If you are doing any sort of business activity on the internet, you need to have your own domain name.

The most common type of name is a .com name, issues by the U.S.A. Because of their popularily, it's hard to get the one you want - Pretty well every word in the dictionary has already been registered as a .com domain name, so you have to be a bit creative when you are searching for a domain name to register.

Registrar Availability Search

Many domain name registrars have a search facility where you can type in the word you want to use as a domain name. You'll instantly get back a list of the different types of domain name extensions for that word, together with an indication of whether the extension is available or not.

You can then register the domain name straight away if you see the one you want. You'll find lots of domain name registrars if you search for the term on google.

A Thesaurus Based Domain Name Search

Other websites will also give you information about the domain name for which you have searched, as well as as a selection of other domain names that have similar meanings.

These similar meanings are generated from a thesaurus, and some of the results are quite comical. However, I've found and registered several names using this method which were brilliant, and I never would have thought of them myself.

A domain registrations search site which uses a thesaurus is at www.nameboy.com

Sometimes the domains that it shows as being available are in fact registered, so it's not 100% reliable, However, it will certainly give you some good idea.

WARNING:

If you do a search for a domain name at a registrar and it is shown as "available", I'd strongly advise that you register it immediately if you want the name. Some registrars have a policy of temporarily registering every name that people search for,and not immediately registering. They then hold that name themselves for several days.

If you want to register the name during this period,you'll have to pay a premium price. And you can't register it with another registrar during this holding period.

Good Luck with your search for a domain name. It may take a bit of time, but there's certainly a good one out there for you.

Regards, Eric Graudins.

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There's lots more information for website owners at TheInternetBloke.com including which registrars to use, and which ones to avoid.