Finding the right domain for your new site can be very hard. Not only can it seem as if every great domain in the world has already been taken, but with concerns about domain squatting still being fresh in people’s minds, even the prospect of trying out domain ideas can seem risky.
Fortunately, there are many tools on the Web designed to help us get through a bad case of domain writer’s block. All the while, these tools let us both safely test new domains and to cut through the clutter of already-registered names, making the process much faster.
Here are five tools to get you started and, hopefully, help you find just the domain that you’ve been looking for.
Domainr’s simple interface belies some very serious power. Type in any word you want to base a domain on and Domainr will let you know what combination of domains, subdomains, TLDs and directories will for for you. For example, punch in “briefcase†and you’ll get briefc.as/e among your options.
All in all, a great tool for finding imaginative domain/extension/directory combination to create your word.
If you have a list of words you’re considering for your name but no idea how to best combine them, Bust a Name can help. Simply put in your words, dragging sets of them into groups if you don’t want them paired with one another, and let Bust a Name find all available combinations.
The service can even sort available domains by readability, making it easy to find which is the best combination out of the possibilities you have.
If you really want a domain name but know that it’s taken, and you don’t care what extension its under, iWantMyName will not only scan the domain you want, but also look for it under a variety of TLDs, including many obscure ones that are almost certainly not registered.
You probably won’t get your “.com†with this site, but you may be able to find your “.beâ€
Domize is a beautifully simple idea that may help you find an even better domain than you thought possible. Simply type in a domain idea and Domize will look up the .com, .net, .org, .biz and .us domains for shorter iterations of the word, each leaving one letter off. For example, looking for “Domize†will cause it to look for “Domizâ€, “Domiâ€, etc.
You might be surprised to find that there are many decent 4-6 letter domains available, if you’re willing to not have it spell a word, but rather, be the beginning of one.
If you are really struggling for a good domain name, Domain Tools, has a powerful domain suggestion tool that looks for a keyword or phrase you provide and picks out relevant, related terms and finds domains using them. For example, a search for “Laptop†might turn up “GreatLaptopRepair†as a suggestion.
This tool can be a great way to find a good domain in a very crowded field.
Conclusions
In the end, the Web is filled with great tools to help you pick out the perfect domain for your site and these are just a few to get you started. Don’t give up your quest for a good domain because your “perfect†domain was already taken, instead, focus on finding another that you like even more.
With a little bit of help and some creativity, even with the millions of domains already taken, you should have no trouble finding one that works well for you.
This post was written by Lior who works for an online task management tool start-up from new york and also advises to a small nursing wear company.