Rate My Domain Name: The 10-Factor Scorecard We Use on Every Appraisal
Score any domain name across 10 factors — length, extension, radio test, trademark risk and more — with the same scorecard logic behind 38,000+ appraisals.
Domain Value Estimator Team
Domain Investment Expert
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"Is this a good domain name?" is a different question from "what is it worth?" — and it's usually the question people actually mean. A name can be excellent for your business and worth little to anyone else; a name can appraise well and still be wrong for you. This scorecard rates the name itself, on the same factors our appraisal engine weighs across 38,000+ valuations. Score your domain honestly against all ten, out of 100, and you'll know more than most sellers on the marketplaces.
(Want the dollar figure too? The free appraisal gives you retail and quick-sale values in ten seconds. This article explains the quality side of that math.)
The scorecard at a glance
| # | Factor | Max points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Length | 15 |
| 2 | Extension | 15 |
| 3 | The radio test | 12 |
| 4 | Spelling ambiguity | 10 |
| 5 | Word quality | 10 |
| 6 | Commercial relevance | 10 |
| 7 | Hyphens & numbers | 8 |
| 8 | Trademark risk | 8 |
| 9 | Extension-name fit | 6 |
| 10 | Liquidity signals | 6 |
1. Length (15 points)
Under 8 characters: 15. Nine to twelve: 11. Thirteen to sixteen: 7. Longer: 3 or less. Length is the most consistently priced factor in the entire market — every extra character is friction in typing, memory, and word-of-mouth. Word count rides along with it: one word beats two, two beat three, and three-word names need everything else to be perfect to score well overall.
2. Extension (15 points)
.com: 15. The strong alternates with real markets — .ai and .io for tech, .org for organizations, your country's ccTLD for local business: 9–11. Everything else: 2–6. This isn't extension snobbery; it's user behavior. People still assume .com, and the owner of yourname.com collects your leaked traffic and email forever. If you're not on .com, factor 9 (fit) decides whether the alternative reads as intentional or as a compromise.
3. The radio test (12 points)
Say the name aloud once to someone who's never seen it. Can they type it correctly? Full marks if there's exactly one way to spell what they heard. This single test predicts more real-world pain than any other: every podcast mention, phone call, and conversation is a spelling exam your name either passes or fails. "Lyft" survives because it's short and famous; your unfunded startup's clever misspelling won't get the same grace.
4. Spelling ambiguity (10 points)
Related but distinct: does the name contain internal traps even when read? Doubled letters at word joins (dressshop), homophone words (there/their, wear/ware), regional spellings (color/colour), and words with common misspellings all bleed traffic to typo domains you don't own. Ten points for zero traps; subtract 3 per trap.
5. Word quality (10 points)
Real dictionary words score highest, short coined words that sound like words (pronounceable, two syllables) score well, and awkward mashups score poorly. The test: does the name feel inevitable or assembled? "Stripe" feels inevitable. "PayQuikSolutions" feels assembled. Brandable coinages are a legitimate category — an entire marketplace segment exists for them — but they succeed on phonetics, not cleverness.
6. Commercial relevance (10 points)
Does the name connect to something people spend money on? Names touching software, finance, health, travel, and commerce inherit buyer demand; names about niche hobbies inherit enthusiasm without budgets. This factor is where "good name" and "valuable name" diverge most: a beautiful word attached to no industry scores high on quality and low here — fine for your art project, relevant if you ever want to sell.
7. Hyphens and numbers (8 points)
Clean name: 8. Each hyphen or digit: subtract 4–6. The exceptions (911, 24-7-style constructions, culturally numeric brands) are rare enough to prove the rule. The problem isn't aesthetics — it's the radio test again: "dash" and "the number four, not f-o-u-r" are sentences no one should have to say about their own brand.
8. Trademark risk (8 points)
Contains no one's brand, no famous mark, no confusingly-similar spelling of either: 8 points. Anything else: zero — and honestly, stop scoring and go research, because trademark exposure doesn't discount a name, it disqualifies it. A name that infringes can cost you the domain via UDRP proceedings plus legal fees. No buyer with a lawyer pays for someone else's lawsuit, and you shouldn't build on one either.
9. Extension-name fit (6 points)
A .ai name for an AI product, .org for a nonprofit, .io for a developer tool: the extension reinforces the brand and earns full points. A .net because .com was taken: the extension announces the compromise. Fit can rescue a non-.com name; its absence quietly taxes one.
10. Liquidity signals (6 points)
Do names like this actually sell? Check whether the same word is registered across many extensions (demand proxy), and whether similar names show up in recorded sales. A name pattern with visible transaction history scores 6; a pattern you can't find a single sale for scores 1 — someone may love it, but the market hasn't voted yet.
Reading your score
- 85–100: Genuinely strong. If it's a .com, it likely has real resale value — get the number, and if it appraises above $5,000, document it properly before naming a price to anyone.
- 70–84: A good working name. Perfectly serviceable to build on; modest resale prospects unless commercial relevance is high.
- 50–69: Usable with known flaws. Fine if you already own it and the business works; not worth paying aftermarket prices to acquire.
- Below 50: If you're choosing a name, keep looking — thousands of better options drop daily, or hand-register a fresh idea at Dynadot, which publishes flat renewal pricing up front. If you own it, spend nothing further on the assumption it will sell.
A worked example
"BlueRiverConsulting.net" — Length 19 chars (3) + .net without fit rationale (4) + passes radio test (12) + no spelling traps (10) + real words, assembled feel (5) + consulting has budgets (7) + clean (8) + no marks (8) + poor fit (2) + pattern rarely sells (2) = 61/100. Verdict: build on it if it's yours — entry-level shared hosting at HostPapa costs a few dollars a month — but don't buy it, and don't expect resale.
"Forge.io" for a devtools startup — Short (15) + strong alternate TLD (10) + radio test pass with one caveat, "dot-eye-oh" is well known to the audience (10) + no traps (10) + inevitable word (10) + software (10) + clean (8) + check "Forge" marks in your class carefully — call it (4) pending research + perfect fit (6) + one-word tech names transact constantly (6) = 89/100, contingent on the trademark check. That contingency is the whole game at this tier.
From score to dollars
Quality and price correlate, but the market prices some factors (length, extension, commercial relevance) far more heavily than others (fit, taste). That's exactly what an appraisal engine is for: run your domain free to see the retail and quick-sale values, or score a whole portfolio at once if you're deciding what to renew and what to drop.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a domain name "good"?
Short, pronounceable, unambiguous to spell, free of hyphens and numbers, clear of trademarks, and attached to an extension that fits the use. Commercial relevance then determines whether "good" also means "valuable."
Is my domain name good if it's not a .com?
It can be — .ai, .io, .org and strong ccTLDs carry real credibility when the extension fits the project. The honest cost of any non-.com: the .com owner collects your typos and misdirected email indefinitely.
Can a domain score high and still be worth little?
Yes — that's the most common outcome. Quality without commercial relevance produces a lovely name nobody has a budget for. The reverse is rarer: low-quality names with high value usually owe it to raw length or extension scarcity.
How do I rate a domain name for value, not just quality?
Use an appraisal: ours is free, takes ten seconds, and returns both a retail estimate and a realistic quick-sale figure alongside the reasoning.