How I came up with my first micro-SaaS domain name
Coming up with a domain name has always been a difficult task for me so I decided to create a model to help me find one.
My second model
My First Model
My first model was to pick three words (waitlist, convert, and better) from my value prop and search for synonyms of those words. I followed the model and came up with the name ranklist.io. I went ahead and purchased it immediately without any further check.
Hmmm… It didn’t feel right at all. I felt uneasy throughout that day because I had rushed into buying a domain name without even doing further checks on it.
To make matters worst I had already announced on Twitter that I purchased a domain name and I will unveil it soon. This created a sense of urgency and pressure because I knew I wasn’t comfortable with the name yet. I had to do something fast so I went ahead to create a second model.
My Second Model
This time I picked one word (Waitlist) from the value prop. I went ahead and checked the translation in other languages using Google translate. It took me approximately 20 minutes to check language by language until I found the name Waglys. The name originates from a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia, and, to a lesser extent, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. )
I looked it up on https://instantdomainsearch.com/?q=waglys.com and found out the .com extension was already taken. So I checked the .io and found it was available.
Mmmm… I felt happy but I wasn’t in the clear yet because I had to do further checks this time to be safer. I then opened Google to search for the name to see if I would find any related topics. It was only the .com that looked familiar from my search which was a good sign.
I felt happy again knowing well that I passed the first check. I went on to check if a trademark with that name existed to make sure I wasn’t violating any law. To do this, I had to visit https://alter.com/trademarks and entered the name. Low and behold the check came out successful. Ahhh… the great battle has been fought and victory was sure.
Now, it was time to buy the domain name using Namecheap and that was it. I got a name I was proud to hold onto like my first love😊. Tech Twitter had to see this… so I made a tweet about it and felt a big relief over my shoulders afterwards.
What I Learnt
My quest for a good domain name made me realize some things which I needed to improve to be more effective. So I made a shortlist to help me execute effectively going forward:
Easy Does it.
Systems work better
Do your due diligence.
Pace yourself so you don’t mount unnecessary pressure on yourself and end up burning out.
Conclusion
So that’s it, I was able to come up with a model that helped me find a domain name. This is a model I plan to use again and if possible automate it. I still have the domain name ranklist.io for anyone who wants to build something awesome with it.
I’ll continue sharing what I learn on my journey here. If you’d like to follow my progress find me on Twitter.