How to Get a Domain Name That's Not Already Taken

Selecting a domain name for your new website can be hard. A lot of short, snappy, memorable domain names are already taken, and as a result many new website owners end up with long, confusing and unwieldy names. Consider your plans for the website, as well as its target audience, and you will be able to come up with a memorable domain name that is still available.

Instructions

1. Create a list of keywords related to the website for which you will be registering the domain. If you are looking for a domain for your company, include the company name in the list, as well as a few keywords representing your field of business.

2. Arrange the keywords in the list in order from the ones you consider most desirable to have in the domain name to those you find least desirable.

3. Combine the keywords together to create potential domain names, beginning from the top of the list. While "yourcompany.com" and "yourfield.com" might be taken, "yourcompany-yourfield.com" may not be.

4. Compile a list of all the potential domain names you identified in the previous step and arrange them from most desirable to least desirable.

5. Check each domain name's availability using your chosen domain registrar until you find an available domain name.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your domain name as short and pronounceable as possible.

• Avoid overly complex names that could be easily mis-spelled.

• Consider using domain extensions other than ".com." Although they may not be suitable for all types of websites, they will broaden the range of available domain names.

References

• SEOMe: Choosing a domain name