I am a participant in a domaining group where someone showed interest in starting his own blog. So, I took my time to do some writing on this topic.
Choosing a domain name for domain related blogging is not that as simple as it may appear at first. Basically, It’s a thoughtful process that requires an analytical and business-like approach. Without evaluating all the pros and cons of naming – one should not be doing it hastily.
If I look at myself. Before using the current domain name TLDJournal.com – I changed or rebranded my domain blog name three times:
- SowDomain.com From 2013-2014
- DomainJust.com From 2014- Few Days
- MeetDomains.com From 2014 – 2015 and
- TLDJournal.com – Currently in use
And, then finally the current one. Though I have the option to use TauseefKhan.com I didn’t apply that to domaining. Because I have an interest in songwriting, publishing, educational counseling, public speaking – Toastmasters, and finance. I imagine Tauseefkhan.com as a website that dwells more on me and my interest with links to my specific websites.
Coming back to domain names – there are people who use their personal names to write about domain names. Like AbdulBasit.com; MorganLinton.com; ElliotsBlog.com; SullysBlog.com, DomainShane.com, RicksBlog.com, JamesNames.com and could be some other writers about which I am not that aware.
Elliot Silver decided to rebrand it to domaininvesting.com in the year 2013. He publicly shared his comment which was recorded by TLDInvestor.com at namespros and it is as follows “I privately acquired DomainInvesting.com earlier this year,” said Silver. “I believe rebranding as DomainInvesting.com will allow me to expand the audience of my blog, especially to people who are not familiar with the business of investing in domain names. With the continued growth of the domain aftermarket combined with the introduction of new gTLD domain names, I anticipate that there will be an influx in investment capital for domain name assets, and the DomainInvesting.com branding is more suitable for continued growth.”
Also, DomainShane.com replaced his domain to DSAD (Domain Shane and Accidental Domainer) You may follow that link above – what he said was “If you’re reading this it then we (I mean Travis) were successful in moving the entire site over to DSAD.com This site has been an evolution. It started as Domain Shane. The Aaron started Accidental Domainer and our sites merged into Domain Shane and Accidental Domainer but kept the DomainShane.com name. Then Travis and Josh came aboard and our company needed to have a name that is more than just me and more than just Aaron and I. So DSAD seemed to be as good as any. Short and memorable. Or at least we hope its memorable”.
But, there are some other domain investors who are continually using their personal name for domain related content such as Morgan Linton, AbdulBasit, Sully, etc.
When I asked AbdulBasit why he has chosen a personal name for domain blogging he said ” The reason behind that was I wanted to have my own identity and the best way to do so was to operate on my own name rather than any generic term like domain investing or domain direct. I believe people can easily identify me when it’s AbdulBasit.com rather than anything else.”
From the above what I infer is that it’s OK and fine if you use a personal name or generic and brandable domain name for blog related content. But, again you need to see the scope of your blog and the outcomes you’re looking at.
If you are writing for an international audience. And are looking at big players in the industry to sponsor your blog. Then, go with a generic and brandable domain name. And, if it’s just to further your own business and build a reputation online then it’s good also if you use your first and last name as a domain for your blog.
I will post part-2 of this post to review the options available on naming your domain blog if you don’t want to use your name.