A quick review of the current Homes & Land reveals the following URLs that contain the word “Steamboat”

buysteamboatsprings.com

steamboatvillagebrokers.com

steamboatproperties.com

steamboatlistings.com

buyeragentsteamboat.com

stanforssteamboat.com

sharonsteamboat.com

howesenplacesteamboat.com

remax-steamboat-co.com

steamboatdream.com

steamboatsprings4sale.com

buysteamboat.com

steamboatagents.com

steamboat-realestate.com

onesteamboatplace.com

steamboatrealestate.com

forsalesteamboat.com

steamboat4sale.com

steamboatmountainproperties.com

steamboatestates.com

prudentialsteamboatrealty.com

olympiansteamboat.com

alpinemountainranch.com

What gets me about these domain names is that none of them are memorable, interesting or unique. The biggest offenders are

steamboatsprings4sale.com
steamboat4sale.com

steamboat-realestate.com
steamboatrealestate.com

Utterly confusing. Domain names are essentially free and yet these Steamboat Springs brokers are content to stick with confusingly similar domains.

Since a primary function of a broker is marketing, the domain name of choice not only reflects on that brokers marketing and understanding of internet marketing but also can impact the response rates to their magazine ads.

Stinky Water

“stinkywater.com” is one of my favorite domain names for a Steamboat Springs business but it’s for sale for $800. If I had a true need for it I’d buy it in a heartbeat. It speaks to an aspect we all know and love about Steamboat Springs and it’s memorable. A week from now you’ll remember stinkywater.com but you’ll be hard pressed to truly remember any of the names above in any meaningful context. Yes stinkywater.com is odd & “out there” but that’s precisely what’s needed in a very, very crowded market.

Here’s a few tools to help find a unique domain name:

www.nameboy.com This service will search for available domain names based on your keyword input.

www.dnscoop.com Fun site that tells you how much your domain name is worth as well as other stats.

www.snapnames.com If you subscribe to the snapnames newsletter, you can see which interesting domains are about to be sold for not much money. No guarantees as to how effective this service is, but it’s a neat way to think about what to build next.