How to Get a Really Good Domain Name for Your Website

Hey everyone. Just wanted to share one of my techniques for getting really good brandable domain names for website projects.

My secret: Domain Auctions

Seasoned “domainers” will already know this trick, but many internet marketers do not know, so I wanted to share.

If you’ve ever launched a website or online service (and most of you have), then you’re familiar with the pain of finding a good domain name. As you know, it’s really hard to find a good, short, memorable, pronounceable, dot com.

If you’re going for a short, memorable, “brandable” name, such as Etsy.com or Baidu.com, then you’ll eventually find yourself browsing the names on a retail site. And if you want to buy a good, short, memorable, pronounceable, dot com, then you’re going to spend a LOT of money.

For example, on one well-known site you’ll have to spend $960,000 USD for Treo.com. For Vodo.com, you’ll have to spend $156,000 USD. Of course, you can go to the bottom of the barrel on that site and pick something up for $3,000 USD or $4,000 USD. But those names are really bad, they’re hard to spell, and they’re not pronounceable at all.

So here’s what I do when I want a great “brandable” name for a project. I check the expiring auctions at Namejet, Dropcatch, and Godaddy (there are others, but those are the ones I use). When domain names expire, they (if they’re good names) usually go to auction on one of those sites, where “domainers” bid on them and secure them for future sale. These domainers basically buy the names at wholesale prices, and then they sell them later at retail prices. This is, of course, a viable business in and of itself. But that’s not what I’m talking about in this post.

I’m talking about securing these names for YOUR existing – or planned – businesses.

If you go to these auctions, you can get nice brandable names at wholesale prices, yourself. You can also get keyword names for yourself, though it’s rare that the keyword you need for your niche happens to be at auction. But brandable names are always available.

For example, I once bought Yanga.com for $1950 USD through a Dropcatch auction. And I once bought Zerb.com for $1208 USD from a Namejet auction. (I had planned to develop both of them, but shortly after buying them, I received offers I couldn’t refuse, so I sold them.) More recently, I bought Qerky.com for $115 USD from a Godaddy audtion. I do still have that one, and I do intend to develop it.

And if you don’t want to spend that much money, you can always get two-word brandables for very cheap. For example, I recently bought TempleFire.com and LonelyPirate.com for $8 USD, each.

The point is, you don’t have to settle for a terrible “hand-registered” domain name. And you don’t have to spend a fortune on retail priced premium names. Use the technique that “domainers” use in order to secure great domain names for yourself.