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As time goes on it’s getting harder and harder to find a good domain name that’s available. When all the names you keep trying are already registered, it can be very frustrating and time consuming.

I haven’t got a magic bullet I’m afraid, but I would like to share a number of useful tips and free tools with you, that will help speed up the choosing process, and free up your time for more important things.

If you have to, one option is always to try your keywords with hyphens ‘-’ in between the words. I have some domains like that, but I always prefer domains without the dashes in them, because they look better and are easier for your visitors to remember.

1. Thesaurus - An obvious place to start. I often use the one I have as part of Microsoft Word. If you don’t have that, you can’t do much better than going to http://www.thesaurus.com.
2. Check Out Your competitors - Go to Google and type in your main keywords for the site you want to register. Look at the domains being used by the sites that come up in the listings and AdWords ads.

   Directories like the following are also a great place to browse and see what names other people are using: http://dir.yahoo.com, http://directory.google.com, http://dmoz.org. Check out the descriptions in the listings for more keywords and phrase ideas.

3. Keyword map - try typing in your main keywords into the search box at: http://www.kwbrowse.com. It comes back with a keyword map of interrelated phrases that a thesaurus won’t provide you.
4. Article Directory - Here’s another way of getting your competitors to give you ideas. Go to http://www.ezinearticles.com, and browse the category listings for your niche. Then scan through the article headlines looking for keyword and phrase ideas.
5. Amazon - When I’m looking for inspiration I often find myself browsing Amazon. Do a keyword search and see what titles and descriptions the top selling authors in your niche are using.
6. Forums - This is a great place to find out what keywords and phrases people in your niche use and respond to.
7. NameBoy - Type in a couple of keywords into the search box at: http://www.nameboy.com, and they throw back a load of domain name options using similar words. They also provide a tick sheet showing you which domain name extensions are available to register.
8. Brainstorming Tool: http://uk2.net/uk2_name_machine.shtml. With this tool you can type in up to 15 different keywords, and it will return all the available domains using any two words in combination.
9. Domain Suggestions - http://domain-suggestions.domaintools.com This is another useful tool I like, and it really does throw up some cool names that you might not have thought of. Again, with the added bonus of telling you which domain extensions are available for each suggestion.

I hope this gives you a few ideas if you’re struggling to find a good domain name.

Jason Lewis