How To Pick A Good Domain Name

I am going through this process at the minute and some of the techniques I have used are:

1) Putting your name into a common phrase:

Because I am doing a start-up which involves searching and finding information, I imagine using a name in the following phrases:

"Just _______ it"; "_______ search it"; "_______ it"; "Look on ______"; "Have you searched _______?"; "Have you looked on _______?"; "It's on ________"; "Just use ________"; "I use ________"; "Powered by _______";

2) Only use words that have two or three syllables:

Names like Google and Amazon work because they only have two to three syllables, making them more memorable and punchier. Having more syllables soon makes the name forgettable and easily misspelt; having one syllable lacks emphasis.

3) Pick a name that has no direct relevance to your business and from which the focus of your business cannot be guessed; but do base it on something that sounds remotely real or familiar:

This is for a number of reasons. First, it allows you to easily move out of your current business area and into different ones; e.g. if Amazon called itself 'The Bookstore' then their ability to sell CD's, household appliances and web services might have been hampered because people will think that a bookstore won't be able to sell web services very well. Second, having a name that is too obviously related to the type of business your in makes it harder to get a trade mark (at least in the UK it does). Another example would be the mobile phone net work Orange because 'Orange' has nothing to do with phones, just like 'Amazon' has nothing to do with books, but both make people think "Amazon/Orange? What do they do?". Third, basing it on something that is remotely real or familiar adds a bit if credibility and doesn't immediately alienate people - Amazon is a river and forest, Orange is a colour and Google is a real number. Even names like Zoho trigger an association to something real since it sounds similar to Soho, which is a place in London.

4) Don't use names that can be easily mispronounced:

Mispronounced names can lead to misunderstanding and misspelling, which, in turn, can lead to frustration for the user. If you do pick a name that can be easily mispronounced, just misspell it intentionally in order to force the reader to pronounce it properly, e.g. is 'reileigh' supposed pronounced ree-lee, ree-lay, ray-lee, ray-lay - which ever it is, spell it phonetically. If you have to tell people how to say your name, then it's probably not a good name.

I think that's all for now. And no, I haven't found a good name yet!

On Michael's final point: "And most importantly, once you’ve picked your name, NEVER FREAKING CHANGE IT"

I have personal experience with this. I joined a startup called TradeAccess. They changed the name and re-branded to Ozro. They closed their doors summer of 2001.

I won't say the name change was the cause of demise, but I can't say it did any good either.

On 6 "No unintended meanings" I knew someone who had a t-shirt with "hug therapist" on it.

I'd say number 4 "Keyword Value - a domain with a great keyword in it can be extremely beneficial for SEO purposes" is most important since people are probably becoming more comfortable typing in a company name at google instead of their domain name. I no longer bother with the address bar.

A whole new world has just opened: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=190581

I honestly expected to click this link and see a ton of information any bozo could figure out after a Google search but this was worth it.

Two tools - flickr storm and a thesaurus. There are still lots of great domain ideas out there.

I apologize in advance if anyone here owns eatbabies.com -- I didn't mean to insult you.