

How To Pick A Good Domain Name - parker
http://www.socialbias.com/how-to-pick-a-good-domain-name/

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paulsb
I am going through this process at the minute and some of the techniques I
have used are:

1) _Putting your name into a common phrase:_

Because I am doing a start-up which involves searching and finding
information, I imagine using a name in the following phrases:

"Just _______ it"; "_______ search it"; "_______ it"; "Look on ______"; "Have
you searched _______?"; "Have you looked on _______?"; "It's on ________";
"Just use ________"; "I use ________"; "Powered by _______";

2) _Only use words that have two or three syllables:_

Names like Google and Amazon work because they only have two to three
syllables, making them more memorable and punchier. Having more syllables soon
makes the name forgettable and easily misspelt; having one syllable lacks
emphasis.

3) _Pick a name that has no direct relevance to your business and from which
the focus of your business cannot be guessed; but do base it on something that
sounds remotely real or familiar_ :

This is for a number of reasons. First, it allows you to easily move out of
your current business area and into different ones; e.g. if Amazon called
itself 'The Bookstore' then their ability to sell CD's, household appliances
and web services might have been hampered because people will think that a
bookstore won't be able to sell web services very well. Second, having a name
that is too obviously related to the type of business your in makes it harder
to get a trade mark (at least in the UK it does). Another example would be the
mobile phone net work Orange because 'Orange' has nothing to do with phones,
just like 'Amazon' has nothing to do with books, but both make people think
"Amazon/Orange? What do they do?". Third, basing it on something that is
remotely real or familiar adds a bit if credibility and doesn't immediately
alienate people - Amazon is a river and forest, Orange is a colour and Google
is a real number. Even names like Zoho trigger an association to something
real since it sounds similar to Soho, which is a place in London.

4) _Don't use names that can be easily mispronounced:_

Mispronounced names can lead to misunderstanding and misspelling, which, in
turn, can lead to frustration for the user. If you do pick a name that can be
easily mispronounced, just misspell it intentionally in order to force the
reader to pronounce it properly, e.g. is 'reileigh' supposed pronounced ree-
lee, ree-lay, ray-lee, ray-lay - which ever it is, spell it phonetically. If
you have to tell people how to say your name, then it's probably not a good
name.

I think that's all for now. And no, I haven't found a good name yet!

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blogimus
On Michael's final point: "And most importantly, once you’ve picked your name,
NEVER FREAKING CHANGE IT"

I have personal experience with this. I joined a startup called TradeAccess.
They changed the name and re-branded to Ozro. They closed their doors summer
of 2001.

I won't say the name change was the cause of demise, but I can't say it did
any good either.

~~~
parker
Yeah, even though you can set up redirects, the dilution on the brand you've
spent so much time building is quite substantial. I went through this on a
site I was managing, and it wasn't only a huge distraction, it took the brand
in a direction I didn't necessarily agree with.

I'd guess that sticking with a decent name is better than changing to a
marginally better one, as your experience suggests...

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pyroman
I'd say number 4 "Keyword Value - a domain with a great keyword in it can be
extremely beneficial for SEO purposes" is most important since people are
probably becoming more comfortable typing in a company name at google instead
of their domain name. I no longer bother with the address bar.

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blogimus
On 6 "No unintended meanings" I knew someone who had a t-shirt with "hug
therapist" on it.

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paulsb
A whole new world has just opened:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=190581>

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iamdave
I honestly expected to click this link and see a ton of information any bozo
could figure out after a Google search but this was worth it.

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maxklein
Two tools - flickr storm and a thesaurus. There are still lots of great domain
ideas out there.

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brfox
Do you care to offer your services to help other startups pick cool domain
names? I find this to be difficult.

~~~
maxklein
Well, picking a domain name is a sort of brainstorming session kind of thing.
If you want, I'll help you brainstorm, but then you gotta pay my normal
consulting fee :)

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parker
I apologize in advance if anyone here owns eatbabies.com -- I didn't mean to
insult you.

