Choose What Your Blog’s Name & Domain Are Going To Be

This is step 1 (out of 14) in a “how to start a blog” content series. See all steps here.
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This is the fun part where you choose what you want your blog’s name and domain name get to be.

Your blog’s domain name is the name people type in their browser (such as JohnDoe.com) to open your website/blog.

This is an important step because once your blog starts gaining traction, it can be really difficult to change the name to something different.

If you are starting a personal blog, you can choose to blog under your own name.

But I don’t recommend it as it limits the growth opportunities for your blog.

What do I mean by that?

If you launch a blog called JohnDoe.com, it will be weird and funny for you to allow other people to write for your blog as it is your personal blog.

Another problem is that you won’t be able to turn it into a real business if that’s what you are hoping for. Selling products on a personal domain name feels a little odd.

There are a few different ways you can come up with a good name for your blog:

What do you want to blog about?

Are you interested in starting a travel blog?
Or do you want to teach guitar lessons online?
Or are you starting your first Cooking blog?

Whatever topic you may choose to blog about is a good contender for inclusion in the name of your blog.

The easiest way to do this is to attach your name at the beginning or end of the topic of your blog. Here are a few examples:

• TimTravelsTheWorld.com
• GuitarLessonsWithJohn.com
• NomadicMatt.com

The last one is a real blog by a travel blogger named Matt.

What is the benefit?

What is the benefit your blogging topic offers?

Reading a blog almost always results in something. It could be information, news, how-to knowledge, or entertainment.

Whatever the benefit your blog offers, play around with a few word combinations that include the blog’s benefit.

Here are a few examples:

• ThankYourSkin.com – Blog about skin care.
• WellnessMama.com – Blog about health & fitness for mothers.
• MuscleForLife.com – Blog about fitness & bodybuilding.
• NomadicMatt.com – Blog about travel.
• SmartPassiveIncome.com – Blog about building a passive income.

All five of the above examples are real blogs.

If you blog about products, then there are benefits of giving your readers reviews before they buy a product.

What are the components of a good name?

Break down your blogging topic into subtopics and think about what makes up the topic as a whole.

For example, Nat Eliason named his tea blog Cup & Leaf which aptly defines what the blog is about and is a great brand name at the same time.

If you are starting a personal finance blog, then think about what the frequently used personal finance words are such as Balance Sheets, Budgeting, Savings, etc.

Try making a list of words that are associated with your blog’s topic. Then, mix and match the words until you come up with something you like.

Still can’t come up with a good name?

If you still can’t come up with a good name for your blog, here are some name generator tools to help you out:

• NameMesh
• NameBoy
• BustAName
• NameSmith

These domain name generators will help you brainstorm blog names that also have a domain name under the exact same name available.

Some tips on choosing the perfect domain name for your blog:

• Keep it short and simple: Keep your blog’s domain name as short as possible. It should be easy for people to remember and type in their browser.

• Make it easy to remember: If your name is boring or too long like mine, try thinking of a blog name that’s easy to remember and catchy. A good example is NomadicMatt.com. It’s a travel blog run by a blogger named Matt.

• Avoid cool/creative names: Don’t try to be cool with your domain name. Most of us aren’t lucky enough to have a cool name but that doesn’t mean you should try to sound cool in your domain name. If your preferred domain name is not available, don’t try to replace letters with numbers and worst of all, don’t drop characters. If JohnDoe.com is not available, don’t go for JohnDoe.com

• Go with a .com domain name: Most people simply don’t trust your website if it’s not a .com domain. Although there are lots of different domain name extensions available such as .io, .co, .online, etc., they just don’t carry the same ring as a .com domain. Now, the important thing to remember is that this isn’t something to get hung upon. If your favorite domain name’s .com version is not available, then feel free to go for some other domain extension. But your first choice should be a .com domain name.

Register your blog’s domain name before someone else steals it

Now that you have a name in mind for your blog, it’s time to register your domain name before someone else does.

There are a lot of domain registrars out there who offer cheap domain name registration like GoDaddy and Namecheap.

But do you know what beats cheap? A free domain name!

Check out my guide on how to get started with Bluehost and get your blog created.

In the next step, you will learn how to register a domain name for free when buying cheap web hosting.