Using Vurr to Find Keyword Domain Names

I found a tool that I’ve been using to harvest unregistered domain names and I wanted to share this with you. Vurr is a tool that is similar to what Overture was, but it relies on a static set of data. From the Vurr website:

“This is a free alternative to Overture and equivalent tools. Search data is from 48.6 million searches by 657,426 distinct users and comprises 97 million keywords. Data was collected by AOL on a random sample of US users from March 1, 2006 through May 31, 2006. In the interest of privacy, search information is only available in aggregate and numeric queries dropped.”

Because the data isn’t exactly “new” it isn’t the best tool to search for trends or more currently used keywords. For example, the keyword search for “twitter” returned no results. However, I do think it’s good for long tail domain searches, especially with people dropping more names than usual due to the economy.

To find domain names, I enter specific search terms, such as “mortgage,” “refinancing,” “soccer,” “mobile” etc. I then take the results, along with the actual # of searches, and I use an Excel sheet to remove the numbers, leaving me with rows of keyword phrases. I then use the Godaddy bulk domain search tool to find the .com names that are available to register.

Once I get the results, I break up the domain name back into it’s search terms, and I search Google for the “quoted phrase” to see how many results there are, how many advertisers there are, and I get a feeling for the competitiveness of the keyword and value of the product or service.

If I think a particular domain name would have commercial value to an end user and is a term that people are looking to find, I will generally buy it. The key thing is that the phrase, as listed, is a searched term and has meaning. Even if the phrase is in a niche industry or field, if it could have commercial value, I am willing to take a chance.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

7 COMMENTS

  1. I’ve had a local copy of that AOL database for a while and use some simple commandline tools to extract phrases. Vurr has indexed it, which makes it *a lot* faster…

    Not good for trend-spotting, but definitely for finding keywords with solid search frequencies.

  2. Thanks Elliot. I think this tool will be extremely helpful for individuals looking for good names. I also recommend squadhelp.com for finding great domain names. This site uses the “wisdom of crowds” allowing users across the world to submit domain name suggestions. The best suggestion wins a prize that is setup in advance by the contest holder, creating a win win situation for every one.

    Rachel

Leave a Reply

Recent Posts

Spaceship Doubles its DUM

1
At the end of July, I wrote about Spaceship surpassing 100,000 domain names under management (DUM). The registrar continues to grow, and its Founder...

You Can Now Hide Estimated Value at Dan

1
Last week, Dan.com announced and deployed a feature I did not like. On the user control panel, Dan showed GoDaddy's Estimated Value for each...

Media.com Buyer Comments on Acquisition

1
This afternoon, Axios reported the sale of the Media.com domain name. Kismet Group, an Australian private equity company, acquired the domain name to launch...

“We love to share success!”

1
If I see two friends or colleagues that could benefit from meeting over a shared interest or converging path, I am always on the...

It Pays to Know Random Phrases

3
My eyes bulge out of my head sometimes when I see a somewhat obscure term in a domain name coming up for auction. Oftentimes,...