Are all Domain Names Taken (+What Are Your Options)?

You try to register a new domain name but you see that all your options are not available. The first question that comes in your mind is if all domain names are taken.

So, is that true are all domain names taken? No, there are still many good domain names around but you need to keep in mind 3 things. 1.) Be more creative and try different combinations 2.) Pay more than the usual price to get a premium domain name which is a domain that contains good keywords. 3.) Try other extensions than .com.

Keep reading to find in more detail what are your options and why it seems that all good domain names are taken.

Most of the good domain names that contain commercial keywords in a logical order (buyinsurance.com, health.com, etc) are already registered at least for .com domain extension. It doesn’t mean that a new user can’t still take them but he needs to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Not everyone registers those domain names for future use but there are a lot of people that want to resell the domain at a good price. Keep in mind that first .com was registered back in 1985. So all these 30+ years the whole world pretty much could register a .com domain name.

In the period of 1995-2000, there was a .com bubble wiki/Dot-com_bubble when people and companies registered many good domain names. The stock market was very kind to internet-based companies with a .com domain so everyone was chasing them.

Ok, you typed the domain you wanted but you see it is not available. You try other similar keywords and you see the same results. You become frustrated but what you can do if the domain you want is taken?

1.) Try different combinations by using an additional word

This is the stage where you need to be more creative. Add a verb, noun or adjective before or after your main keyword. Here is a list you can use:

Go, Get, Join, Buy, Love, Say, Stay, Fly, Run, Try

The, That, All, Into, In, A, On

General, Global, New, Super, Fast, Strong, Expert, Premier, Mr, Ms, High, Ready, Red, Green, Blue, Black, Pure, Ultra, Instant, Online

King, Queen, Genius, Hq, Pro, School, Tips, Site, Guru, Champion, Ninja, Captain, Expert, Star, Giant, Rocket, Sun, Lab, Inc, Group, LLC, Mode, Hunter, Shield, Site, App, Center, Hub, Solutions

This mindset opens a lot of possibilities for some very creative names. Of course, you will need some patience before you find the domain that will excite you.

2.) Create a word from scratch

Some very successful companies have created names that didn’t exist before like Google or Twitter. What you need to look in that case is to focus on words that you can pronounce one way and they don’t mean something insulting.

Some good examples are Zomato, Envato, PayPal, Youtube, Groupon, and Pinterest. Some domain name generators that can help you with the brainstorming are Instant Domain Search, NameMesh, DomainWheel, Shopify domain Name Generator, Nameboy, Namelix, Panabee, and Lean Domain Search.

3.) Pay for a premium domain name.

A good brand name can help with your internet presence. If you are willing to spend some more money you can find some gems with some hundreds or a few thousand dollars. You can check my homepage buycompanyname.com or visit one of the many domain marketplaces around.

Some reputable domain name marketplaces are Sedo, Afternic, Dan, and Snapnames. Most registrars already offer premium domain names when you type a keyword and it is not available. Some of them are Godaddy, Namecheap, and Namesilo.

You probably wonder if it is really worth it to purchase a domain name. From my point of view, it does. With some extra more money you get a domain that you will use for years and it will stand out from the rest.

4.) Check different domain name extensions.

Buying some other extension is a viable alternative. Even commercial keywords in other extensions are much cheaper comparing with .com domains. You will still rank on search engines even if you don’t have a .com domain and you can actually have success if the content of your site is good.

You still can purchase the .com version if you are starting to have good revenue along the road. Some domain name extensions you can check are: .net, .co , .io, .me or local ones like .ca, .uk, .in , .de, .fr etc. There are over 1500+ domain extensions right now! So check with your registrar what options you have.

5.) Check for expired domains.

More people than you actually think they forget to renew their domain names! There are also companies which bankrupt and they decide not to renew their domain. If a domain name is tied with a brand (like Google, Microsoft) then it is better to avoid getting it.

But if a domain has generic keywords like best insurance, top real estate, basketball coach, etc then it’s ok to buy these expired domain names. Consider that there is a lot of demand for expired domains and you might end up to compete in an auction.

Some good places to search for expired domains are GoDaddy Expired Domains, Nameject, SnapNames.

Short domain names and especially the ones that are pronounceable have a big demand. Based on Goran Duskic founder & CEO of WhoApi all 4 letters .com domains (with English Alphabet letters) were registered at least from 2013!

His company checked all the possible combinations (more than 400k!) and they found out that nothing was available. I have some 4 letter .com domains for sale on my home page, take a look here buycompanyname.com .

The good thing is that you can find a lot of five letter domains available. There are about 11 million+ possible combinations and 5 million of them are still available for registration. If the trend continues the same way as 4 letter .com domains in some years there is a big chance that no 5 letter .com domain would be unregistered.

Additional Information

If you are really interested to find out which .com are already registered then you can ask it from Verisign. Keep in mind that because the data is way too big it might take a lot of time. More than 140 million .com domains are registered! Check here verisign.com

If you are ready to buy a free domain and quality hosting for your site, check my older post that I review what I use and why as my hosting provider.