It is not easy to find the exact domain names you want because over twenty million have already been registered worldwide. Don't despair. Use this statistic to remind yourself of the growing importance of the internet and domain names, and hurry to register all the names you need for the future.
There are millions and millions of really excellent names still available for registration. Just think how much harder it will be in the future when billions more people are on-line and wanting their own domain names. You will probably look back on these golden days and curse yourself for not registering more when it was relatively easy to find top class names for investment, business and personal use.
To find something it is mostly a case of creative thinking and perseverence (plus acceptance that you may not be able to get exactly what you want). If a domain name you really want is not available try
A simple approach is to substitute words. For example, instead of the word 'red' try scarlet, crimson, pink, carnation, ruby or rose. A good thesaurus is wonderful in these circumstances.
See if you can register the domain name with a different organisational or country code. If you can't get .com consider .co.uk, ltd.uk, .org, .org.uk (provided you meet the formal rules for their use).
You can insert hyphens (brainstorming or brain-storming), use numbers for words (CoatsForWomen or Costs4Women), use the singular or plural (solution or solutions), use initials rather than words (InfiniteInnovationsLtd or IIL). Having said this, we encourage caution in the use of such strategies. There is a real danger that use of this type of technique will lose you business. People may forget that your site has an 's' at the end and type something that leads them directly to your competitor. Words as numbers gets confusing, hyphens are easily forgotten and some people find initials difficult to remember. (You may however want to register these variants as a way of stopping them falling into the hands of competitors.)
Instead of YourName go for say YourNameSheffield and YourNameUK. This is particularly relevant if you only want to attract people to your website from a limited geographical area. It is also good for getting higher rankings with the search engine queries that specifically ask people to state the geographical area they are interested in, for example, they want to find a dentist in London.
Another approach is to go for a radically different name to the one you wanted. You might not have thought of Amazon for a book shop or Monster for a job advertisements website but both attract huge numbers of people to their site.
Use our Brainstorming software programme to stretch your imagination. Try it out at www.brainstorming.co.uk
We also offer a consultancy service to help you identify effective domain names for current and future use. Contact us by Email or telephone for further information (0870 443 0250).
A very effective alternative is to buy the registration rights of an existing quality domain name. This may well be the most cost effective way of drawing new customers to your website. Prices vary enormously because each name is unique. We offer hundreds of quality pre-registered names for sale. Prices range from £200 to £250,000. Have a look at what we currently offer.