Choosing a business domain

Start from the business, then look at names. A domain has to be said on a call, typed in a hurry, and printed on something small. This marketplace lists 23 .com names. That count is the catalog, not a sample of the domain market.

Say it, then type it

• Read the name out loud once, the way you would answer the phone.
• Type it without looking. If you hesitate on a letter, a customer will too.
• Check the listing for a spelling note. The note appears only when the summary already mentions a spelling issue. It is not a separate score.
• Prefer a name you can spell from the sound. A coined word can still work if you are willing to spell it every time.

Use the fields on the listing

Each name page shows the letter count and the word count. Use those instead of a vague “short is better” rule.

• Fewer letters are easier to glance at. They are not automatically more valuable. This site does not publish a value for length.
• Two ordinary words are usually easier to remember than one invented word of the same length.
• The category is a label stored on the listing. It is not a measure of demand, and a category with one name does not get its own page.

Match the name to the job

A descriptive name says the product. A brandable name does not. Neither is ranked here. Pick the job first:

• If people must understand the business before they remember the brand, start with the descriptive names in the matching category.
• If you will spend time teaching the name, a brandable name can be the right one. The listing will not tell you how much teaching it needs.
• Compare at most three names on one page. More than that is a new search, not a comparison.

Read the trademark note before you print anything

Every catalog name has a trademark level and a note. The note is listing research. It is not a clearance, a legal opinion, or a promise that you can use the words in a product name. Search the mark yourself, in the countries where you will operate, before you order packaging.

The price on the page is the asking price

The buy-now figure is what the seller is asking. It is not an appraisal, and this site does not publish comparable sales. The 24-month rent-to-own figure is the listed monthly price. The buyer fee on that plan is 0%. Other terms are the same 24-month total divided by the number of months and rounded to the nearest dollar. Evaluating a domain name walks through one listing field by field. How rent-to-own prices work shows the arithmetic.

A request is not a purchase

Buy now, make an offer, and rent-to-own each send a request. The form does not charge a card. Budget the asking price, and expect the registrar that receives the name to have its own fee. Sleekdomains does not publish that registrar fee. After you have two or three names that you can say and spell, send a request on one of them rather than collecting a longer list.

Browse the collection

Other guides

• Evaluating a domain name
• What to check before a domain transfer
• How rent-to-own prices work
• All guides