Lean Domain Search adds business name generator (and it’s good)

Tool helps businesses come up with a name.

Lean Domain Search, a domain name / web site name idea generator, has launched a new service that generates business names.

Much like the existing web site name generator, the new business name generator checks names for domain availability, twitter handle status, and trademarks.

So what’s the difference between a domain name generator and a business name generator? It’s subtle but important.

Lean Domain Search creator Matt Mazur explains that some prefixes and suffixes are good for company names and others are only good for web sites.

Mazur gives the example of a photography.

If you want to create a web site about photography, the website name generator will give you names like photographytrack, photographygate, and photographyright.

These are good names for web sites but not so good as company names. The business name generator creates names like Arrowhead Photography, Fasttrack Photography, Checkpoint Photography, and Dreammaker Photography.

Mazur looked at common business prefixes to create the system.

Lean Domain Search’s web site name generator is brilliant and comes up with many domain names that are worth hand registering.

The business name generator is really good, too.

But there’s another difference between the two: the web site name generator is free and the business name generator is paid.

It’s $299 for a single use (i.e. a company trying to come up with its own name) or $1,188 annually for agency use.

Frankly, the price is worth it, but getting businesses to understand the value it brings and getting them to pay in advance might be challenging. Perhaps the money back guarantee will convince people to give it a try.

I have one gripe about Lean Domain Search. The site professes that you need not spend thousands of dollars on a domain name and there are plenty of available domains to register for $12. While true, I think businesses may make a mistake by not understanding that their favorite domain might be available for $1,000 or so. It would be great if Lean Domain Search tapped into the fixed price databases at Afternic and Sedo to at least show that a domain is available for purchase.