How to find an available domain name

I recently wrote about how we came up with our domain name and mentioned that we tried a few tactics to help us find a domain name which was short (and most importantly) available.

Useful techniques to find available dot com domains

Collect lots of related words

A good fist step is to take a blank piece of paper and come up with a list of words which relate to the nature of the website.

After our initial brain-stoming sessions where we collected as many related words as possible, we let the task of identifying keywords, sit in the back of our minds whilst we continued building the website. Moments of inspiration can come at the oddest of times, so it’s important to be ready to capture those ideas.

Combine words together

Take a look at your list of related words and combine two words together to make a new name. With endless possibilities, you are sure to crack onto a good name if you get creative.

Expired domain names

Not something we actively tried to do on our hunt for a domain name, but expired domain names which haven’t been renewed can be a good way to snap up a good address.

Use a name generator

Name generators like MakeWords.com and Dotomator put random words (and at times, very random letters) together to form a new random word. Websites like these often include domain registration tools so you can do an instant check to see if the domain name is available.

Use the tld (domain hack)

Whilst this approach won’t help you in locating a web address which ends in dot com, using the tld creatively can come up with some neat web addresses.

The top-level domain (tld) is the last part of an internet web address, which follows the final dot (here is a list of the top-level domains), which can be used as part of the web address itself.

The most well-known domain hack was the formerly del.icio.us, which is now redirected to delicious.com

Try another language

Many languages are closely related to eachother and thus many words too are closely related and similar too.

Ubuntu, the operating system, is named after the South African ethical ideology ‘Ubuntu‘ (”humanity towards others”)

One of the most effective ways of finding available domain names, was to take a word from one language and do a play on words. One my favourite online dictionary for converting words is Freedict.

I will do a live test, whilst writing this blog, to see if the technique still works well. As I love the Japanese culture, I will translate an English word into Japanese and then use that Japanese word to create an new domain name.

1. First I will visit the English to Japanese Dictionary
2. Enter a related word. The first word which comes into my mind is: library
3. My results were: shobou, raiburari-, bunko, raiburari, toshokan
4. Take a word. In this case, I will select the shortest name: bunko
5. Play.

Here were my results:

• bunkoo.com = taken
• boonkoo.com = available
• boonko.com = available
• bunnko.com = available
• buncoo.com = available
• booncoo.com = available

Fantastic. Up til today, 6 out of 7 available dot com domains.

Conclusion

It is certainly becoming harder and harder to create a unique domain name which is available, and there are lots of articles which can describe further techniques on how to come up with a new name for your website and brand.

The tips above have helped me in coming up with various and unique domain names for the projects I’m involved in.

The best advice I can give offer is – be creative.