Most short domain names not available?

31 replies
Hi,

I sat three days In my bureau desk to create a brand name for my business.
It should be short as possible.

But when I try to find a free domain- in 99% 3-4 and 5 letters names are not available.
What the hell is going on..... around the world there are no free 2-4 letter domain names?

Do you have any ideas?

marco005
#domain #names #short
  • Profile picture of the author anayb
    Originally Posted by marco005 View Post

    Hi,

    I sit three days on my bureau desktop to create an brand name for my business.
    It should be short as possible.

    But when I try to find free domain- in 99% 3-4 and 5 letters names are not available.
    What the hell is going on..... around the world there are no free 2-4 letters domain names?

    Do you have an idea?

    marco005
    The barrier to build a brand online is very high, last time I looked at sedo.com where you can snatch a premium domain for $20,000 or more, below that price range no one is willing to sell anything of much worth. You can say I am in a situation just like you, without wasting time in looking for a free domain--which isn't possible unless you're very lucky at catching expired domains, start accruing money for a catchy domain like bnb.com etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author wentzco
    Well the .com 3-4 letter .com names are all taken but you can purchase them in the aftermarket at different venues . ShortNames - Tracking the Short Domain Name Market provides you with some of those listings as well shows what they have been selling for.

    Sometimes you can find a pronounceable 5 letter domain for cheap in the aftermarket such as godaddy auctions. You can also make a "request" in the forum at Namepros with your budget.

    https://namebio.com/ also provides sales data so you can see exactly what domains of various length are selling for.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    What the hell is going on.....
    Pretty simple - people have been doing business online now for 20 years or so....and registering domains. If you want a short domain name you will buy at auction or buy from the person who has it registered. You won't find them at the $10-15 price of a new domain registration.
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  • Profile picture of the author marco005
    Now in the moment I can have a short letter domain name
    for com, ,net,org domains- the domain name is an abbreviation of the full name, the full name can use as brand name and slogan.....

    I think I will buy the com, net , org domain.
    But I think shorter than 5 letters will not possible today with domain names.

    marco005
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  • Profile picture of the author jamie3000
    Might have to go for a more newer one like .online or .club they're a bit unusual at the moment but I think they'll become mainstream
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  • Profile picture of the author Gambino
    Why does it have to be 5 characters or less...? I'd prefer a brandable name/word or two as opposed to 5 or fewer random letters.
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  • Profile picture of the author marco005
    As Gambino says, a brandable name in domain makes more sense
    But I not own the domain lifetime (nobody does it).

    In moment I have a short 5 letter abbrevation it is something like this;

    The Donald marketing expert (as example)

    that could be some like;

    tdme.com
    dmrkex
    dmexprt

    such short 5 letter names are possible for domain, but does it make sense?

    marco005
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    does it make sense
    No, it doesn't make sense.

    But I not own the domain lifetime (nobody does it).
    Irrelevant - you have use of a domain for as long as you keep paying the registration.
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    Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
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    Sometimes I just want someone to hug me and say...
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    Domain names have always been first come first serve. If you can't find a short one you like just move on and make it longer.

    Shorter is not always better.

    Just pick one and start marketing it. You will have to do that no matter what name you choose.

    You were probably just giving a fake example but it not.... I am not sure you want to start a domain with "The Donald" unless you want to get confused with someone else.

    Not everyone agrees but I think the new gTLD's will become more mainstream as time goes on and sometimes can be quite memorable. You want memorable for your branding.

    Examples:
    donaldmarketing.expert
    donald.marketing

    For an Internet marketer selling Internet marketing services I think names like that could help you stand out from the crowd and look progressive.
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  • Profile picture of the author marco005
    Ok,

    when short 2,3. 4 abbrevation letters make no sense, so why so many companies (big companies) have save that short letters for domain when it make no sense?

    Sure one like this donaldmarketing.expert stand out, I agree with that.
    But when it comes to seo a com or us domain is advantageous.

    With these new new gTLD's I not sure that you rank well with them.

    marco005
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  • Profile picture of the author Gambino
    I don't see how anyone can argue that a domain like dmrkex.com is better or more brandable than donaldmarketing.com.

    Very few people, if anyone, would understand, remember or and/or type in dmrkex.com.
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  • Profile picture of the author eklipz316
    I'd signup for a premium service that shows all expired domains.

    I've found some golden domain with this type of service, and it only costed me the standard $10 domain registration fee to get them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    Originally Posted by marco005 View Post

    What the hell is going on..... around the world there are no free 2-4 letters domain names?

    Sorry Marco, supply & demand works in the domain market just like it does in most other consumer markets. You're 20 years too late to snatch up short one word domain names unless you buy one from an owner.

    As others have said, don't get hung up on the fact that you can't find a dot com to register that is under five letters.

    Use Impossibility to find a nice brandable domain (dot com) that is fairly short and then work your tail off to promote your brand.

    From a practical standpoint, a shorter name is preferable to a longer name, but SEO and branding strategy is not dependent upon a short name alone - there are lots of other factors at play.

    Go to Impossibility.org - type in your main keyword - and you'll be shown many possible brandable names that are open for registration.

    Good luck to you,

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    Medium sized domain names work too. Even longer ones can be A-OK. Because the site owner, their skills, the value provided through the site and the owner's friend network make all the difference.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    Originally Posted by marco005 View Post

    Hi,

    I sit three days on my bureau desktop to create an brand name for my business.
    It should be short as possible.

    But when I try to find free domain- in 99% 3-4 and 5 letters names are not available.
    What the hell is going on..... around the world there are no free 2-4 letters domain names?

    Do you have an idea?

    marco005
    What tld? .com?

    If so then I would totally expect that. You either need to figure out a different tld or different name by the sounds of it
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    • Profile picture of the author Meharis
      Sorry, I posted in the wrong thread.
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  • Profile picture of the author Julia Robert
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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  • Profile picture of the author jimmyvanilla
    It's not the number of letters in the domain that make it a good brand, it's how effective you are at branding and reputation building that makes a difference.

    Facebook (8 letters)
    Instagram (9 letters)
    Wikipedia (9 letters)
    SoundCloud (10 letters)
    StackOverflow (13 letters)
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    • Profile picture of the author anayb
      Originally Posted by jimmyvanilla View Post

      it's how effective you are at branding and reputation building that makes a difference.

      Facebook (8 letters)
      Instagram (9 letters)
      Wikipedia (9 letters)
      SoundCloud (10 letters)
      StackOverflow (13 letters)
      Don't forget these companies are backed by billions of dollars of vc funds (especially fb and instagram). With such gigantic amounts of money, you can make a domain name like X$$#co^*ccvv@98.com a very big brand, not a big deal. IMHO, those who don't quality for any types of outside funds should invest big in domain name (remember its your land in the Internet and you must decide whether if you want to dwell in a slum or a posh area where address matters) its a common sense which most people fail to grasp, thus you don't have to spend big on branding. Most good domain names come at a price range between $20,000 to $500,000 (there is no upper limit though sex.com was sold for a little more than 13 millions USD). Hope, it helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Eden A
    Marco,
    Most of the .com names are taken but you can try different thing like .co that what I did.
    or... you should just keep looking till you may find something good.
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  • Profile picture of the author marco005
    Can I use as an oversea, us domain? (co.us)
    Is that possible with rent an usa office address?

    But when I create an good brand name for domain, this is not a trademark?
    To register an brand name as trademark it will be cost extra (lawyer, registration fees.....)

    marco005
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Originally Posted by marco005 View Post

      To register an brand name as trademark it will be cost extra

      Yes, there are ongoing costs to owning a business. Did you expect to set up and run a business for nothing?

      The amount of expense you have in an online business is nothing compared to the amount you can generate in profits. It's why most of us gladly and willingly spend a few dollars in the beginning to fund our startup.

      If you don't have any money to put into a business you should save whatever you can until you do have enough to get going.

      The best to you,

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    But when I create an good brand name for domain, this is not a trademark?
    To register an brand name as trademark it will be cost extra (lawyer, registration fees.....)
    Of course there will be costs. You've been on this forum for years - you know not everything is free.

    Trademarks have different costs and restrictions in different countries - so check for your country. There are treaties in place that protect trademark/brands from one country to another.

    One thing about choosing a 'brand' is knowing to check first to make sure no one else has registered it as a brand.
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    Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
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    Sometimes I just want someone to hug me and say...
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  • Profile picture of the author marco005
    @Kay King,

    yes it's right, not everything is free or cheap.

    Next thing is find an really fast ssd webhost with server located in usa.

    I don't know is it my safari browser, but when I visit the so called "fast webhosters" like Hostgator, ovh and much more... it takes time around 4,5,6 seconds before I see their complete website in my browser? Is that normal?

    Example Localnode.net- it take 6-7 seconds before I see their website.
    Fastcomet.com - it takes 6 seconds to see their website ( in safari and google chrome)

    Litespace was the fastest with around 3-4 seconds.
    In forums users talk their site load in 1 seconds.

    Thats are "fast ssd web hoster" ?

    Is there an issue with my browser ?

    I mean a fast ssd webhost who says that they load websites in one second- and I see their website loads in 4-7 seconds, I not understand where this difference come from.

    Do you have an answer for that?


    marco005
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  • Profile picture of the author OTrap
    I used to own plen.us (Latin for "full"), but you probably never heard about it.

    It's because short domains don't necessarily make the branding.

    This is 2017. There are more than just .com, .net, and .org domains that work now. And I would worry less about length than I would about making sure the domain is easily read and said.
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  • Profile picture of the author mrjackpowers
    Domain registrations are reaching a saturation point. My guess is, custom extensions are coming next. Example: "domain.custom" instead of "domain.com"
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  • Profile picture of the author Geoff Stuart
    sure, short if great, but being memorable is even better
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  • Profile picture of the author Rory Singh
    You can still get a short domain but you will need to be creative.

    And you will have to pay for it.

    Here's an example...

    Lets say that I had a site about electrocution (I know this is not a great site idea but bare with me).

    Instead of calling it something like shock.com I would call it...shoxx.com.

    But if you are still too overly focused on choosing the exact domain, it will cost you big $$$ on auctions.

    Don't get too hung up on the 'perfect' domain.

    The internet wasteland is literally littered with hundreds of thousands of unfinished sites where people were too focused on getting everything perfect.
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  • People are more than 20 years in market. Everyone wants to short name for website because people can easily remember that URL and its pretty good. Event the combination of characters & letters people has booked the domain. Many of the person they have not hosted but they have booked and resell them. You can purchase also but some.
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  • Profile picture of the author marco005
    Hi warriors,

    thank you so much, now I understand better what is brandable name.

    For web host I think I will choose domainrace their webpage load very fast on my desktop.

    marco005
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  • Profile picture of the author st0nec0ld
    Don't be surprised, short domains are considered a brand already. If you cannot find a short domain then go for a unique name instead or a short set of keywords. If .com is not available go for .net
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