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Review my startup - Lean Domain Search: The fastest way to find a domain name

leandomainsearch.com

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Re: Review my startup - Lean Domain Search: The fastest way to find a domain name

#81

Post by matt1 »

jaysonelliot wrote: post #27
matt1 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks Jayson. I've considered adding Domain Pigeon-style domain names to a separate section of Lean Domain Search, but as you note there's also a lot of value it keeping it simple ("do one thing well"). So we'll see what people want. Agreed on the post-search filtering. Other than alphabetical and by length, is there any other way you'd like to filter it?

I'm a fan of the filters that NXDom provides: http://www.nxdom.com/ I suppose it's as much about sorting as it is about filtering, actually. I particularly like their ability to sort by length and readability.

Hey,

Added two filter options for ya'll: alphabetical and by length.

Re: Review my startup - Lean Domain Search: The fastest way to find a domain name

#83

Post by sathishmanohar »

This is awesome, Giving an option to add custom strings to all searches would be cool.

Eg: current searches doesn't append the word "get" before domain string. But, I sometimes do that, while I search for a domain.

So it would be nice to have an option where users can add optional strings they want.

Re: Review my startup - Lean Domain Search: The fastest way to find a domain name

#84

Post by squarecat »

matt1 wrote: post #46
squarecat wrote: post #40

First impressions: http://i.imgur.com/gOeyj.png Superior in practice: http://www.bustaname.com/word_maker Though I prefer where you've started. Also, your favicon is... suggestive of something entirely different. Perhaps a less literal image would be better?

I like your first impressions -- I laughed. Anyone else seeing very faded sidebars like that? I don't know what would cause that; if you have the technical skills do inspect it on your end to find out, please let me know. Can you elaborate on what specifically you like better about bustaname?

Sorry to worry you, I darkened the sidebars so as to suggest that they are a bit "loud" compared to the primary content. They only contain tertiary tasks, though I suppose that's arguable for the legend.

I like BustAName's AJAX-powered containment of the features, though a redesign is in order.

Aside from design considerations, you may want to look at how you can point users in the right direction before they arrive at the results page and then have to starting filtering or start over to achieve more desirable results.

For example, you could offer corrections to potential typos. If a typo is not detected (or disregarded), provide some likely criteria for the eventual results, starting with common scope limiters for domain names.

I acknowledge that your product name is "lean" but there are possibilities for domains that I can safely opine that a significant majority of users will be uninterested in, and I'm not sure from the results page effectively communicates whether those have been sifted out or not.

Seems there is still demand, and room, for simplified domain search. Cheers!

Re: Review my startup - Lean Domain Search: The fastest way to find a domain name

#85

Post by beau »

This is a great start. I built Instant Domain Search (IDS) almost 7 years ago, and have learnt a lot from the experience. Some quick thoughts:

1. There are no margins in the domain industry. Start thinking about building a hosting company. Your site is cool, but weebly.com and heroku.com are real businesses. I work full-time for Facebook, not IDS. (BTW, Facebook is hiring people like you, message me at http://www.facebook.com/beau if you're interested.)

2. It needs to be faster. For example, to squeeze another few hundred milliseconds out of our search, we built a distributed search infrastructure described here: http://instantdomainsearch.com/articles/faster_domain_name_s...

3. You should search names listed in the aftermarket and include them in your results. I've worked with http://www.buydomains.com/ for several years, and am happy with them. I can make an intro if you'd like.

4. Consider extracting words and doing a basic thesaurus search. We're doing something like that at http://instantdomainsearch.com/suggestions/

Hope this helps!

Re: Review my startup - Lean Domain Search: The fastest way to find a domain name

#86

Post by squarecat »

freejack wrote: post #76
matt1 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair points -- There should be a lot of value in being the first site people visit when searching for a domain name though. We'll see.

Possibly, but then it feels like you are betting your brand awareness against Godaddy's. That's a tough battle to fight. And there's nothing stopping them from implementing something similar.

I will say from first-hand experience that, technically, you are correct. However, much cash is generated through the friction of their purchasing path.

Re: Review my startup - Lean Domain Search: The fastest way to find a domain name

#87

Post by tehwalrus »

I like the site :) but I wouldn't buy the domain from you via the affiliate link, I'd use my usual domain registrar once I'd used your service to check it was free.

I agree with the others saying this is a feature rather than a company. It's an awesome feature though :)

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