Domain names
Almost every short English word was registered years ago, so the useful skill is no longer searching — it is knowing what to search for, and how to tell a name worth owning from a name that merely happens to be free.
These guides cover that whole path: turning one word you like into candidates, reading an availability result correctly, comparing extensions on renewal price rather than reputation, and running the checks that stop a rebrand eighteen months later.
If you only read one, read the one on what a domain checker actually knows. Two tools disagreeing about the same name is the single most common reason people design a brand around a domain somebody else owns.
15 guides
Every good .com is taken. Here is what actually works.
Roughly every dictionary word is registered. The way out is not a cleverer search — it is changing the shape of what you search for.
12 min read
The domain you want is taken. Now what?
Taken means six different things, and each one has a different answer. How to find out which you are facing, then choose between buying it, renaming, and walking away.
9 min read
How to turn one word into hundreds of domain ideas
You do not need a hundred unrelated suggestions. You need one seed word and eight ways to work around it — then a filter strict enough to throw most of the results away.
8 min read
Prefix, suffix, or change the word itself
The four ways to reshape a word you already like — add to the end, add to the front, add to both, or alter the letters already there — and when each one works.
8 min read
How to find short .com domains that sound like real brands
Short available .coms exist, but not among dictionary words. How to build them from sound patterns instead — with no hyphens, no digits and no letters doing nothing.
8 min read
How to use a domain name generator without getting junk
Why generators produce forgettable names — bad input, random combination, availability-first output — and the seed-first workflow that fixes all three.
7 min read
What a domain checker actually knows
Why some tools say a name is free when it is not — DNS lookups, RDAP, and the difference between resolving and registered.
8 min read
.com vs .io vs .ai vs .co: which should you choose?
What each extension actually is, what it costs to renew, which ones hide premium pricing, and when a shorter name on .com beats a perfect name elsewhere.
10 min read
Does your domain name affect SEO?
A little, and not in the way people hope. What a domain does and does not do for search visibility, whether keywords help, and the one thing that genuinely matters.
7 min read
How to choose between two names you both like
Six tests that separate two candidates when intuition keeps looping — including what actually makes a name memorable, and how to weigh a great brand against a compromised address.
9 min read
How much should you spend on a domain name?
Two markets, two very different prices. How to set a budget from your stage, value an exact match for your own business, and decide about a premium domain without being rushed.
8 min read
Twelve domain name mistakes founders keep making
The recurring errors, from letting availability pick the name to never deciding at all — plus what a domain that looks credible actually has in common.
7 min read
From shortlist to registered, without regret
What to check between finding an available name and paying for it: the spoken tests, the searches, trademarks, handles, history, and the settings that matter at checkout.
9 min read
The complete domain naming checklist, idea to registration
Fifteen steps from a blank page to a registered domain — how many ideas to generate, when to check availability, what to research, and how to choose without agonising.
8 min read
How to rebrand when your domain no longer fits
Changing a live domain is a migration, not a swap. How to work out what actually needs to change, build the redirect map, keep email working, and come out the other side.
11 min read
All guides — or open the generator and try a word you already like.