Several people have messaged me asking where they can find a list of strong, trendy, brandable keywords. The answer is everywhere and nowhere. No such list exists, that I know of, except in the toolbox of successful brandable domainers. It’s a list that’s subjective and evolves over time. It’s a list that no two domainers will agree on. It’s a list that comes from analysis, observation and experience. It’s the summation of hours spent at sites like NameBio, TechCrunch, DomainSherpa, AngelList, CrunchBase, BrandBucket, Startups-list and BrandRoot. Looking, analyzing, evaluating and deciding the relative value of each word. After a while it becomes intuitive. But in the beginning you need a written list.
For those that don’t have such a list, I’ll get you started. The way I’m going to do that is by showing you sample brands for existing startups in some of the most relevant technology niches of today. Not every keyword listed is a tier one brandable word. But most of them are. So get out your keyboard and create and refine your keyword list!
AgTech – FarmLogs, FarmNote, CropTrak, AgSquared, AgWorld, CropMetrics, SmartFarm, OnFarm, Grownetics, FarmLink, AgraLogics, HydroBio, Cropzilla, AgroStar, HungryHarvest, FreightFarms, AeroFarms, Farmigo, AgroStar, FarmDog, Agrible, FieldIn, Farmobile, AquaSpy, CropX, VitalFields
CyberSecurity – TwistLock, PinDrop, SentinelOne, FireGlass, Cynet, SafeBreach, ProtectWise
Sensors – NestLabs, CrowdOptic, Chronocam, PlantSense, SynTouch, VisionSense, OptiSense
Space Travel – SpaceX, Astrobotic, SpaceAngels, ConnectX, LiftPort, MicroLaunchers, OffGlobe, UnitedSpace
Autonomous Vehicles – ZenDrive, Parkbob, Tesloop, OpenLane, Nutonomy, Otonomo, ViaMotors, EagleRider, SafeFleet, FlexiCab, LandRoller
Internet of Things – SmartThings, Trackr, August, Nest, WorldSensing, Microtronics, Ring, Withings
Virtual and Augmented Reality – TeliportMe, MediaSpike, LucidVR, IrisVR, OmniVirt
On-Demand Food – BlueApron, GrubMarket, Deliveroo, FoodGenius, Munchery, Sprig, InstaCart, Plated, Freshly, HomeChef, SmartLunches, PurpleCarrot, SpoonRocket
Drones – RaptorMaps, AirWood, SkySquirrel, LeadingEdge, DroneDeploy, Airware, DroneBase, DroneSmith, SkyFront, FlySpan, DroneMedia, SkyCatch
Artificial Intelligence – DataRobot, DataMinr, Numenta, SkyMind, GradeScope, AtomWise, TalkIQ, DigitialGenius, DeepInstinct, OrbitalInsight, VoyagerLabs, MindMeld, SkyTree
Sharing Economy – Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, SnapGoods, DogBuddy, HomeSuite, LiquidSpace, DogVacay, TaskRabbit, GetAround, LendingClub, SideCar, SteadyFare, PoshMark
Wearables – FitBit, MyZone, DopplerLabs, BodyCap, HexoSkin, GymTrack, GoPro, JawBone, Pebble, BodyMedia, SoundHound, MarkOne, Eyefluence, MysteryVibe
Virtual Currencies – ButterCoin, CoinBase, BlockCypher, BlockStream, BitWall, BitBox, CoinSetter, BitStamp, CoinCove, GoCoin
Ok, now you’ve got your starter list. Keep developing it by visiting the tech sites and watch for old trends dying and new ones sprouting up in their place. It takes time but its a worthwhile investment in your future success.
Meanwhile, take a gander at these brandables up for sale at NameJet this week:
Super useful.
Hi Keith, thank you for the great list. I have try this and see this kind of names are popular, some of available names has been used by a lot of brand. But Brandbucket has rejected them. I have JointScope.com, FirstCabs.com wich has been used by some companies too, and I think it is popular. What do you thing Keith about these sample. Why doesn’t match BB criteria? Thank you.
Hi Surya,
Great question. I wrote a blog about this a few months ago. It talks about keyword strength and keyword synergy.
https://dngeek.com/2016/10/brandable-insider-keywords-y-combinator-startups/
In regard to the names you’ve given I would say:
JointScope – Scope is a mediocre keyword and Joint is a weak keyword. Together they don’t have much synergy or obvious application to trending startup niches. At least I don’t see any.
FirstCabs – These are two strong keywords and the synergy is fair. The problem is the plural. FirstCab would be a very strong brandable. But the plural makes it very weak.
Both of these names can still still. Every name has a potential buyer somewhere. However, these two did not rise to BrandBucket’s standards for their niche market focus.
Thanks again for a great question and good luck with your brandables in 2017!
PS I wrote a blog about plurals too 🙂
https://dngeek.com/2016/04/brandable-insider-less-really/
Thank you Keith. Your answer give me a better insight for my future investments.
🙂
Hi Keith, can I ask one more question? How to decide wich best for the first and the second keyword. For example AeroLink.com and LinkAero.com, both are popular. But AeroLink.com is more popular. Both keywords are name of goods, how to decided which is better? Thank you in advance Keith.
Generally, there is an adjective or modifier and then a noun or subject. For example HungryHarvest. However some nouns can also be used as a modifier. For example DataFarm and FarmData are both good domains. Same for AeroTech and TechGeek both are good. I see LinkAero is being used for an Arab company but in the US that would not be an acceptable usage of Aero for the majority of Americans.
Thanks Keith. Your post this day worth the best for me. A lot of new things to now. Thank you.
The problem is everyone is after the same keywords, and bidding them over what end users are willing to pay.
You have to bid smart, not stupid.
Great article as usual Keith. About the Arab company using the words in an unacceptable format or word order is because the Arabic language is structured such…. for example , in Arabic they say The House Big…. البيت الكبير , which is that the noun comes before the adjective so when most create or translate into English, the mother tongue interferes which that creates awkward sentence.