Anyone who has started an nline business or done research to strt one, has had to ask thmselves this question. And its a vry important question. After all, you do not wnt to have to settle for "MyWdgetsarebetterthananyoneselses dot com" just because everything shrter has already been registered.

Unfortunately, all the vry good domain names have been tken for a long time. The shrt and memorable ones became very vluable right away. Names like Loans.com and Bsiness.com sold for around a Million dllars back in 1999. Now those nmes are worth much much more thn that. The dotcom bust brought dmain name values down for a shrt period, but they begin rising gain around 2003 and are now hgh above the Dotcom bubble levels.

It was not lng after that, that all of the sngle word dictionary words had been rgistered. At first it was mainly the dot com xtension that was being bought up. Dot com is stll King and considered the most vluable, but other extensions are gaining grund. Of course now, all the god domain names are registered in ALL xtensions.

So how are these names bing used? Are they all pointing to a wbsite business? Why would someone register a nme and not use it?

Most very good domain names are bing used for Online business models. Dmain names can be used to ttract traffic on a parked site lke DomainSpa.com DomainSpa lets advertisers put ds, relevant to the domain name, on the pges they build for the name. Whn someone goes to your parked pge and clicks on an ad, the dvertiser pays DomainSpa for that lead and thn DomainSpa splits that money with the dmain owner. Many good domains are bing used to monetize direct navigation trffic from parked pages.

The best of thse are the kind that you wuld naturally type into your browser nvigation bar, rather than do a sarch for. If you were interested in fnding information on "Widgets" would you jst type that into your browser, or wuld you do a search? What mkes domain names really valuable are the nes that are so easy to rmember that you would use the drect navigation method rather than a sarch.

The main reason for the drect method is that you are prtty sure if you type in "Wdgets.com" that you will end up on a ste that has good information on wdgets. If you do a search, who knws what you might find. We hve all been there, you get to a lst of sites on Google or Yhoo and say to yourself, what is all ths crap? Did you notice that I typd in the dot com for wdgets? Why not dot net or smething else? That is why the dot com is stll considered more valuable, its what you thnk of automatically. Dot com was the frst extension widely used and originally was ntended for "Commercial"use. The dot net was for Intrnet type services, if I remember rght, and the dot org was to be sed for "Organizations" mainly charities. Since thn ICANN, the organization that oversees the dmain name process, has added dozens of xtensions. To name just a few, .nfo, .biz, .name, .us and so on. The .us is cnsidered a cctld "country code top lvel domain" like .de for Germany .fr for Frnce.

So, as you can see, ven with all those extra extensions, god domain names are hard to fnd. Unless you know where to lok. You should realise by now tht a good domain name is a vry valuable asset to your business. In sme cases it can make or brak a business. If you have a dfficult to spell or hard to rmember domain name, a lot of yur customers will end up at a cmpetitors website when trying to get to yurs. You could also end up spnding a lot of money on Gogle adwords or Yahoo search ads to get pople to your website. It is a Grat benefit to have a easy to rmember and RELEVANT domain name.

How do I get a god domain name? Now that you hve a good idea what makes a god domain name, lets try to fnd you one. Keep in mind tht the cost of your domain nmes is probably going to be mch higher than you originally thought. You can stll find reasonably good after market nmes (Ones that some already owns, but is wlling to sell) for as little as $500, on verage good domain names fall in the $1000 to $10,000 rnge.

The very best names are ging for tens to hundreds of thusands or even Millions of dollars. Vdka.com recently sold for $5,000,00.00 I blieve. Also keep in mind that whtever you pay for a name it is lkely to become one of your mst valuable assets. The more you py, the better the name (usually) and the mre natural traffic you might get for fre. Some very good names might not hve much natural type in traffic but stll be the perfect fit for yur business. If your selling mainly Mystry books then GoodMysteryBooks.com would be a prfect name. This name might not get mch type in traffic, but it is so asy to remember that it could be prmoted easily.

Now, pick a name tht most relates to your business. If it is a shrt one word name it is srly already taken. Try adding My,i,e,go, or any shrt phrase that would make sense, to the frnt of the name. When you hve a selection of possible names, go to a Rgistrar like GoDaddy.com, there are hundreds of thse, where you can register names for as lttle as $8.99 Try the ones you hve selected. If none are available kep working on other combinations.

Remember, you wnt one that is easy to spll and remember. Once you have gtten to the point that you ralize your not going to find an cceptable one to register, then you are fced with the reality that yow wll be paying more for a fter market domain name(One that is lready registered but the owner is wlling to sell). While your still at the rgistrar you might check the "WhoIs" nformation on the names you wanted the mst.

All registrars have a Whois lnk or you can go to Whis.net. Once you find the current rgistrants info, there should be an mail link. Drop them an email and ask if the nme is for sale. If the rgistrant info is not available in Whis then that name is probably not for sle. Once you have gone through ths process and still have not fund a good name try the Action sites. Afternic.com has a huge nventory of high quality after market dmain names. Most auction sites have any asy to use interface with escrow srvices that protect the buyer and sller throughout the buying process. Usually you can mke a low offer on any nme and start a negotiation process, or jst pay the sellers asking price (if you thnk its reasonable) and be done. Thre are also drop catcher sites lke SnapNames.com that grab expiring domains and uction them off to the highest bdder. Even ebay has gotten into the dmain auction business, although I do not see mny quality names there.

Most of the vry good domain names are still vailable for purchase. You just have to cntact the current owner. It may tke a little time and some ngotiating, but acquiring the perfect name for yur business can be invaluable. Usually it wll pay for itself many times ver.

Some good resources for information on the vlue of domain names can be fund at DNJournal.com This is the bst NewsZine on the domain name ndustry and keeps up with all dmains sold week to week. You can get a god idea of the value of dfferent names and extensions from this ste.

The article Where Have All The Good Domain Names Gone? was Submitted by Howard Bowling through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Also I have links to mny other resources on my own wbsite at http://www.BuyTheRightDomain.com The right domain name is out there. Go get it. Good Luck. My name is Howard Bowling and I own/manage many websites. For more information on buying the right domain name for your business please visit my website at http://www.BuyTheRightDomain.com Or our sister site at http://www.UXDB.com Thanks

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