a class="title" href="http://guerrillawebbuilder.com/28/find-a-domain-name" rel="bookmark">Finding a domain name

The first thing to do before starting to build a site is to get a domain name.

For each domain name it is possible to get the .com, .net etc.. and other endings (known as the top level domain or TLD). I recommend that you get the .com name if possible.

You’ll quickly find that many of the words that you try are taken. In fact almost every dictionary word is taken! So you have a few options. One is to come up with something that doesn’t mean anything or that spelled in an odd way (i.e. flickr.com, twitter.com) the other is to combine two or more words that are not usually related (i.e. facebook.com, youtube,com).

Try to keep it simple and catchy. Avoid cheesy domains names such as best-web-design-cheap-deals-r-us.com. They lack professionalism and are hard to type and remember.

If you are thinking of marketing your site online then keep in mind that keywords (what people type in the Google search box) are a nice thing to have in your domain name. Also, if you intend to have a local business then you will increase your chance of finding an available domain name by slapping your city/location in the name such as mycitywebdesign.com.

You can use hyphens (i.e. my-domain.com) if desired though I generally don’t recommend them unless you can also get the domain name without the hyphen. This is also true of pural spellings. You run the risk of having your potential clients mistype your domain and go to your competitor instead.

Once you found something that is available then you’re ready to go to the next step. Perhaps come up with a list of ideas and ask your friends and sleep on it.

Here’s a handy form that will check domain availability for you for some of the common endings.