Domains, those little things

For some reason it's been ingrained in our heads that unless you have a domain, you aren't really serious about your blog. I'll admit it, I do think that way too. It's a tiny subconscious note-- whenever I see a site that has "freewebs" in the url, I shudder a bit.

So naturally, our next step is to buy a domain, right? Whether it's to show you're serious, solidify your relationship with your blog, or just because you have some money to spend and think it'll be a good investment, getting a domain ultimately will be a good thing for your blog. In all honesty, the only reason why you shouldn't get one is if you can't afford it.

Once you've made a decision to purchase a domain, you come across one big question: Where should you buy it from? You certainly have a large amount of options. But each domain seller has their own benefits. Here are some helpful tips:

If you use blogspot, I should point out that Google sells domains to all of their users for $10.00 a year. If you aren't really sure where to go for hosting or aren't really good at coding, this might be your best option. You simply give them an available domain, buy it, and Google automatically transfers everything to that domain for you.
If you are comfortable with exporting your blog and finding a host, I suggest going through the standard GoDaddy. I recently purchased a domain through GoDaddy, and while I feel that their site was a little intimidating to a first time purchaser, I do feel confident about what I bought from them. They also allow you to purchase webhosting from them, so you can get it all in one spot. Their prices range from $2-30, depending on what type of website you purchase. But I'll get into that later.
Register.com is newbie friendly, however their selection of types of websites (such as .ly, .asia) are limited to sites only available for US purchase.
Watch out! Some sellers sit on a good domain and sell for a high price. Do NOT pay this higher price, no matter how much you like that domain, you can come up with something better. It is NOT worth the $250 you'd have to pay for it.



Now, assuming you figured out where to buy from, here comes the all-important decision. What is going to be your new domain? Again, here are some helpful tips.

1. Clever names stick with your readers. My fellow blogger at Profuse.ly lives by this rule. With her and another blogger, we're starting a site called ReviewGur.us. See what I mean about clever names? You remember that site url pretty easily.
2. Have it actually relate to your website! Yes, a site called FrostedBunnies.com is cute and all, but unless you're a porn site, it's hard imagining how that actually relates to what you're writing. (God, now that I've written that site down as an example, I'm curious if it IS a porn site. o_o)
3. Short and sweet is great! Keep in mind that until people bookmark your site, they'll be typing in the entire thing. So if your domain is long and complicated, no one is going to remember it. And then no one will visit your site! That's no good, now!
4. If you are purchasing a url that's meant for residents of a certain country, be careful! Sometimes, you can't purchase these urls unless you live in the country. For example, .us. Your URL can NOT end with .us unless you actually live in the United States. However, Libya does allow you to purchase .ly without being a registered resident.


I know these tips weren't very long, but in the end of the day, the only thing that can make your domain good is YOU. You need to go out and research what you buy before you buy, and put a lot of thought into it! And before you know it, your site will pop up at the top of google searches and be a hit!

Hope this helped! Later, Suckers!