Choosing a Domain Name for Your Blog

A recent discussion at the Mom Bloggers Club pointed out one of the first things you should do when trying to get noticed as a serious blogger: buy a domain name for your blog.

Why purchase a domain?
Your blog’s URL is how everyone from PR firms to search engines find you. It’s part of your brand and will be on everything from your business card to your email signature.

Having a URL like mycoolblog.blogspot.com instead of mycoolblog.com tells others that you’re technically unsophisticated and don’t know about purchasing a domain name. Or, even worse, that you don’t take your blogging seriously enough to invest a few dollars in it.

A good domain should be fairly short, easy to remember, easy to type, and have only one meaning when read. For example writespotblogs.com – is it Write Spot Blogs dot com or Writes Pot Blogs dot com?

When you buy a domain, you can use email addresses with the same domain, which makes you seem more professional. Plus, using mycoolblog.com instead of  mycoolblog.blogspot.com will enhance your search engine ranking. Google also takes your blog more seriously if you have your own domain name.

Should I purchase my name?
I tell all my clients who are professional writers looking for magazine work or book deals to purchase domains for their name and all the variations – .com, .net, .biz, .info, etc. If they have a common name like Jane Smith, I suggest that they include their middle initial or use something like JaneRSmithWriter.com.

For Mom bloggers, it may not be necessary to buy your name. However, if you’re looking to use your blog to eventually land a book deal, why not? And yes, you’ll have to buy a domain for your book title, just like Jeanette Fulda of Pasta Queen did for her book, Half-Assed. But we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves here.

Remember, if you buy a bunch of domains and don’t use them, you can either have them forwarded to your blog, sell them, or let them expire.

For more on choosing a domain name, see Darren Rowse’s post Choosing the Domain Name for your Blog at Problogger.net.

Anne-Marie Nichols is the Social Media Manager at Mom Central Consulting. You can also find her blogging up some healthy recipes at This Mama Cooks!

Anne-Marie Nichols