Don't Panic about Getting the Right Domain Name

The time for buying valuable websites that contain important keywords for just a few bucks is over. Domain speculators have snatched up tens of millions of websites, and they've got intricate setups to make sure that they're the first to any other valuable sites that come onto the market in the future. New online business owners either have to fork over huge sums of money to buy a useful domain name from a speculator, or they have to name their company something silly and Seussian.

So if you're in the market for a good url, either for your business or your personal website, the search can sometimes be really frustrating. I use betterwhois.com, which searches all the different registrars to tell you if the url you want is available. If it's not, the site then links to the contact information of the current owner. (That info is especially useful for tech journalists, but it's also nice if you want to get in touch with someone about buying their domain or partnering with you.)

Mainly, though, you shouldn't worry too much about getting the exact right url. Most people now use search engines to find information—the days of directly typing in "dogdaycare.com" because you want someone to look after your pets are dwindling. If you're building a new website, worry more about including relevant keywords in your text and tabs—and getting people to link to you!—than what people would have to type in to get there.