2 Cool And Fast Domain Name Searchers
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I’ve been thinking about a new project requiring a new domain name. To help me in my research, I’ve found a couple of tools to make short work of finding a unique url.
Bust A Name is like a Swiss-army knife. One option is to simply enter keywords that it combines to make a URL and tell you if it is available. Another way is to enter a domain name that comes to mind. As you type it in, Bust A Name will scour its resources to tell you if it’s available on the fly, including .com, .net, and .org suffixes.If one is available you can click it to add it to your cart. If it’s already taken, you click on the Whois link to find out just who stole the perfect name for your site (darn those cybersquatters!). When finished, you have a choice of registrars to buy your finds.
Another handy tool is Squurl. It does a little of the same, but it also has a few extras in store for you. One difference is that it can give you suggestions based on what you type in. Another is that you can click a link to immediately visit the site. Additionally, you can check out its Alexa ranking or make an offer to buy that thing before somebody else does. 
Both run at about the same speed, so really the only thing that I think would tip the scales would be which one offers the kind of bells and whistles you like the most.
[tags]domains,search engines,internet tools[/tags]
Leave a Comment
July 10, 2007 at 5:21 am
What do you normally use to register domain names? I use GoDaddy and I was wondering if these services are better than GoDaddy’s domain suggestion features.
July 10, 2007 at 6:44 am
These aren’t domain registrars, just searchers of domains. Though I have used GoDaddy to register domains, I’ve been planning to go elsewhere. A cheaper place, both in domain name pricing and privacy options, is 1&1. I haven’t used GoDaddy’s search feature recently. Do they offer “search as you type” like these guys?
July 10, 2007 at 6:54 am
No, Mark. I just registered a domain with GoDaddy a couple of weeks back . I wish I knew about these sites or took the time to search for one.
Great find. I’ve got ‘em bookmaked and gave you a stumble.
July 10, 2007 at 6:57 am
Much obliged, buddy!
July 10, 2007 at 8:28 am
I tried 1&1 for hosting before I got with the company I’m at now, and I wanted to kill myself. Don’t know how their registration services are, but I have piece of mind at GoDaddy and everything is pretty easy and intuitive there (imho) such as transferring domains, setting up nameservers etc etc.
July 10, 2007 at 9:32 pm
I haven’t tried 1&1 for hosting, but use them for a couple of domains. I like that they have (or at least at the time I registered) free privacy, but they also had cheaper prices compared to GoDaddy. But I agree that GoDaddy does offer a lot of great services.
July 10, 2007 at 6:57 am
The service I like to use for searching for domains is the Domain Search at domaintools.com. They also have a domain suggestions feature, along with a full whois service (and some other nice tools, most are free, but they do have paid tiers of service as well)
Sephyroth
http://www.sephyroth.net
July 10, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Hi Sephyroth, yes, I had forgotten about that one. One feature I like about that service is the ability to monitor domains that you’re interested in. So if one is about expire, let’s say, then it alerts you before hand.
Thanks for stopping by!
July 10, 2007 at 10:29 am
These two services are pretty good. Now I need to check out all the phrases with the word “brown” haha.
July 10, 2007 at 9:33 pm
I’d probably go cross-eyed looking at the results.