Having your own .com web address is getting harder every day, all the good ones seem taken and you have to resort to ever more creative names in order to find something that’s free. When you finally find one you can use there is the next issue, what do you want to be doing with the domain? Do you want to start exploiting it immediately or do you just want to make sure that if you ever want to start using it someone didn’t snatch it from under your nose.
After finding the name you want there is that second choice, do you want the .com or the .net or perhaps something else, even down to a .nl (the Netherlands) or a .eu (European union). For most of us, the .com is the way to go and yet you see several great blogs using the .net. Why is this? After a few hours of looking into this I haven’t found the answer yet. An international extention still seems the best option unless you’re writing in your own language (non-English) and are trying to reach people in your own country.
There are blogs out there that don’t have their own space but use blogger or wordpress, you don’t have to have your own domain you see. That being said I hope one day I can transfer this blog onto my own domain. You can guess which one that will be. Now hands off ’till I claim it! As of right now I don’t have a perfectly clear plan on how to claim my domain and what it will cost me. For the moment I only want the name to be safe, paying for web hosting will have to wait until I can get the financial ball rolling. It’s not that easy trying to fund things when you’re a student.
Oh well, the big question remains. Do you want your own domain or do you settle for a domain at wordpress or blogger. The advantages of your own domain are simple:
- Better memorization
- Professional look
- Free to do whatever you want in terms of software and monetizing
The downsides are few, the biggest one for any beginner is the cost. Although it’s only a few dollars a month try paying those few dollars when your budget is already stretched as it is. This is the only reason for me not to get stared straight away. It takes some time to get a blog rolling and although it will be hell to transfer everything from here to there if the time comes it’s just that little word… “if”. Will this blog grow enough for the blog to pay for it’s own hosting?
I can tell you that this blog will grow, as long as I apply my three essentials to every single post I write.
There are a few exceptions out there to prove me wrong but for just about any blog, getting your own domain will lift your blog to the next level and certainly is the way to go. A .com or a .net is a matter of personal taste I think.
When you start with a blog or any other site not on your own domain, think hard about the name you want to use. Take a peek to see if the domain you might eventually want is still available, this might help make the transition easier to your own domain if the time ever comes. One day mindthebeginner.wordpress.com just might become mindthebeginner.com or mindthebeginner.net, both are still available as I’m writing this and will soon belong to me. I’ll make you this promise:
If one or more of the following happen I’ll transfer this blog to my own domain (whichever happens first)
- If I have more than 500 pageviews a day for 7 consecutive days.
- If I have more than 300 subscribers to my RSS feed
- If a pig flies by my window
- If this blog is still growing at a steady pace in one year from the start of this blog (March 13th 2009)
If any of these things happen the few of you who read this can say you were there when we started. Thank you for helping me begin.
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I’m visiting from the 31 Day Better Blog Challenge. Thought I’d get a look at some of the other blogs and bloggers.
I like your layout. There are so many cluttered and complicated looking layouts, something simple and easy to read is pleasant to come upon.
I went with a .ca domain and a .com. (.ca being the Canadian domain). I really prefer the regional domain cause it gives a little more information about the blog or site. I like knowing I’ve found another Canadian when I come to a site. Like finding someone from your hometown when you are traveling somewhere exotic and getting just a little bit homesick. :)
That is a very well thought out post!! Nice job and I have to say excellent points as well. I hope to see you on your “own domain” soon. I do not see anything wrong with a hosted blog however, as you pointed out you are limited in some aspects. But it works. I do agree with PP about regional domains, although my blog is .com. Good luck and I Look forward to future updates.
Hey Chris,
This is what you DONT do: Start telling people of a domain name you are planning to buy in the future. Someone will figure that it could be worth something some day, and will register it and try to sell it to you for a profit. Which mean you could lose the nice domain name you were planning to use.
Here’s what you SHOULD HAVE done: start buying the domain, even if you plan to use it in the future, but securing it now.
Here is what I DID: I bought the domain.
I will give it to you for FREE if, and ONLY IF, you reach your said goals within 3 months, starting today. After those 3 months, you can buy it from me for the same price I charge my customers for a domain name. At any time you may decide you want to buy it right away.
Why did I do this:
1: To teach you a lesson: this could be someone with bad intentions who bought your domain
2: As an incentive to get you to work hard on your blog, to make the progress you need to get where you want
3: I couldn’t stand the idea that a fellow Dutch speaker would make a serious mistake that he would really regret one day.
Je weet me wel te contacten. Zo niet vindt je wel uit hoe!
Stretsh
Well this is certainly throwing down the gauntlet. I accept your challenge sir! Three months will be a hefty challenge though…
Let’s see where this is going to end up.
Thank you for the lesson
The com or net have about the same value – I would buy the nl if you were going to have a Dutch language blog – but obviously that’s a very limited market. The com can be had on a discount code for $7.49/year on godaddy so if the smartarse above is charging much more tell him where to go! The info is $0.99c / year – and I quite like the term for general blogs.
I would think twice about your branding first though – the phrase “mind the beginner” has little search engine value – no one searches it in other words. You could/should buy your real name if its available to avoid cybersquatters – I ended up using that domain name for my flagship cause it was doing nothing much anyway – you can then use your blog title for more useful SEO term.
If you read my about page you’ll see that the name of my blog has been inspired by a certain (very well known in those circles) book. That will certainly help people find my blog by itself. Even just mentioning that book here will help a bit.
An NL domain is not the way to go for me as I’m writing in English.
As far as I can tell people like what I’m writing and more and more people find the way to my blog every day. Looking into the names of other blogs there aren’t many names that are great with SEO:
Illuminated mind
Zen habits
Problogger (He’s a brand, I don’t think the word existed before he started using it.)
icanhascheeseburger
I don’t see any of the above working great with search engines if people don’t know what they are looking for. Last time I checked these were all highly successful blogs though. I think I’ll just stay with this domain. http://www.mindthebeginner.com... I’m not in it for the money, I want to write and help people.
ps. We all know what domains costs… ;) Thanks for the info anyway