For this last post in 2021, I assembled a list of 21 websites that I find useful. Many of these are well known, but a few will perhaps be new. Although a number of the sites offer a paid service, all provide some level of free service. Please extend this list with your own suggestions in the comments section.
1– How Many Businesses?
OpenCorporates.com is a huge global database, and is the right place to see how frequently a term has been used as part of a business or organization name.
2 – Comparator Sales
NameBio is the go-to source that now lists more than 3.2 million domain sales, and you can find other comparators with GoDaddy Appraisal and DNPric.es.
3 – A New Trademark Search Option
There are many trademark search options, such as TESS in the US, or WIPO IP internationally, but I find the Trademark Search at Alter Marketplace superbly presented.
4 – Save Money
Don’t overpay for those registrations, transfers and renewals – sites like TLD-list can help you find the best rates, or use DomComp or TLDes.com.
5 – Find Expired, Expiring and Available Names
In 2021 we saw how valuable the right word can be, even in less-popular extensions, and tools like ExpiredDomains.net can help you find available, expiring, for sale, and liquidated names, along with lots of great metrics.
6 – Related Domain Names
While end users may not care how many extensions a name is registered in, usually you should, and tools like dotDB make it trivial to find both exact term registrations, and longer names that include the term.
7 – Search Volume
Whether you plan to develop a name yourself, or to sell it to an end user, search volume is one of the metrics you need to consider – there are many options, but you can perform up to 800 free searches per day at SearchVolume.io.
8 – Cost-Per-Click
Cost-per-click is important information, particularly for development, and an Estibot search can show you the value for broad and exact match, along with search volume and changes over the past year.
9 – Dictionary
Don’t say it is a dictionary word without checking, and a dictionary like Merriam-Webster does a great job giving multiple meanings, the history of the term, and word popularity, but note that it is American spelling, so complement with a UK-spelling dictionary such as Cambridge Dictionary.
10 – Image Source
Whether for presentation on landers, or your own website, or domain promotion on social media, you probably need royalty free images from time to time – there are many great image sites, but I find Pixabay particularly good.
11 – Free Website Evaluation
If you develop sites, or have your own portfolio site, a second opinion on what can be improved is valuable – you can get a remarkably instructive, and free, automated review at Nibbler.
12 – Domain Rating
In addition to their paid plans, there are a number of free SEO tools at Ahrefs , including the Authority Checker that provides a Domain Rating (DR) based on number and quality of backlinks and linking websites.
13 – Know The Competition
It is always good to know how people are pricing domain names that may be in competition with domain names you are selling, and Dofo Advanced Search is the most direct way to find out.
14 – Does This Site Have A History?
If acquiring an aged domain name, check out its past history using Wayback Machine - Internet Archive.
15 – Has The Name Been Dropped?
HosterStats will tell you the hosting history for the name from 2000 to the present.
16 – Single Word Domains
Single word domain names are elegant, and even without a membership you can search in a number of extensions, including
17 – What Is Hot?
Wondering what other domain investors are registering in the past month? Estibot Domain Trends, free and updated daily, can tell you (spoiler, it’s still meta).
18 – Need Statistics?
If you need statistics or information on an extension, you have several options, but I find DomainNameStat particularly helpful.
19 – Name Generators
I am not much of a fan of domain name generators, of which there are many out there, but I like LeanDomainSearch, although it only gives
20 – Does This Mean Something in Another Language?
While Google Translate has obvious limitations, I find it a great tool to discover if a term has meanings in other languages, that could influence use of the name as a brand.
21 – Whois The Owner?
While with privacy you usually can’t find whois the owner from Whois searches any more, they are still one of the most used tools, and available at registrars and other places – I like the Domain Tools Whois Search because it tells me how many drops and hosting changes there have been over what period, although you will need a paid plan for full details.
BONUS – The Really Essential Site
Of course the most essential site for success in domain name investing is right here, NamePros.com!
Google search is also an essential tool for any domain investor.
I urge readers to add, in the comments, sites that were not included. Please give a link plus one sentence description of the tool.
I kept this short, with just one long sentence per site, but you can find more detail elsewhere on NamePros such as Free Tools For Quick Domain Research and I Use This Tool.
Thank you for your encouragement all year, and the very best wishes for 2022 to all NamePros members.
A heartfelt thank-you to the developers who created these amazing tools, and for making free versions available to empower the entire domain community.
1– How Many Businesses?
OpenCorporates.com is a huge global database, and is the right place to see how frequently a term has been used as part of a business or organization name.
2 – Comparator Sales
NameBio is the go-to source that now lists more than 3.2 million domain sales, and you can find other comparators with GoDaddy Appraisal and DNPric.es.
3 – A New Trademark Search Option
There are many trademark search options, such as TESS in the US, or WIPO IP internationally, but I find the Trademark Search at Alter Marketplace superbly presented.
4 – Save Money
Don’t overpay for those registrations, transfers and renewals – sites like TLD-list can help you find the best rates, or use DomComp or TLDes.com.
5 – Find Expired, Expiring and Available Names
In 2021 we saw how valuable the right word can be, even in less-popular extensions, and tools like ExpiredDomains.net can help you find available, expiring, for sale, and liquidated names, along with lots of great metrics.
6 – Related Domain Names
While end users may not care how many extensions a name is registered in, usually you should, and tools like dotDB make it trivial to find both exact term registrations, and longer names that include the term.
7 – Search Volume
Whether you plan to develop a name yourself, or to sell it to an end user, search volume is one of the metrics you need to consider – there are many options, but you can perform up to 800 free searches per day at SearchVolume.io.
8 – Cost-Per-Click
Cost-per-click is important information, particularly for development, and an Estibot search can show you the value for broad and exact match, along with search volume and changes over the past year.
9 – Dictionary
Don’t say it is a dictionary word without checking, and a dictionary like Merriam-Webster does a great job giving multiple meanings, the history of the term, and word popularity, but note that it is American spelling, so complement with a UK-spelling dictionary such as Cambridge Dictionary.
10 – Image Source
Whether for presentation on landers, or your own website, or domain promotion on social media, you probably need royalty free images from time to time – there are many great image sites, but I find Pixabay particularly good.
11 – Free Website Evaluation
If you develop sites, or have your own portfolio site, a second opinion on what can be improved is valuable – you can get a remarkably instructive, and free, automated review at Nibbler.
12 – Domain Rating
In addition to their paid plans, there are a number of free SEO tools at Ahrefs , including the Authority Checker that provides a Domain Rating (DR) based on number and quality of backlinks and linking websites.
13 – Know The Competition
It is always good to know how people are pricing domain names that may be in competition with domain names you are selling, and Dofo Advanced Search is the most direct way to find out.
14 – Does This Site Have A History?
If acquiring an aged domain name, check out its past history using Wayback Machine - Internet Archive.
15 – Has The Name Been Dropped?
HosterStats will tell you the hosting history for the name from 2000 to the present.
16 – Single Word Domains
Single word domain names are elegant, and even without a membership you can search in a number of extensions, including
.ai, .io, .co, .link,.live and .app, at OneWord.Domains, although double check truly dictionary, availability and related trademarks. 17 – What Is Hot?
Wondering what other domain investors are registering in the past month? Estibot Domain Trends, free and updated daily, can tell you (spoiler, it’s still meta).
18 – Need Statistics?
If you need statistics or information on an extension, you have several options, but I find DomainNameStat particularly helpful.
19 – Name Generators
I am not much of a fan of domain name generators, of which there are many out there, but I like LeanDomainSearch, although it only gives
.com options – sites like NameBoy.com suggest both multiple extensions and compound names. 20 – Does This Mean Something in Another Language?
While Google Translate has obvious limitations, I find it a great tool to discover if a term has meanings in other languages, that could influence use of the name as a brand.
21 – Whois The Owner?
While with privacy you usually can’t find whois the owner from Whois searches any more, they are still one of the most used tools, and available at registrars and other places – I like the Domain Tools Whois Search because it tells me how many drops and hosting changes there have been over what period, although you will need a paid plan for full details.
BONUS – The Really Essential Site
Of course the most essential site for success in domain name investing is right here, NamePros.com!
Google search is also an essential tool for any domain investor.
I urge readers to add, in the comments, sites that were not included. Please give a link plus one sentence description of the tool.
I kept this short, with just one long sentence per site, but you can find more detail elsewhere on NamePros such as Free Tools For Quick Domain Research and I Use This Tool.
Thank you for your encouragement all year, and the very best wishes for 2022 to all NamePros members.
A heartfelt thank-you to the developers who created these amazing tools, and for making free versions available to empower the entire domain community.
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