A Newbie Guide: A Domainers Guide to Definitions of a Short Domain Name

The blog that got me in to this industry was by Reese Berg and was called the 4 Letter Noob.   It was stock full of information and definitions for people like me that didn’t know all the meanings and definitions people were throwing around.  Ninety nine percent of the readers of this blog know all the terms below but this is for the new investor that comes by and wants to start from scratch.  I took a few things that I had saved from the blog that I kept on word to help me back in 2007/2008 and I thought I would share. And really nothing has changed in the last 7 years not even the prices on LLLL.coms

Definitions:

C = Character. When seen in a domain name listing, the number of C’s refers to the number of characters in a domain name. In the domain name industry, the term Character refers to either a Letter of the

English alphabet (A-Z) or a Number (0-9). A domain with many characters may have both many letters and many numbers.

L = Letter. When seen is a domain name listing, the number of L’s refers to the number of letters in a domain name.

N = Number. When seen in a domain name listing, the number of N’s refers to the number of numbers in a domain name.

Premium LLLL.com: A premium domain name is a domain name composed exclusively of letters: A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,L,M,N,O,P,R,S,T. These letters are referred to as “premium letters”. A premium LLLL.com is, in other words, an LLLL.com devoid of the letters: J,K,Q,U,V,W,X,Y,Z. These letters are commonly referred to as non-premium letters. The letters J,K,U,V,W,Y are considered by most domain investors to be of higher quality than the letters Q,X,Z. The letters: J,K,U,V,W,Y are commonly referred to as “semi-premium” letters, whereas Q,X,Z are referred to as “bad letters”. These terms are used strictly in a reseller setting and currently hold the largest weight in the 3 and 4 letter markets. More information on premium letters and premium domains will be provided in the 4 letter (LLLL) .com section which is included below.

As a general rule, Characters can be represented by Letters or Numbers. A 3 letter .com (LLL.com) is also considered a 3 Character .com (CCC.com). Likewise, a 2 number .com (NN.com) is also considered a 2 Character .com.

2 Characters

LL = 2 Letter .com. Two Letters from A-Z. They may be the same letter or different letters. Examples include: AA.com, BC.com, DJ.com, MX.com, YQ.com.

LN = Letter-Number .com. One Letter from A-Z followed by One Number from 0-9. Examples include: A1.com, B9.com, X2.com, Y5.com.

NL = Number-Letter .com. One Number from 0-9 followed by One Letter from A-Z. Examples include: 1A.com, 9B.com, 2X.com, 5Y.com. Notice the difference in letter-number placement between an LN.com and an NL.com.

NN = 2 Number .com. Two Numbers from 0-9. They may be the same or different numbers. Examples include 11.com, 21.com, 47.com, 90.com.

3 Characters

LLL = 3 Letter .com. Contains 3 Letters from A-Z. Examples include: AAB.com, ABC.com, JHD.com, OOO.com.

LLN = Letter-Letter-Number .com. Two Letters from A-Z followed by One Number from 0-9. Examples include: JH7.com, KL4.com, MM8.com, ZX2.com.

LNL = Letter-Number-Letter .com. One Letter from A-Z followed by One Number from 0-9, which is followed by One Letter from A-Z. Examples include: B2B.com, G4S.com, B3G.com, Y2K.com.

LNN =Letter-Number-Number .com. One Letter from A-Z followed by Two Numbers from 0-9. Examples include: C93.com, D22.com, B16.com, W40.com.

NLL =Number-Letter-Letter .com. One Number from 0-9 followed by Two Letters from A-Z. Examples include: 4DD.com, 3NT.com, 7WJ.com, 9QS.com.

NLN = Number-Letter-Number .com. One Number from 0-9 followed by One Letter from A-Z, which is followed by One Number from 0-9. Examples include: 2D4.com, 5Y7.com, 6R1.com, 3F2.com.

NNL = Number-Number-Letter .com. Two Numbers from 0-9 followed by One Letter from A-Z. Examples include: 40A.com 66V.com, 75J.com, 91R.com.

NNN = 3 Number .com. Contains 3 Numbers from 0-9. Examples include: 123.com, 300.com, 444.com, 747.com. 4 Characters

LLLL = 4 Letter .com. Contains 4 Letters from A-Z. Below we define different types of 4 Letter .coms.

Anti-Premium: A domain name that contains only non-premium letters. An anti-premium domain is a domain which is composed strictly of letters: J,K,Q,U,V,W,X,Y,Z. The term Anti-Premium is most commonly applied to 4 Letter .coms, however it also makes a good adjective to describe the 3 letter crap selling near min wholesale as well. Examples of Anti-Premium LLL.coms include: YXZ.com, VKQ.com, XZW.com, QKU.com. Examples of Anti-Premium LLLL.coms include: WKQU.com, XYQZ.com, YQUW.com, KQJV.com.

Anti-Premium LLLL.coms are the lowest quality LLLL.coms on the market and are generally among the cheapest.

Single Premium: We use this term to refer LLLL.coms containing only one premium letter. Examples of Single Premium LLLL.coms include: JHXZ.com, UQTX.com, WQUE.com, EUWJ.com.

Double Premium: We use this term to refer to LLLL.coms containing two premium letters. Examples of Double Premium LLLL.coms include: ASWQ.com, BJKT.com, WVMG.com, HWRZ.com.

Triple Premium: We use this term to refer to LLLL.coms containing three premium letters. Examples of Triple Premium LLLL.coms include: ASDX.com, POSW.com, NWOO.com, XEEB.com. LLL.coms containing three premium letters are commonly referred to as “Premium LLL.coms”. Examples include: SAS.com, RTN.com, NPG.com, RSS.com.

Quad Premium: We use this term to refer to LLLL.coms containing four premium letters. Examples of Quad Premium LLLL.coms include: AAAL.com, FFLE.com, MNGO.com, GHPR.com.

Pronounceables

CVCV = A 4 letter .com domain name which follows a Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Vowel letter pattern. CVCVs are generally extremely pronounceable and are among the most valuable LLLL.coms. Examples include: MELO.com, MOFO.com, ZENE.com, LUMI.com. Many CVCVs are actual words in English or in another language and that partly contributes to their high valuations, on top of their immense brandability and obvious enduser potential.

CVVC = A 4 letter .com domain name which follows a Consonant-Vowel-Vowel-Consonant letter pattern. Examples include: NOOL.com, ROOX.com, BEER.com, MOOT.com.

VCCV = A 4 letter .com domain name which follows a Vowel-Consonant-Consonant-Vowel letter pattern. Examples include: ADDA.com, ELLO.com, INGE.com, UGFO.com

VCVC = A 4 letter .com domain name which follows a Vowel-Consonant-Vowel-Consonant letter pattern. VCVCs are often among the most pronounceable and desirable LLLL.coms, right up there with CVCVs. Examples include: OPAL.com, ONEX.com, ILEC.com, UQEN.com.

Rares

AABB = A 4 letter .com domain name which contains only 2 different letters, where “A” and “B” symbolically represent two different letters from A-Z. Examples include: CCDD.com, DDJJ.com, MMXX.com, ZZGG.com.

ABAB = A 4 letter .com domain name which contains only 2 different letters, where “A” and “B” symbolically represent two different letters from A-Z. Examples include: CDCD.com, DJDJ.com, MXMX.com, ZGZG.com.

Palindromes = A 4 letter .com domain name which contains only 2 different letters from A-Z. Examples include: CDDC.com, DJJD.com, MXXM.com, ZGGZ.com. Palindromes are commonly referred to ABBA-type LLLL.coms.

Triple Letter = An LLLL.com containing three of the same letter. These are sometimes referred to as Triple letter repeats in the case it is of an AAAB or BAAA letter pattern. Examples include: SSSJ.com, SWWW.com, HHGH.com, IJII.com. Notice how each of these examples showcases the Triple Letter LLLL.com differently. These are all considered Triple Letter LLLL.coms.

VVVV = A 4 letter .com domain name which contains four vowels. Examples include: AEIO.com, EUOU.com, IOUI.com, EAUU.com.

5L.coms
CVCCV = A 5 letter .com domain name which follows a Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Consonant-Vowel letter pattern. CVCCVs are among the most popular 5L.com domain names which are registered and resold today. Examples include: RORRE.com, FOGGE.com, ZINNE.com, VISTA.com.

CVCVC = A 5 letter .com domain name which follows a Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Vowel-Consonant letter pattern. CVCVCs are essentially CVCVs with an additional consonant at the end. Examples include: FALES.com, FIRAL.com, SAGEP.com, LINUX.com.

CVCVV = A 5 letter .com domain name which follows a Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Vowel-Vowel letter pattern. CVCVVs are essentially CVCVs with an additional vowel at the end. Examples include: RAGOO.com, PARIA.com, MELOO.com, MONEE.com.

CVVCV = A 5 letter .com domain name which follows a Consonant-Vowel-Vowel-Consonant-Vowel letter pattern. CVVCVs are CVCVs with an additional vowel included before the second consonant. Examples: ZOOME.com, ROOMI.com, PIECO.com, MOOLA.com.

VCVCV = A 5 letter .com domain name which follows a Vowel-Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Vowel letter pattern. VCVCVs are essential VCVCs with an additional vowel at the end. Examples include: ATOMO.com, EFOTO.com, ISAMI.com, OSIRA.com.

Due to the high prices CVCVs and VCVCs have been seeing lately, many 5L.com investors see CVCCV, CVCVC, CVCVV, CVVCV, and VCVCV as five of the most promising 5L.com alternatives to brandable LLLL.coms which are rapidly increasing in price.

In general, the best performing letters are: A, S, E, M, D, I, T, O. Other strong letters include F, G, H. The letters J,K,Q,U,V,W,X,Y,Z are referred as non-premium letters. The presence of one of these letters considerably devalues a 4 letter .com under most circumstances. Of these, Q, X, Z are the weakest.

Certain letters perform better in certain positions than others. The letter “I” for instance is a particularly strong ending letter which stands as an acronym for many commonly used words such as International, Incorporated, Industries,… C,I,L make stronger ending letters than they typically are elsewhere in an LLLL.com. A and O are strong in either the starting or ending position and S is stronger in the starting position. This is by no means an exhaustive list, merely examples of letters which perform better in particular positions.

Always Consider:

Pronounceability (does it pass the radio test?)
Memorability
Brandability
Likelihood of an existing or future enduser
Traffic/Revenue

Information taken from 4LetterNoob Archives