Either I'm Really Bad or Really Lucky

[Dan C. Rinnert]

With the recession, is it getting easier to find good domain names?

Last week, I had an idea for a domain name and went to check it out. It was available, so I grabbed it. And this was in a "saturated" niche.

Just a few minutes ago, I got an idea for a domain name in another "saturated" niche. Boom! It was available too. Not now, though, because I snapped it up.

Either I'm getting really lucky here or I'm just really bad at picking domain names...

[rapidscc]

Hi Dan,

I think it's too early to judge if you're really bad or just plain lucky..

I guess we'll find out once those domains start hauling in some cash for you..but before then, I think we'll never know..

All Success!

Omar

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Hi Omar,

I think the first one will work out. I have a site in the same niche that doesn't get a lot of traffic (because it's unfinished and I don't do much of anything to promote it), but it makes decent money on the traffic it does get. So, this new domain (once I get content on it) should do just as well or better. And once I get both sites complete, they complement each other well.

As for the newest domain, it is too early to tell. But, I was surprised that no one had registered it. It has the niche's two-word keyword in the name, plus a third word that goes with it very well. I think it has good potential if I can keep coming up with ideas for it. It's an odd angle I'm taking, but I think it has a good chance to work because of its uniqueness.

I'm just curious, though, as to whether others are finding it any easier to get the domains they think up?

Dan

[Hamish Jones]

I haven't really checked on any domain names recently but it is an interesting proposition.

Do you think the domain names were available because you are in a niche that has only recently become saturated, or more saturated as the case can be, or do you think maybe it has become available because others are dropping out of the niche?

Have the domain names previously been registered or were you the first to register them?

Having said all this, any domain name is only as good as you make it!

Good luck and I hope they both work out for you.

[Lawrh]

In early August ICANN started imposing fees on domain tasters and the practice plummeted. The millions of domains that were squatted for 10 days then canceled then squatted again are now available. This is great for everybody.

[bgmacaw]

A lot of people aren't renewing old domains often because of their personal or company economic situation. If these domains aren't snapped up during the renewal grace period then they're deleted and go back on the open market.

For example, I recently purchased about 200 new domains and about 30% of them had been previously registered but had expired and were deleted during late 2008 or 2009. Some were probably tasting like Lawrh mentioned but others did have actual content 1-2 years ago according to Wayback Machine.

A common problem with these domains is that sometimes Google doesn't remove a black mark against the domain even after deletion. So, if the domain was used for YACG, BANS or some other script Google hates you might have a tough time getting it re-indexed with your new content even if it's squeaky clean and you request reinclusion through Webmaster Tools.

[zerofill]

I think it is because people aren't so much trying to buy keyword based domains anymore...because you don't need them. We have been outranking all kinds of keyword based domains anymore. Google cares about the content of the site and the anchor text and content pointing to the site via backlinks.

This is why Jeremy and I have been killing things lately with just inanchor keyword research... People buy keyword based domains and use keywords in the titles of the content and think they are going to rank for things in the niches we have been attacking. So we end up slaughtering them...

[Revolves]

You will find plenty of domain drops everyday, what maybe useless to some is a gem to another. In your case I feel no one thought of registering that particular keyword domain name.
People generally make the mistake of believing that keyword domains will automatically rank well. That is not true. One can buy 214218590258015t8105510180.info and get it ranked with good content. But the point with keyword domains is catching the attention of the user. When a user searches and finds a search result with a matching keyword domain the chances of clicking a generic domain while searching is high.

I agree with zerofill though, content is king you do not need a shiny million dollar .com for a website. You do need a sensible domain name which is easy to remember to embed your website into the minds of people.

Revolves

[Intrepreneur]

I've been getting luck too, I picked up 3 yesterday with my leftover monies in naecheap account. I was very surprised the domains were still available.

[dave147]

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

With the recession, is it getting easier to find good domain names?

Last week, I had an idea for a domain name and went to check it out. It was available, so I grabbed it. And this was in a "saturated" niche.

Just a few minutes ago, I got an idea for a domain name in another "saturated" niche. Boom! It was available too. Not now, though, because I snapped it up.

Either I'm getting really lucky here or I'm just really bad at picking domain names...

Let us know the domain names and we'll let you know if you're really bad or really lucky

[Adam Carn]

I think you got lucky Dan, good domain names will keep getting tougher and tougher to find, financial crisis or no financial crisis.

Adam

[Mukul Verma]

I think you may have a talent in picking good names. Maybe you are thinking diff then most people do for picking domain names.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by Hamish Jones

Do you think the domain names were available because you are in a niche that has only recently become saturated, or more saturated as the case can be, or do you think maybe it has become available because others are dropping out of the niche?

Have the domain names previously been registered or were you the first to register them?

According to the Wayback Machine, neither of these domains had any prior content. As far as I can tell, neither had previously been registered.

I'm not necessarily thinking they were dropped. I'm thinking maybe people are buying fewer domain names?

I wonder if there's the possibility that people think that .com is saturated already, and don't even bother looking for .com's anymore? I would think that would be a long-shot, but you never know.

Originally Posted by Revolves

I agree with zerofill though, content is king you do not need a shiny million dollar .com for a website. You do need a sensible domain name which is easy to remember to embed your website into the minds of people.

Something memorable is what I usually go for.

Originally Posted by Intrepreneur

I've been getting luck too, I picked up 3 yesterday with my leftover monies in naecheap account. I was very surprised the domains were still available.

With the one domain, I doubt that anyone had previously registered it. With the second domain, I'm surprised it wasn't registered. In a similar niche, someone has registered (but has no website) a similar name. So, it's surprising it hasn't been registered. I just checked and it's even more surprising since a Google search for the domain name has a WSO in the #8 position where the "two-keywords + word" phrase of the domain was used. #2 is a Squidoo lens and #19 is an EZA article. So, this domain certainly seems to have slipped through the cracks!

[phil.wheatley]

I think considering most people register for a year, it was probably more luck that they were available, or were your urls quite unique? Sometimes you can get around this with one additional word or hyphens.

Anyway, lucky you, every url I ever some up with is taken, so I have to get a bit creative.

Phil

[luckystepho]

I guess some folks possibly register lots of names to use in future and then don't get around to it or have given up on IM and let them expire.

I have had a few lucky finds but generally have to use hyphens.

[Brian McElroy]

I like to use BuyDomains.com for premium domain names...
it has been REALLY easy to negotiate with them recently.

Nearly everything is on sale in this economy... great time
to build a business

-Brian