gonna buy me a domain name, yes sir

If your own name is still available, buy that one before someone else does.

David Wisehart said:

If your own name is still available, buy that one before someone else does.

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I think this is a good idea.

I also like your other ideas, including momscribbles.

If momscribbles is available as .com register it immediately. Do not wait. I recommend Namecheap. Someone may beat you to it.
Registering a proper name (your last name) for a domain is pointless unless it is already well known. Do it for novelty if you wish, but concepts are way easier to brand than names, and you are doing double duty trying to get people to an oddly spelled URL. Ranking for your name is not hard to do, you do not need every page of your site to include it in the URL. Just include your name in the Title Tag if Google is your goal.
In domains, simple is key. One or two words that tie into the purpose of the site. There is no replacing the value of an easily remembered domain. Mom opens up some very nice key word possibilities...study SEO. SEO for Dummies will answer these questions. Google for a free e-book. You will save yourself a lot of confusion by starting with that.

And don't go searching for the domain name until you are ready to purchase it then and there because your search is open to others. It's a well known fact that there are others out there who will purchase domain names and then sit on them waiting for someone to contact them and they sell them for big bucks compared to what you can normally purchase them for...

Or so I have been warned...

I bought my own name for a site. Did nothing with it. Pick out a name and put your site to work.

If your goal is to generate traffic, pick out a name with a keyword in it that will coincide with the keyword of some of your postings.

I’ve had someone helping with my site for years, a friend/peer and she has always paid for the site but due to current economic hardships, she isn’t going to be able to pay for it anymore. For the last five years, since I started using a professional name for my writing, she has paid to register the name and for the site. My dilemma now is that I know nothing about this and am still struggling with hard economic problems of my own, but at the very least, I need to keep the name. Where do I start? I believe she had it registered with Yahoo but their prices have gone up. What’s the most economic route to go? Is there a place where I can register the name and have a small site, a page or maybe two? How do I register using another, whatever you call the place you pay to register your name? Won’t all sites say my name is already taken because we have it? I won’t have any trouble getting the information from her but I don’t know where to start on my end and I’m trying to spend every second I have writing to make up for the months I wasn’t able to and catch us back up. Any solutions, suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Denise, thank you for starting this thread, I’ve been so busy I almost forgot. Personally I like the momscribbles and would grab it quickly. Let me know if you decide not to use it, I might if you’d be okay with it.

Hey, I went to post this and just had an idea… If any other moms out there would be interested, starting with Denise that is, a bunch of us could each do a momscribbles from different locations and link them together. Who, knows we might have something going. Just an idea… A momscribbles-stl, momscribbles-br, etc…

SS

I would suggest going with your name. What you write may change, your name probably won't--so that is your core brand. If the length or spelling of the name is really a problem it might be time to think of using a pen name?

I guess it all depends on what you want to use it for. I bought my own name in support of my debut novel. I'm working on another book and will add it to the site once it's sold. Blogs are free so I have one under another name that I use as a tie-in to my S101 articles from time to time.

ishtar'sgate said:

I guess it all depends on what you want to use it for. I bought my own name in support of my debut novel. I'm working on another book and will add it to the site once it's sold. Blogs are free so I have one under another name that I use as a tie-in to my S101 articles from time to time.

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Blogs that are hosted by places like Word Press or Blogspot are free...but not if you'd like it under your domain name. That isn't free.

stldenise said:

Still Seaking: what I've learned so far is that domain names are pretty cheap. I was looking at GoDaddy and they could sell you a dot com for $11. There was something about a privacy protection service that would add 8 or 9 bucks to it and keep your personal data off the web - you have to register your domain with some big service, maybe the gov't? I've never heard of this, so I ran the domain of my favorite popular mom blogger and saw that she did this privacy thing. Makes sense!

Also, Wordpress (and I think Blogspot) can direct one of their blogs to your domain. It's still a free service, still the exact program they use for all the other freebie blogs. The extra is for hosting - something like $12 a month? - which I've heard the pros say is the way to go. For us low tech people, the Wordpress.com is ok to start with!

I don't know if GoDaddy will let you re-register a name they didn't sell you in the first place - I haven't looked that hard at it.

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If you use WP or Blogger to blog but you want it in your domain name and not theirs, you have to pay monthly for hosting.

Wordpress comes in two forms, one where your download the software (domain mapping free) and one where you use it via the wordpress portal (domain mapping not free). Domain mapping at blogger is free, as is hosting the blog file on your own server space via ftp.

veinglory said:

Wordpress comes in two forms, one where your download the software (domain mapping free) and one where you use it via the wordpress portal (domain mapping not free). Domain mapping at blogger is free, as is hosting the blog file on your own server space via ftp.

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Yes. Exactly. So, if I'd like to, I can place ads there, etc. More control.

stldenise said:

Hmmm, I have to look at that again. I thought they would redirect from your domain into their program for free? Like, if you keep it in wordpress.com, not the .org.

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Can't you also do that for free from most domain registrars (such as Godaddy)? Have the domain forward to some other site without needing hosting? All you pay for is the domain registration, and set it up with your blog address (or anywhere else you want), and when someone goes to your domain it immediately forwards to your blog.

benbradley said:

Can't you also do that for free from most domain registrars (such as Godaddy)? Have the domain forward to some other site without needing hosting? All you pay for is the domain registration, and set it up with your blog address (or anywhere else you want), and when someone goes to your domain it immediately forwards to your blog.

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Yes, but you don't have any ads (if you'd like to make money that way) and you have less control because it isn't "your site" technically. See how yours had the "blog spot" attached to your URL? One with space you purchased is ".com" or ".net" or whatever.

I think it's perfect if you're just getting your sea-legs, but after a while, many people want more.

This has been a very helpful thread.

Thanks Denise for starting it and thanks for all the info everyone.

Easy to Remember

stldenise said:

Hey guys!

I'm thinking about buying a domain name to start up a blog. Some Examiner people I chat with (both here and else where) have mentioned that a blog is a good tool to drive traffic.​

So...I need some help picking out a name!​

1) I could use my actual name, which might be useful for my clip site, but I don't think anyone else could spell it without looking. I have an Italian last name, thanks to hubby. (May be I should buy my name just on the principle of the thing, then move my clips there?)​

2) I could try to base it on the blog I'm thinking about setting up, which would most likely be parenting based. ArchMom is available (I'm in the St. Louis area), as is (unbelievalbe!) HeartlandMom, ArchWriter, stlcountymom (makes sense to the locals)...geez there's a lot here that's open.​

3) StlDenise is available, which I always use as my online handle. It's simple, personal, states my location, and I'm rather attached to it. But does it work as a blog name?​

4) More catchy: momscribbles (I kinda like that one)​

What do you think? Anyone out there buy a domain for a blog? What do you think about when naming it?​

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Buy yourname.com

Buy catchyeasytoremember.com

You want people to be able to find you. Make sure to be listed in the search engines. You can submit website to each search engine yourself or hire someone to do it.

stldenise said:

Update: I bought momscribbles.com!

I think I still have some set up to do -- if you type momscribbles.com without the www it still goes to the godaddy holding page. I think I can fix that. Somehow.

I'm using blogger to host it and going ad free for right now. I'm still goofing around with it.

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That's a great start! It actually looks quite good considering you're just getting started. In order to get the domain to resolve (so that www.domain.com=domain.com), there should be a setting for that in your control panel. Not being a GoDaddy user, I'm not sure exactly where it would be, but if you have an option to redirect URL's, that ought to do it.
Technically, domain.com and www.domain.com are different pages although you should have control of both.

Looks good!