Picking a domain name for your website is one of the most important things you can do, much like naming a child it’ll be the same for the life of the website. Before I discuss how you should go about picking a name lets see why you need one

Why have your own Domain Name?

Blog hosting companies like Blogger that let you run off their website give you domains such as http://yourblog.blogspot.com, which remove any sense of professionalism and credibility. Using a service like this ties you down forever, while you may be able to move the content you will never own the rights to the address.

Owning your own domain gives you the ability to enhance your personal reputation or the reputation of your product / service. Additionally a purchased domain attracts ‘brownie points’ with the search engines.

Choosing the Name
There are many factors to consider when it comes to picking your domain name;

Your Topic
Many domains reflect the topic of the Blog

Your Style
Are you a serious corporate Blogger or do you prefer to write in an informal manner? If it’s a personal Blog you might consider using your own name

Your target audience
Who are you hoping will read your posts? Geeks, Young People, Professionals?

It’s worth looking into the above points before moving forward as it could radically affect your choices. Think of it as naming a business, it’s effectively the same thing just digital.

Types of Domains
I personally think there are three types of domains, Keyword based, Brandable and Personal. Lets look at examples of each;

Keyword Based
ProBlogger .net
Howstuffworks.com
Autotrader.co.uk

these domains incorporate keywords on the websites topic. It’s instantly obvious what each one is about without even visiting the site. It’s great for SEO and for new visitors looking for related information.

Brandable Domains
boingboing.com
Facebook.com
Technorati.com

These domains don’t include keywords, at least not one related to their subject matter. Instead they are unique, memorable and above all build the brand.

Personal Domains
Johnchow.com
BobBuskirk.com
NateWhitehill.com

Personal Domains are unique and build the reputation of an individual without being related to the topic. In some ways these individuals are building a brand around themselves.

Name Length

A rule of thumb is the shorter the better as long as it keeps in with your goals. It’s much easier to remember a short domain like ‘mysite.com’ than ‘mypersonalwebsite.com’ and it’s physically easier to type.

Picking a shorter domain could prevent you from using a keyword based domain but it would still be my personal preference.

The Best Names…

Any ‘expert’ will tell you the best domains are easy to remember, type and pronounce. The problem with getting noticed online is people are lazy, if they can’t find your site first or second try they’ll give up. It’s something I was not aware of when purchasing this domain; in hindsight I would have used a different name.

What Extension?

As I’m sure you’re aware domains come with many different extensions, the major ones being .com , .net , .info, .org and .co.uk

A lot of people believe .com is the only way to go while others believe it doesn’t matter as long as your content is interesting and useful. I use the .co.uk extension because I’m quite proud of being English and thought more of us should get known out on the web.

Really it’s up to you to decide, .dot com definitely has its benefits and appeals to a wider audience but if your topic is location based you might consider a country based extension.

One benefit of choosing a country based domain is you may rank well in the local Google search as I do with Google UK for ‘Making Money Blogging’ and ‘Make Money Blogging’.

Quick Re-Cap

Consider your audience and topic
Keyword, Brandable or Personal?
Shorter the better
What extension?