“Ryan, you got an awesome blog domain name!”
“Ryan, your blog domain name is too long.”
“Ryan, you were lucky to get that cool blog domain name.”
I have heard it all since buying bloggingfromparadise.com in 2014. I believe I got a gem. Most bloggers agree.
I had to choose a new domain name and move on from my old blog and blogging niche. Pondering my lifestyle and the direction of my blog I could not nab a better name. After a quick look up I gobbled that sucker up for like $15 USD. Great deal.
An Aussie travel blogger emailed me the following day. He tried buying the domain name not 1 day prior. I beat him to it.
Anyway, I want to discuss the important – on non-importance – of choosing your blog domain name. New bloggers often feel confused about what to pick and how to pick the name. Others obsess for weeks over their domain name. A select few bloggers get clear, pick a winner and begin blogging quite quickly.
Let’s break it down.
Should You Use Your Name or Something Else?
Depends on your brand direction.
Enstine purchased his name for his domain and never looked back. He branded his domain and blog beautifully, building up his name as a leader in the make money online niche.
I chose Blogging From Paradise because I wished to embody my lifestyle. I retired to a life of island hopping through smart blogging. I wanted to teach aspiring travel bloggers to follow my lead.
If you choose your name for your domain you better share some first person stories and personal accounts of your blogging niche to vibe with your domain name. Do you feel comfortable or clear sharing your life stories? You probably should, if you pick your name.
If however you want to share more 3rd person content, choosing a domain other than your name works nicely. Selling your blog becomes easier if you do not pick your name for your domain; especially if you don’t infuse yourself and your stories into your brand.
Or you can combine your name and something else, like Donna Merrill did cleverly with donnamerrilltribe.com. I find it quite genius that she branded herself *and* her tribe. Talk about bringing your community along for the ride.
1 – Make the Domain Name Evergreen for Lasting Success
Unless planet earth explodes, people will be blogging from paradise. Folks will be blogging in the tropics, or, wherever they deem to be paradise. I picked an evergreen domain name.
As long as you are living in your meat suit, using your name for a domain is pretty evergreen too. At least during your lifetime.
Choose an evergreen domain name to build something meaningful, lasting and impacting. Chasing trends is acceptable but such domains have a quick shelf life and become completely worthless after the domain name exists the news cycle.
2 – Choose Something Easy to Imagine
Human beings think in pictures. if I say “pink hippo”, a pink hippo instantly pops up on the screen of your mind.
Choose a domain name folks easily visualize. People can see Enstine Muki easily. People can see someone blogging from paradise easily too.
People think in pictures. Make their lives easier; pick a domain name easy to visualize to do much of their thinking leg work for them.
3 – Avoid Anything Other than Dot Com
I cannot tell you how many times I gave up on a website after the .com version of said site yielded no result or a different website.
Most of humanity adds .com to a website to find the site. Going with anything other than .com is a big mistake because few folks search for anything beyond a .com search.
Invest more money to buy a .com domain name or simply pick a different domain name to ensure you get a .com name.
4 – Moderate Length to Short Names Work Best
I pushed the limit with bloggingfromparadise dot com, methinks. People easily visualize it and tend to remember it. Folks seem to have no problems mis-typing the name. But names a bit longer than mine lead to problems as far as:
- people remembering the entire name
- people mis-typing the name due to the sheer number of letters involved
Go with a short and sweet domain name or moderate length name. Avoid folks making typing errors. Be memorable. Make an impact.
Cale Loken, a Minneapolis website developer, says “that most businesses want the 2 word domain names, if possible. Obviously, many of them are gone, but there are a lot of variations out there, many that are still available to purchase.”
Spend some time finding a domain name aligned with your niche.
Buy the name.
Start blogging!
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