Yes, it really is, even in .com!! Surprised? You shouldn’t be, after all any TLD is like unlimited virtual land, anyone can go and grab some. And there are literally over a 1000 tlds out there, 21 gtlds / stlds, 250+ cctlds, 1000+ new gtlds. So if you look at the number of effective combinations available, even with over 350+ million domains already registered, the number of available domains is truly limitless.
However (you knew that was coming right?), finding a good domain is really really hard. All the good ones are usually already taken, the one word domains, the exact match domains, the popular search terms and even industry specific keywords are the first to go. Even good brandable domains, short domains, pattern domains are all taken. So while it might seem like it’s easy to get a domain, getting one that is desirable is tough, really tough.
To start, you should know what is a good domain name, that’s half the game right there. And no, it’s not dependent on price, which is why you see so many meh names selling for $25,000 – $50,000 and so many really good domains gathering dust in the $500-$5000 range! That’s not to say the good domains are cheap, the really good ones can easily have six or seven figure price tags, that’s if they even available for sale. Voice,com sold for $30m, seven figure sales for one word .coms seem to be the new normal. And once a domain is taken by a company and put into use, it’s gone, forever.
More importantly for you is – does the domain name satisfy the function at hand? And domains aren’t just for brand building though that’s what they’re mostly used for, they can also be be used for advertising or marketing campaigns, for public awareness for lead generation, search engine marketing and so much more. And there are various other phonetic, linguistic and statistics that should be considered while selecting the right domain name.
While some people think it’s as simple as brainstorming and coming up with a ‘cute’ made up alternative, that’s like saying you can design a corporate brand because you did art in school. Is it doable, probably, is it recommended, certainly not, which is why you have professionals who do this for you, just like in any other field.
What I would recommend is using any of the 100s of professionals or resources out there before buying a domain, saving some money now or rushing in with a cutesy brandable domain name might seem like a short cut, but rebranding at any stage of the company lifecycle is an expensive affair. Happy hunting!