With over 20,000,000 domain names already registered, it's not surprising that you may be finding it very difficult to come up with a "suitable" name that you are happy with. The reason for purchasing the domain name will naturally have an influence on your choice of domain name, and may inspire sufficient lateral thinking to come up with an unregistered name you can secure.

At the same time, always remember that - if your pockets are deep enough - the simplest and most satisfactory course of action may well be to buy the "ideal" domain name from its current owner. If you're interested in pursuing the buying option, you'll want to consult the guide to buying a domain name.

If you'd prefer to let your imagination be your guide, read on for some practical advice on finding the right domain name...

1. For "Personal" Use

You're buying a domain name so that you can have a highly personalized site URL or email address, or simply to impress your friends: "You watched the game on TV last night? Well, that's nothing -- I set myself up with my very own domain on the Internet..." Alternatively, you might be trying to get on the domain name bandwagon that you have heard so much about recently. Whatever the background to your decision, if you're after a domain name for personal reasons, your choice will probably be based on one of the following...

A) Your name

If you've got a very unusual first or last name, you might be able to secure it as a domain. For the vast majority, this option is no longer available. Think about registering your first and last names together (joebloggs.com) or your initial(s) and last name (jbloggs.com ; jpbloggs.com).  If you share a common name, it's going to be tough to find a suitable combination still available. Since it's for personal use, consider exploring one of the other extensions such as .net or .org, or even some of the less familiar country extensions such as .to or .cc.

Note: If you share the same name as a famous person or trademark, then you face the possibility of a lawsuit over the control of a domain name based on your name, even though it's your name! This may sound incredible - frankly, it is pretty amazing - but at the same time there have been well-documented cases of celebrities successfully getting "their" name back from people whose only claim to fame was being born with the same name. For more information and help, see the trademark info section of the domain resources guide.

B) Your hobbies, inclinations or habits

If you are a sports fanatic (sports-mad-guy.com), an ardent role-player with a favorite character (darkwyrm.com) or a heavy sleeper (in-a-daze.com), you'll probably find it easy to come up with a domain name that fits your interests or habits. If you're a hacker, or a card-carrying Nerd, you're likely to find much leaner pickings as so many related names have already been bought up. Nevertheless, focus on picking a domain that sounds fun to you - and won't cause your cheeks to glow red with embarrassment when you share it with your friends in a bar!

C) Your taste, or lack of it

You might want to register a domain name that makes a religious (godmustdie.com) or personal statement (gunlover.com), or one meant to provoke outrage (eatingbabies.com). At the same time, be aware that the ownership records of a domain name are a matter of public record - in other words, anyone can find out who owns a specific domain name and where they live. Don't antagonize the wrong people!

2. The Successful Web Site

If you have been running a successful web site for some time (apply your own definition of successful here), you may wish to move away from a subdirectory provided by an ISP, and boldly stake your claim on a small corner of cyberspace with your own domain name. Remember you will still be able to pay an ISP to maintain a virtual link to your domain name -- I am not advocating spending the thousands of $ necessary to put a machine permanently on the Internet.

The choice of domain name will usually be obvious, as it should derive directly from the title page of the web site you are running. For instance, if your web site relates to golf, and is called "The 19th Hole", your choice must inevitably narrow itself down to a limited selection such as "19thhole.com", "19th-hole.com", "nineteenth-hole.com" and so on. If you are unlucky, somebody else may have already taken the name you covet. Either think of an alternative, as above, or if your pockets are deep (and your web site is VERY successful) you may wish to gulp, seize your checkbook and try and buy the rights to the domain name.

3. The Company

If you are purchasing one or more domain names on behalf of a company, there are several issues that you will need to consider. The domain name may be purchased to protect a product name, brand name or trademark. You may wish to associate a generic word with your product. You may be looking for a domain name for your company's web site. You may also wish to have one or more dedicated domain names to provide unique e-mail addresses to certain divisions or branches of your business, or for specific products and services. These issues are considered below:

A) Protecting Trademarks

An extremely topical issue, and currently a highly contentious one, is the protection or lack of it that a trademark or registered brand name affords companies seeking to register a domain name. You will find a great deal of information on this topic on the links page. Or you can read on for a quick summary of the current situation.

There has been a lot of bad press about speculators "hijacking" popular brand names, trademarks and company names, and then holding companies to "virtual ransom" with demands for exorbitant payment in order to cede possession of the domain name. Some cases include MacDonalds, MTV and Kaplan, who have been fighting for the rights to the related domain names.

While no binding resolution has been reached on this issue, some preliminary conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, a trademark or similar device does not seem to offer full protection on the Internet. Secondly, a majority of companies appear to have been successful in suits to recover their domain names. Thirdly, InterNIC has recently changed its registration rules to prohibit the wilful registration of obvious trademarks. Fourth, problems are compounded if two companies with the same name, both of which have been trading for a long time, lay claim to the same domain name.

From the above, it would seem that, while it may be possible to "repossess" a domain name, the burden of proof rests squarely on the company challenging the legitimacy of the original owner, and that sizeable legal fees may well be incurred in reclaiming the domain name. If you want to find out more about domain names and trademarks, you can read the legal guide to domain names...

It would therefore appear to make good commercial sense to register as many domain names as possible, for all combinations of trademarks, brand names and the like, that you would like protected. While the short-term costs incurred will be as low as $10-30 per domain name as an initial payment (depending on your choice of registrar), the long-term costs of fighting a legal battle over the ownership of a domain name could prove far more onerous.

B) Associating a generic word with your product

The commercial benefits of linking a generic word with your product in the minds of potential customers does not need spelling out here. Proctor & Gamble is just one of the companies that has gone for a blanket approach, registering hundreds of generic domain names relating to all aspects of personal hygiene and health care. You may be too late to snap up obvious sites like shampoo.com or steak.com, but a little thought into alternative appellations for your products or services may well bear fruit. These alternative domains can be linked easily to your main web site, in order to funnel in more customers.

C) Hosting your company web site

See topic 2, "The Successful Web Site" further up this page for more details on option C.

D) Creating unique e-mail addresses

While you may be satisfied with a centralized e-mail system, and addresses in the form <user@company-domain.com>, there may be attractive benefits to be gained from creating original domain names to which e-mail addresses can be linked. For instance, if you are in the car servicing business, the domain name "need-a-service.com" could yield potential e-mail addresses such as "brakes@need-a-service.com", "bodywork@need-a-service.com" etc. Businesses such as travel agents are blessed with countless options, such as "reservations@...", "tickets@...", "late-breaks@..." and more. Set up an auto-responder to mail information directly to interested customers.

4. The Investor

The fire behind the quest for domain names has been stoked to a white hot blaze by the remarkable sums of money, running into millions of dollars, that have recently changed hands in exchange for the rights to various "select" domain names.

Pros

• Low startup capital: only $10-30 per domain name.

• Easy maintenance: domain names do not degrade over time, nor do they have to be stored like physical goods.

• Very easy purchasing system, should you choose to go with one of the many companies specializing in the purchase of domain names.

• The rewards, if and when they appear, may be substantial -- five digit sums have regularly been paid for the rights to interesting domain names.

• The registration system gives you a chance to pit your wits against the world. The challenge is simple: to dream up a domain name that is catchy, interesting and which has obvious commercial potential, while at the same time one which is not obvious enough to have been bought up already.

• The effort required to sell the domain name can be minimal, although the appearance of interested buyers is never guaranteed. Take a look at the "Selling a domain name" page for more details of how to dispose of your investment.

• You own the rights to the domain name for ever, and unless it is a trademark or similar, it can never be taken from you. It is yours to dispose of at will, but ALSO TO USE. This last statement is very important: a domain name can be used in any way, and then traded at a later date.

Cons

• The market is growing rapidly, which means more potential buyers, but also more sellers. Commercially interesting domain names are disappearing at a rapid rate.

• There is no guarantee that a purchaser will come forward for your particular domain name(s). Thus, the maximum exposure is 100% of your original investment.

• The resale market has cooled along with the cooling economy. At the same time, there has been a flood of sellers coming into the market. All this conspires to push prices (and demand) down.

• The cost of maintaining your investment is $10-30 per year after the initial registration period.

Advice

There is no "sure" thing in any investment, no matter what certain advertisements may want to lead you to believe. But if you have a few hundred dollars to spare, that you don't mind losing in exchange for the chance to parley them into a much larger sum of money, and to be at the forefront of the world's latest gold-rush, go ahead. Dip in a toe, buy a couple of domain names, and see what happens... If you want more advice, read the domain name investment guide.

Of course, you will want to maximize the commercial value of your domain name, which leads us nicely onto the 5 Golden Rules for creating Domain Names...

>NEXT>