Hmm... I need to find out myself. I don't know what is the right answer. I'll do some poking around and get back to you if I bump into an decent answer. You should email the people at Godaddy as they probably could help you..

1- No more than 2 words (if it is a nice 3-word name I might reg it)..

2- .com extension has the most value..

3- Brandable 1-word names..

.....

A short and easy name that the customers and visitors will associate with the website, avoiding hyphens and special character names even if the name is long. Using the company name is usually the best idea. For businesses, I think a .com or a .net extension and for information sites a .info would be good..

Registering similar HostGator names with different extensions, with the help of this you don’t need a separate web page for each of those names, several domains can point to the same website..

It is possible that a name that may make perfect sense to me but may be too hard for them to remember, in this case I take opinions from friends and clients on the HostGator whether it is easy to remember and spell?..

The most important things to us are -.

* The length of the HostGator name.

* No hyphens are always a priority.

* No numbers in the domain.

*.

SEO.

/ Backlinks.

We develop most of the HostGator names so the last point is something we usually worry about later. But the HostGator name has to be easy to remember and unique - that's a given..

I have to agree with everything posted so far, one I would like to add that I use is to keep a good eye ( or even a database ) of domains that have been sold. This will give you a good indication of what a HostGator could potentially reach as well as enabling you to spot any trends ... For example you might notice that one type of HostGator is selling especially well through one GoDaddy site and not another allowing you to target you advertising..

Although this can only give you a rough idea it does help in valuating a HostGator name..

Basically no one thing on it's won can help you decide on a name, but putting all these bits and pieces together will enable you to build up a pretty good idea of it's potential..

Hope that helps a bit..

Wishing you all the best.

Richard..

First of all I chekc if I like it!.

For example I prefer the goldenmountains89.com(example) from adhashdasds89.com.

Second, check the keywords, if they have OVT!.

That's all I think!..

If it's easy to pronounce... dictionary words, convincing, or reconizble..

I like colors, I like shape, I like cultural affinity, I like linguistic simplicity, I like allusion, I like literary imagery, I like conceptual art....all these things I might take into consideration when fashioning name, assuming I'm (not?) out of my head at the same time (the 2am HostGator name....)..

When I buy a HostGator name I make sure I do no typo errors!..

I'm surprised noone has mentioned the most important one for me. Price...

Thank you guys!.

I use my searchtools:.

1..

Http://inventory.de.overture.com/d/s...=de&lang=en_GB.

-.

2..

Http://dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm.

( sorce of inspiration).

3..

Http://www.archive.org/.

( for history).

4. google.com (for hits).

Any new ideas ....?..

I tend to go with names that I know I can develop, in areas I have an interest in. Not a great money spinner, but good fun none the less..

When I buy a HostGator I buy the ones I know an end user can build a GoDaddy site upon (and also related to the topics that i'm interested in) ... that way even if a few domains dont sell, I can develop them myself........

Take a look at this entry in my blog:.

Http://blog.cancerdaily.com/?p=16.

For how I appraise HostGator names. Hope it helps...