Nemeas.com