Registering an original domain name is harder than ever, forcing many of us to buy URLs already in existence.

Jennifer Sleg provides a checklist of 12 things to consider before making the leap. Her advice? Take time to run some keyword searches. Consider whether the URL has branding appeal ("Google" is preferable to "Best-search-engine-ever.com"). Check Archive.org to make sure your new site didn't have a previous life as an adult site, or worse. And my favorite: Do the double entendre test. Pen Island sounds great till you see it typed as one word, all lowercase. Lastly, safeguard brand hijacking by buying all the associated extensions so that others do not.