Choosing the Domain Name for your Blog

Elizabeth R. Cournoyer December 19, 2021

214 12 minutes read

Last night, my wife came home with a book and began a verbal exchange on a subject I’d been dreading for a reason. We first determined that we had been watching for a child later in the year. The ebook became known alongside the road of ‘Names on your toddler’.

Giving every other man or woman a name is a task that may be amusing but simultaneously a bit (or a lot) daunting. There are many factors to keep in mind (what could the name be shortened to, who else has that name, what recollections does it evoke, is it clean for a child to mention, should you name them after a person, etc. and so on, etc.) and such a lot of approaches to make a choice. What’s extra is that it’s a project with some stage of obligation connected to it, as someone’s call impacts them for a lifetime.

Deciding on a call (and domain name) in your weblog won’t be quite as critical a choice as naming your firstborn baby. Still, it’s something to consider cautiously, and I’d like to flesh out a little in this published Page Design Web. For the purposes of this post, I’m assuming that you have selected to go along with a standalone weblog (see previous submission on blog systems) and could not be depending upon a URL furnished by using a blog web hosting corporation AND that your area call will be the name of your weblog (not always the case but commonly the case and normally an encouraged practice).

Why could you need your very own domain name?

Having your personal domain call is ideal for plenty of bloggers for severa reasons. For a start, if you’re trying to construct credibility and a feel of professionalism around your blog, a website that reflects this could help. In addition, a carefully selected area name can decorate the Branding of a product, provider, commercial enterprise, or even person. Domain purchases give the bonus of e-mail addresses with the same domain (adding to each professionalism and Branding) and might beautify your Seek Engine rating.

Elements should be taken into account while selecting a website.

As there are numerous elements to not forget when choosing the name of someone, there are multiple implications when selecting names for an internet site. What follows is a listing of factors to remember as you choose. Remember that there are numerous theories about proper and incorrect in this area. Despite all the regulations humans have, there have been a few very successful websites that forget about them all! Also worth remembering is that private flavor comes into choices like this – what’s a terrific call will suggest various things to distinct people. With the one’s disclaimers in thought – allow’s take a look at some areas to recall:

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Desires and targets—I constantly return to a date in most of my tips posts on the ramifications of running a blog, but it’s so vital to consider the long-term time vision you have for a weblog while you’re making choices like those approximate domain names.

What’s the subject of the weblog?

– an obvious start-line – most weblog names reflect their subject matter
What do you desire to obtain with your weblog?
– is it approximately having an interest, is it approximately building your profile/information, is it approximately earning an earning via commercials, is it helping a present commercial enterprise
What fashion will or will not be?
– is it a weblog with one or many authors? What length of posts will it have?
What tone and voice will it be written in?
– Will it be conversational, newsy, rant-ish, humorous?
Who’s the meant target market?
– Are you looking to enchant experts, younger humans, cool humans, or geeks?
You get the photo. Similar to naming an enterprise, you need to recall the overall approach.

Source of traffic –

I’ve seen many articles on how to choose a domain call written; however, in only a few of them (if any), I have seen a discussion on the type of visitors you will be trying to construct your internet site/blog around. To me, this is a crucial question (that emerges from your normal approach) and will help you solve several of the essential questions we’ll discuss. Permit me to flesh this out a touch:

Site visitors to a blog typically come from three main assets:

Unswerving Readers
search engines
Referral traffic (from different websites)

I’ve discussed each type of site visitor in this previous post – they have wonderful personal drawbacks and can result from different techniques. One of the many things that could impact your traffic supply is your area. I’ll explain this below, but I think it’s worth naming what form of blog and site visitors you’re after up the front. If you need a weblog that is excessive on SE site visitors, you might properly choose a call unique to a weblog with traffic primarily based upon repeat readers. As I say – I’ll make it bigger in this underneath.

Key phrases and Branding –

Many discussions on domain call decisions discuss choosing between a domain name with keywords and domains that can be more brandable or frequent. It’s really worth mentioning that it’s miles possible to obtain each (I wager whatever is brandable to a point), but this type of preference regularly comes into play. My view comes, at a minimum, partially again to the traffic you hope to draw to your blog. Permits have a look at every in turn:

Key-word-based domain names totally.

Because the name suggests, those domain names contain key phrases that your blog is ready for. This is good for several motives. Firstly, it communicates something to your readers in no time, almost what your blog is about. The opposite advantage is that search engines take an excellent look at the words on your domain name while deciding what your weblog is set and a way to rank it. As an end result, those styles may be worth searching for if you are after SE site visitors. Examples of blogs with keyword-based domains are Cellphone9, the film blog, Sims Gamer, and the virtual pictures faculty.

Brandable domains

– Those domain names would possibly often have a few relations to their subject matter in terms of their sense or sound but are tons more approximately creating something memorable that can grow to be an identity in and of itself. Regarding the visitor approach, those blogs would be suitable for growing a blog aiming to build a community of unswerving readers. Thocourseogs can also be used in engines like Google, but Google is normal for different reasons (keywords in URLs are simply one among many elements).

Blogs that have those varieties of domains consist of Boing Boing, Gizmodo, and Dooce. In reality, if you look at Technorati’s top 100 blogs, you’ll see that most have brandable names and are now not keyword-based. As I’ve noted above, those two options are not mutually distinct. One instance that comes to mind is Engadget, which has to be a memorable and well-branded call containing a ‘device’. There are precise arguments for and towards each style of area call, which we should talk about for a while, and it’s not unusual to sense torn when choosing the two options.

Contemplating the future –

any other thing to bear in mind that is associated with my first factor of goals and objectives is to remember what your blog would look like within the destiny. I’ve seen some bloggers begin up blogs with domain names thaseenealthy with the begin-up of the blog, to begin with; however, they outgrow the area down the tune. In a single example, the hassle becomes that the blog started on a reasonably narrow subject matter (a sub-area of interest) and on a website that contemplated this; however, in t, time, it increased its topic as the industry modified. In the end, the topic and call just didn’t fit.

Another ‘future element to consider is the number of blogs you are considering starting in your area. Look for an example of how having one domain with many blogs strolling off is viable. The weblog (sure, they may be blogs – run by MovableType) ‘approximately’ masses of subjects and features a site call that suits this flawlessly. I have fallen into the lure of not questioning beforehand in my area, where I presently have a weblog on Digital Cameras. This is an instance of how it doesn’t come with the domain you start blogs on, as it’s a website that does quite nicely. However, I was frequently surprised how much higher it ought to have been if I’d just in advance a bit more!

Lastly, in the future, the front –

Don’t pick’ oudon’tame, ‘ which you suspect may date quickly. Picking a call this time is precise in any way, and you might discover yourself attempting to find a brand new domain while it’s miles away relevant at some destiny time.

Call duration –

There are more than a few critiques on the precise period of a website name. Technically, you could have one with up to sixty-seven characters in it. Still, it’s far norm it’s customary that brief ones are higher for some motives, including that they’re easy to forget, that they leave much less room for making mistakes while typing them in, they are properly for phrase of mouth (online or offline) marketing, that they are more visually fascinating (e.g., on your enterprise card) and so on.

The opposite argument is that if you seek SE visitors that you may want to, don’t forget to use the area name with a number of the keywords you’re looking for. My non-public choice nowadays is for shorter domains if feasible; however, it is no longer only for being brief. Plus, short names are very famous and tough to locate recently, so you might be compelled to recollect something a touch longer anyway.

Dot What? –

In conjunction with the debates over the area call period, there are many critiques over the fine at the give-up of your area after the ‘dot’. Those letters (e.g., .’om,’ .internet, .org, and so forth) are technically called the pinnacle stage area (TLD) and are divided into two types. First, the United States codes TLDs; second, there are ‘common’ TLDs that represent ‘special’ styles of businesses (in concept, at least).

As I say, there is a spread of methods for deciding on which TLD to go for:

Legalities

– the primary consideration is the legalities of your desire as one-of-a-kind countries and widely widespread TLDs have one-of-a-kind requirements, but the seo – that is wherein among the arguments over TLDs are available. I’m now not going to get into it in depth except to say that most people trust.com to be most effective. Internet and.org is also true. Additionally, suppose you are starting a weblog with a localized consciousness. In that case, it’s far properly worth considering a country code for your TLD because it will assist you in getting indexed in local search engines (I am getting quite a few site visitors on my.au domain names from Google Australia). If you’re seeking an extra world you’re looking for in the market, strive for.com or.net.

Memorability

– One of my frustrations with ProBlogger Internet is that people anticipate it can be determined. Of course, when I got here to register in this area, I attempted to get the.com, but it turned unavailable, so I determined that. The Internet would serve my functions (which it has). The most effective price is that.com, which is so ‘ordinary’ that many humans assume your’ blogs will constantly be your address. Hyphens? – Another everlasting debate about domain names is over the price of hyphenated names. For example, a hyphenated version of this blog might be seasoned-Blogger.net. There are foremost motifs that a few human beings opt for hyphenated names:

Availability–

One of the most important reasons for using hyphens is that ‘all the desirable names are taken’ (or, at least, it may appear’ this way’). Including hyphens in names truly offers extra alternatives.

Search engine optimization

– hyphens are said to become aware of keywords to search engines like Google more truly (all over again, there is some debate over this). Of course, for every positive, there may be a poor, and the arguments in opposition to keywords encompass:

Memorability

– including hyphens can make it complicated for readers to remember your name, which is hard to speak – have you ever attempted to inform a person of a domain name with a hyphen between every phrase? It may be a worrying method to multiply the margin for mistakes – the extra characters for your area, the greater the hazard of an improper keystroke, which is cheap and nasty.

– there may be a belief amongst net-masters that domain names with many keywords and hyphens are spammy. I don’t think a website with one (madon’two) hyphens in it; however, domains-that-have-lots-of-them-frustrate-me-and-flip-me-off. Numbers? Every other choice to consider when selecting a domain on a pretty crowded subject consists of various options at the start or finish. Another time, this will increase your chances of finding a domain with your keyword in it; however, it could ‘cheapen’ the sound of your area (‘another opinion, of course).

‘Easy’ Names –

most ‘specialists ‘in this place argue ‘that a site ‘ame needs to be clean to spell, pronounce, remember, and sort. Web customers are notoriously lazy; if your web page is not clean to locate, they might quickly surrender searching for it. As a result, the less difficult you could make your domain to not forget and get the right of entry, the more threat you have of visitors from repeat readers.

Preserving it criminal –

it’s far enormously recommendable. Assume a critical question about the legal implications of the words you operate for your area call. Keep away from trademarked names specifically. I understand more than once that bloggers have been compelled to modify months into new blogs because of criminal threats. Whether those laws vary from country to country. s. a. I’m uncertain, but it’s well wworthconsidering if splitting a domain would conflict this way.

The ‘blog’ word –

One temptation for many bbloggersis to apply the phrase ‘blog’ in the call and URL in their blog. ‘his ‘has the advantage of establishing new alternatives for domain names but can also have a few changes. For starters, it could see the possibilities for increasing your web page down the track constrained. Someday, you don’t need to run your website in a blog don’t; you could sense a chunk trapped. The alternative reason is that if you want to apply AdSense as a profit circulation in your blog down the music, it is a hassle to serve commercials approximately blogging when the phrase ‘blog’ seems too prominently on a domain. ‘his’se adequate when your weblog is set to run a blog – however, it isn’t too conducive to excessive advert reisn’tcy if you’re writing on a distinct subject matteyou’reure multiple domains –

Many experienced webmasters suggest that one piece of advice is to ensure that you are comfortable with other similar domains to the only one you eventually pick. For instance, if you pick out a.com area name, it is probably worth getting the.net and.org ones if you can, or perhaps even getting plurals or other logically comparable ones. This is not essential but may assist you in shielding your niche in some instances.

Evaluations of Others –

Earlier, you purchased that domain you’d been eyeing, so it is probably worth walking by using one or different trusted pals (who gained’t run off and bought it themselves). It is extremely b important to know how centered it may end up in locating the proper call. And the way that can cloud your judgment. It’s also thrilling to learn how a call might sound to someone of a specific culture for your own. Words imply various things in extraordinary parts of the arena, and it could help you avoid an embarrassing mistake or just a dorky blog name.

Formerly used domains –

It’s worth checking to see if a domain has been formally registered. Spammers often purchase domains, which they abandon later after they’ve used them up. They’ve ever removed those domains banned through Google, which gets you off to a bad start.

Of course, the above factors aren’t tough and fast guaren’tesae. As I’ve referred to frequently, many of the worst domain names on websites have been pretty successful. I’ve blogs trapped on doI’ve names that have been no longer conceptualized thoroughly (largely because I didn’t realize any bbetterhow matters develop that’s. A number of them do poorly, and others do thoroughly. There’s more to a blog’s There’sment or faiblog’shan its name or URL – all I’m arguing is that a smaI’mpreference in this may better your probabilities for a long time. Some equipment you might like to use in deciding on a site name encompass:

GameBoy
DomainsBot
Whois source

It is loose; add your pointers, suggestions, and studies in feedback. For greater training on registering domains, setting up web hosting, and implementing WordPress, you may also find Jon Symon’s video collection on the Symon’sorthwhile.