How to Determine Which Domains to Buy

As I've mentioned before, it's a lot more complex than just looking at the word and thinking "hey that's a good word" - like email.com or movies.com. There are quite a few criteria I've been using to assess whether or not to buy a name - here are just a few:

Cigarettes

• 1- What is the ending? .com still rules


• 2- What purpose could a website have - who would buy this URL?


• 3- How catchy does it sound SPOKEN as opposed to WRITTEN?


• 4- Is it spelled the way it sounds?


• 5- What kind of traffic do websites revolving around the keywords or theme get?


• 6- What have other people paid for similar domain names?


• 7- If I can't sell it, would I want to develop it?


• 8- Are other endings (TLDs) being used with the same keyword? (.net, .org, .bz, .info, etc)


• 9- If so, what quality of sites are using them?


• 10- Is there a track record of bidding and/or sales on Sedo.com for this keyword or something similar?
  

Later I'll discuss the online tools I've been using to assess the above questions.