First of all the experts want you to believe that the perfect domain name must have a Dot-Com at the end. There's no fighting it; you and everybody else thinks "Dot-Com" every time you imagine a domain name. Isn't it the first thing you type if you're only guessing at the name? Forget the other three hundred or so domain name extensions, if it isn't Dot-Com you've got a loser.

Second, the perfect name must be short. The shorter, the better. One word, if possible; and the word should be no longer than four letters. Two words might be all right if both are short. But go to three words and you've got yourself another loser. Why so short? You want everybody to be able to remember and spell the name. Apparently for every letter beyond three, a word loses the grasp of a significant percentage of the human race.

Which brings us to the perfect domain name: Sex.Com! Look at it: three letters with a Dot-Com at the end. It sold for 14 million dollars. The extra letter in Porn.Com cost some poor seller 5 million as it sold for a mere 9 million bucks. And it isn't just words that...umm, play to our baser instincts that bring in the big money. You can't consider Toys.Com salacious and it made 5 million dollars. Innocuous words like "talk" and "luck" both went for over a half million when coupled with a Dot-Com.

Of course you never had any intention of looking for words like these. You're a widget seller after all, and none of the above would be suitable. The problem is, the publicity generated by these big buck sales brought thousands of buyers into the domain market; they're like stamp collectors bidding the price of stamps to ridiculous levels; it's impossible to find one or two word Dot-Com domains that someone hasn't already registered and parked in hopes of being the next domain millionaire. It reminds us of the lyrics to the Larry Gatlin song, that "All the gold in California is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills in Somebody else's name..."

What it comes down to is you're going to have to forget the first two rules if you want the perfect domain name for your business; there are no four-letter words available with a Dot-Com on the end. Ok, that may be overstating the case; it's possible the name you want might be available in the domain aftermarket but you're going to have to pay more than $7.49 for it, the present on-sale price of an unregistered Dot-Com. You might even be able to rent it. Type the name into the address bar and see if either buying or renting is advertised on the site as a possibility. If it is and the price is something you're willing to pay, you're in business. If not, get over it and get a name you can live with at a price you can afford.

Dot-Com is still the extension to beat, but don't be afraid to try one of the other three hundred or so top-level domain extensions if your Dot-Com isn't available. Dot-Net is a good example of an popular extension with some good names remaining. Dot-Biz and Dot-Bz are two more extensions with a lot of leeway left. "Com" might say "commercial" but "Biz" and "Bz" both sound like "business" and should be easily remembered by any potential customers.

As for the rule about length, try not to obsess on that either. It's true that short names are easier to remember and spell, but not always. A short catchy phrase made up of three or four letter words that has some relevance to your company name will bring you more business than a senseless two word name or four-letter acronym. For example a phrase like bigjimsnutsandbolts.biz which runs as Hamlet said, "trippingly on the tongue" and is available for less then ten dollars will likely bring your auto repair shop more business than even sex.com.