What are some of your tricks?

When the domain you want is already picked

[MrSpeed]

I sometimes like to add on something like '4u' or 'online'
takendomain4u.com
takendomainonline.com

What makes sense from the branding/SEO standpoint?

[crashomon]

Good grammar is always better than u2 or 4u or other slang spelling of URLS.

I'd rather go with a longer, phonetically correct URL (say "mydomainname.com" instead of "myd4u.com" which isn't very memorable).

Besides, most people say the domain name, instead of spelling it out, when referince it to an associate, and so, using normal, easy to remember names is best. Even if you have to add a word to it, it can help clarify the site's purpose.

Sure, people want
myname.com
but
mynamemybusiness.com is just as good
So is
mynamemycity.com
or even
mynamemybusinessmycity.com

example: ellislegalserviceshouston.com or
stevensplumbingitasca.com

are longer, and more professionally correct than
ellislaw4u (too casual)
stevensh202u or some other 'trick'.

I'm not allowed to list my domain, but be assured, its nice and long, but oh-so-easy to remember.

My two cents (or my .02 which works here, but not as a domain . . . LOL)

Patrick Elward

[zoobie]

Whatever you do, don't spend a lot of time searching because, IMO, they record your searches and register the name before you. I've seen it happen many times on different boards so there must be someething to it. Think it thru, search briefly, and buy immediately.

[paybacksa]

I agree... I spent weeks buying domains a year or so ago, and noticed several times that names I had checked/rechecked suddenly apeared as "available for purchase" from a name seller just days after I had checked and saw them never registered. Since they were rather unique combinations and not very generic, I remain convinced someone was harvesting "check if available" activity.

[PatrickDeese]

In general I try to avoid domains that can't be said orally.

If you have to say "example for you dot com - oh - and that's a number 4, not f-o-r and not f-o-u-r, and U the letter, not y-o-u."

I actually heard a radio ad once where they mentioned their website and went through similar explanations.

If you can't get keyword1-keyword2.com, just search for decent adjective - big, blue, red - or look for a decent modifier like "online", "best" etc.

[postmaster]

I took myexample.com since example.com was taken.

I find that putting "the","my","your" or any other meaningful character at the beginning of a new domain registration, helps in finding the right domain for a client.

[edited by: Woz at 7:27 am (utc) on June 24, 2004]
[edit reason] no specific please, see TOS#13 [/edit]