When I first started domaining I always wanted to convert a common word list that I found on the net, into domain names. The word lists were easy to get, but adding a TLD to the list was the hard part.
The solution:
Using Wordpad and Excel together.
Both of these tools are a great friend to domainers for many reasons and I think many use one or both on a daily basis for one reason or another. Knowing a couple simple features can greatly assist you when using them.
How to convert a word list, into a domain name list:
Open Excel and Wordpad.
In Excel, paste your word list you would like to convert into a domain name list into column A.
In column B, type your TLD you wish to add to all the words. (.com or .net etc) into the first box in column B. Then Copy the TLD text you typed in the first box. Highlight the rest of the column B you wish to add the TLD to (most likely the rest of your word list) and Paste.
Now with your mouse, highlight the word list and TLD column A,B (just the filled fields, not the blanks). Right click and Copy.
Go to your Wordpad doc you have open and Paste in the list. Then click the File tab and Save As. The Save As Type: should be Text Document. Enter the file name as you wish and click Save.
Close your open Wordpad and open your saved file you just created.
Your almost done..
With your Wordpad document open, then click Edit and Replace. With the replace box open, simply click on the Find What box and hit your Space Bar. Then click Replace All. This removes any spaces between the words in your word list.
You will notice a space still between your word(s) and the TLD you have in place. With your mouse, highlight that open space by one of the words. After you highlight that space, right click and copy that space. Then click Edit and Replace again. Paste what you copied into the Find What box and hit Replace All. Close the find box and you have your wordlist converted into a domain list.
You can resave the document or simply copy the list and do as you wish.
You can use this to create just about any plain word list into a domain list if you choose.
You can also use the Find/Replace in Wordpad to remove unwanted things in a list like [ ] if you download a keyword list from the Google Keyword Tool etc. I often use the Google tool as they offer an export feature on the bottom of the tool, but that is just one of many ways to create a list.
Many registrars like Moniker.com do not require you to "remove space" to check and see if a domain name is available (at least using the bulk check tool) but it’s nice to be able to build a list if you need it.
I also use CTRL+F (Edit/Find) tool in Excel a lot. That allows you to find and or find and replace things from a list. I use this feature to remove domain names with hyphens or numbers or certain TLD’s from a domain list.
In the Find / Replace box in Excel, in the Find What box I use *.net then click Find All, Replace all. This will remove all .net domain names from a list. *.org find all, replace all will do the same but remove only .org domains. *-* will find and remove hypen domains. *1* will find and remove domains with the number 1 in etc. If you wish to remove ALL numbers, you have to do it one by one.. *0* then replace the 0 with a 1 and repeat.
You can also simply input a list of domain names and use the Find feature as a Search Tool. Enter in a keyword and find domain names based on the keyword you entered.
A lot of great features in both Wordpad and Excel, so be sure to use both of these great tools!
If you have a domain list already, but "other things" are with the domains like metric etc., head over to DnCleaner.com and paste in your list and hit Process. This will remove all the "other stuff" and simply leave you with your domain list.
Mark Fulton
Good tip. It also might be worthy to note that most bulk availability checkers will automatically strip out spaces and add “.com” to the end.
So you basically just have to paste your list of words to check for .com availability.
Andrew Reberry
This will make the process you mentioned above a few steps easier in excel alone. Just enter this formula, with A1 being the cell you want to clean up. I assume you put this into cell B1, and fill down through all keyword phrases.
=SUBSTITUTE(PROPER(A1), ” “, “”) & “.com”
Will turn “high definition television” into HighDefinitionTelevision.com
Andrew Reberry
Note, I don’t think the quotations above posted properly. Copying and pasting the above likely will not work. You will need to type this in yourself. Or when you paste the formula, replace each of the 6 quotes with a ” yourself.
Simon
Good tips, I’m a big fan of the concatenate function in excel joins any cell you want then just copy and paste.
Esa
Hi Jamie,
Reading this inspired me to code a little workflow tool to do just this for you, plus I added some overture scores to enhance the tool a bit. Took me all of 20 minutes to code this tool, I hope it’ll save you some time. It’s free to use. Enjoy!
http://estibot.com/domain-list-generator.php
PS There are a lot of similar workflow tools on the Estibot website.
Jamie Zoch
Thank you Andrew and Esa for providing the help stuff!
Lee
Wow, this actually deserves a blog post? Are you living in the stone age or something?
Atul
Why going in these lengthy steps. Just eliminate spaces with wordpad ( as you said in the post)
and simply use some domain analyzer tool, they will add extension to your keywords. Simple!!
Randy Charach
Nice of everyone to share like his. I agree and do the same as Atul suggests though.
Jay
Isn’t there a faster way to do this than all those steps?
I’ve been looking all over the web for a software or tool that let’s you do it for free and quickly
estibot is the only one I’ve found so far and they charge $20 a month
Jamie Zoch
@Jay,
That was the easiest way that I knew how. Some of the comments provide different ways to do it as well. If anything, I’m sure you could find a coder to do the code as well.
Jamie Zoch
@Jay,
I kept looking and FOUND you a free solution. I tested it and it works! http://www.domainpunch.com/products/domainfilter/ Great little domain name filter (you will have to use it a little bit to figure out the software, as it took me a little bit) but you can Add domain name extensions like .COM, .INFO etc to a large list of words with a single click.