What makes good domain name?

[temi]

We all know the domain names we would love to have, but given the fact that most quality domain names are already taken, how can you creatively find a quality domain name that still carries the image you are trying to portray for your business?

[Golfers-Planet]

You just guess. Search everything you can think of. Like for example, lets say you want the domain Links.com. Instead of searching Links.com, change it to Linkz.com. A lot of z-ending domains are not taken. That is my best advice. Good luck getting what your looking for.

PS. What are you looking for?

[temi]

Thanks for that Sam, I am looking for a domain name for a shopping related website.

[Golfers-Planet]

I could sell you Shop-Daily.net if your interested...Only $18

[SkinnerW]

I usually try to add some short abbreviation to the main word to keep domain as short as possible.
For example:
"w" can stand for "world" or "web"...
"g" - for global
"I" - for "information" or "international" or "internet"...

This way there are no intentionally misspelled words and also easy to remember short domain.

I would rather have "gshop" than "globalshop"...

If you are targeting regional market - you can probably combine country abbreviation in the domain name.

So that's my criteria:
- contain main keyword
- as short as possible
- easy to pronounce and remember

[temi]

I think this is a brilliant tip Skinner

[temi]

Originally Posted by Golfers-Planet

I could sell you Shop-Daily.net if your interested...Only $18

Thanks for the offer. Two things wrong with that domain name are:
- I contains dash, I dislike domains with hyphen
- Its a dot net, I prefer .co.uk or .com , I am targeting UK market so .co.uk is actually my preferred domain extension

But thanks for the offer

[loredan]

It really depends on what you are looking to target. If you need a keywords stuffed domain then even a dash it's fine from SEO point of view. On the other hand if you are looking to establish a brand, personally I would go for a short and catchy domain.

[gkd_uk]

The hypen domains have worked very well for me when it comes to SEO

[vicdigi]

I think any serious emphasis on a domain for a shopping website needs to be given careful consideration.

Hyphen domain has worked very well on our holiday website but would never consider a domain with hyphen again.

This is open to loosing valuable business. Especailly when you are trying to build a brand. Through word of mouth people will give the name of the website but not necessarily the url so when giving "shopping info" as a website name most people will automatically think the name is shoppinginfo if they cannot find it by typing in the address bar of the browser.

This would not automatically go through to the site because the site name would have been shopping-info etc.