Archive for the ‘Domain Tools’ Category

As of late i have been picking up more and more .org and .net domain names. Not only have i been picking them up i have been able to flip some as well for great prices. You may be saying what the hell do you want a .net or .org for? Well there are two reasons why i have been taking them: 1) Hardly any domainers like them so they are super cheap and i can usually get them with little to no competition 2) Since they are super generic they are easy to optimize and rise to the top of search engines.

Just those two factors alone are enough to make me spit out reg fee or even $100 at a drop house for a great domain name. Most of the time the extension of a domain will not matter for the most part in SEO. I could use a .info and make it to the first page if i did it right.

You would also be amazed at how many websites or companies use a crappy .com or the .net/.org versions of a domain name. Even if they own a crappy .com name quite a few will be more than happy to give up a couple hundred bucks to have a generic .net or .org that relates directly to what they are selling.

At this point you may be asking where i find the domain names to pick up. Well its pretty simple and it is an amazing website, its called FreshDrop.net. This site is so extensive and filled with stats that it is as easy as applying the filters and looking the domain names.

They have lists from godaddy all the way to ebay and everything in between. I usually scan most of the lists based on the criteria i put in and i get back some great domain names. The reason i say you can get great .net or .orgs for $13 a piece is because that’s how much they costs when you get them from TDNAM.

FreshDrop.net

So if you want to find some great domain names with out all the extra work go ahead and check out FreshDrop.net, it is totally worth it. Just as a disclaimer this is not how i find all of my names but is something that i check and scan just about everyday, a very useful tool that i think everyone should at least try.

Finding good domain names is always a task to be held as a daunting one. I can not tell you how many times i have scanned lists of names for hours and have come up with nothing. By now i have come up with quite a few strategies, some strong some not so strong. The point is that sometimes you just have to relax and let tools do the work for you.

Namebio.com

This is where Namebio.com comes in handy. If you do not know by now Namebio.com is a database of recent reported sales at major venues along with private reported sales. This is unlike DNJournal.com because it reports everything that is reported by the sites sources. This can even mean that domains that have sold for $5 are even reported. Along with that they report ALL domain extensions. The site itself is really cool and even if you do not use this technique its worth a look. Very web 2.0 and its all in ajax which is really cool.

Anyways this is a super simple way of finding domains. All you have to do is look at the recent sales and check the extensions and see if they are available. Though this may sound like a cop out of finding domain names its much more than just checking extensions. I did not mean that so literally.

Look at the sales that are going on and try to spot the trends. Find domains that have sold recently for quite a bit of money. From there target the niche that domain sold in and find similar domains to that one or couple that sold for quite a bit of money. Also do not fret about domains that you find that are already taken. Just simply send over an email and ask how much they are selling for. You would be surprised over the quality of domains you can pick up for under $100 this way. People just really do not realize what they have until they do not have it anymore.

Really all i am saying spot trends in the sales. If you see a particular niche taking off with a series of sales try to spot why and see if you can find an opportunity to get your stake. This is super simple to do but takes practice. Not only can this be done with Namebio.com but with other domain sales report sites.

Have fun with it and let us know how it all works out.

I have come across quite a few sites that offer domain whois look ups in my day. Though i have not found one that even compares to the one that i use on a daily basis. Not even the registrars themselves can compare to this powerful tool. That domain whois lookup service is Domaintool.com’s Whois.sc.

I get asked quite a bit which domain whois service is the best around and i always point them towards Whois.sc. Not only do they look up the basic information on a domain name for your they also offer detailed information on registration dates among site information that is currently displayed.

Whois.sc

Not only does this service do what i have already mentioned they also add quite a few other tools that run along side the domain whois look up. For instance it shows you what main TLDs are taken and gives you the chance to actually add them to your cart and register them. Also they provide a great SEO browsers tool that shows you what you can do better to optimize your on page SEO. That alone is a powerful tool and only makes it better to run it along side the domain whois lookup.

So if you are ever in question about where to do a domain whois lookup every again check out whois.sc. By far they are the best and provide many other tools to webmasters and domainers alike.

Here is a list of domain name generators that i have put together. I have been asked in the past about them and suggest them to people just looking for a unique brandable domain name. These are great and sometimes make me laugh at what they come up with. Some of these i have used in the past and some i have just recently found for this post. Most do different things and come up with different results to give them all a try.

MakeWords.com – The name says it all, it makes words. They actually create pronounceable domain names every time you do a search. I think this is a pretty comprehensive search that produces available and non-available domain names with statistics. It is definitely worth a look if you are in the area for this type of name generation.

NameBoy.com – This is a great one to look at. They allow you to put in two different keywords and create tons of domain names. They even tell you if they are available in a couple of different extensions. Check this one out if you want to see some funny generic matches.

Dotomator.com – Finding easy names has never been easier with this domain name generator. All you have to do is just put in a keyword and it finds tons of domains for you. It even allows you to pick and choose different names to check availability. They even have a web 2.0 generator.

Bustaname.com – I have mentioned this one in the past on the blog. It has got to be my favorite out of all the domain name generators. No offense to anyone but this one is super super comprehensive for what you are looking for. Give it go if you are looking for an easy way to find good domain names.

DomainExposer.com – Have not used this one to much in the past but i had to include it here. DomainExposer has one of the most extensive abilities i have ever seen in a domain name generator. You can select the different types of words to mix along with where your keyword should be in the domain name. On top of that you get a very large list of domain names.

PickyDomains.com – This is not the average domain name generator. This is more of a service to customers from actual people than a computer putting terms together. Basically you pay for people to come up with different types of names that fit your criteria. This can be a great service if you want to see what people can come up with and you never know they might come up with a really good domain name. You can also be one of those people suggesting names and actually earn money from it.

Alright its time to do some old school Domain Mining. I was over at Rick Schwartz’s blog yesterday and read a post all about ‘Keyword Mining’. He does not come straight out and call it this but it’s what i call it. Rick goes on to explain how he mines for domains by using nouns, verbs and adjectives. He takes a keyword, usually a noun, and then combines it with various verbs and adjectives to create keyword domain names. I want to bring this technique to light in the manual way and i will direct you in the direction of some automated tools, usually free.

Step #1:
You need to compile a list of adjectives and nouns that are popular words. This is pretty easily done with a search in google. Most list either can be downloaded or copied extremely easy. Put these in an excel spread sheet as a list. Check the picture below:

Verbs and Adjectives

Step #2:
Now that you have go your list of verbs and adjectives all you have to do now is come up with a keyword that you would like to mine. In this example i will use “Blog”. After you have chosen the keyword you will use just put the keyword either in front of or after the adjectives and verbs. Then just drag the word all the down to the end of the list. Check the picture below:

Verbs and Adjectives Next to 'Blog'

Step #3:
The next step is super super simple just highlight the 2 columns and copy them. Check picture below:

Copy The Keywords

Step #4:
Now that you have your keywords copied now you have to paste them in a bulk domain availability checker. My favorite to do this is GoDaddy.com but you can also use my Bulk Domain Availability Checker right here at YGrab.com ! Check Picture Below:

Before Submit at GoDaddy.com

Step #5:
After you click submit it will bring you to another page that lets you know what was available and what was not. From my search, i can tell that the keyword ‘Blog’ has been mined extensively. I know this because there were no available domains with my words.

This is a super simple method that produces some great results if done with the right keywords. Obviously as you can see that some keywords are mined more than others. Try doing this with a variety of keywords and i am sure you can find some great ones to be had. This method also works great with geo targeted domain names. Here is a small list of automated tools that do this same thing for you:

ShoutDomains.com

MakeWords.com

NameTumbler.com

DomainsBot.com

BustAName.com

DomainIdeas.com

Have fun with this and i hope everyone can find a good name or two using this mining method. Let us all know of the domains you have found using this method or one of the tools above. Also if you have something to add do not be afraid to do so.