Author Website: Choosing a Domain Name
The first thing needed before setting up a website is a domain name. That’s the .com, .net, .org, etc. that your readers will type into their browser to go to your website. To have a website, you need a domain name.
Never setup the website under a book title or a book series or a book’s main character. Setup your website under your own name. You have a long writing career ahead of you. Odds are, your writing is going to change. What you write about today will very likely shift and change over time. While today you can’t imagine writing anything other than this trilogy you’re currently working on, given enough time, you’re going to shift to something new. The one thing in life that you can count on staying the same is your name. Build your author platform around your name.
What if your name is taken? What if your name is Mike Smith and mikesmith.com is long gone. Get as close to your name as possible. If you can’t get mikesmith.com, look at buying mikesmithauthor.com, mikesmithbooks.com, michaelsmith.com, mikeericsmith.com (middle name), etc. Something close to your name that will be easily found by your readers when searching for you on the internet. What if you’ve already setup your site under a book title or series? Unless you are planning on riding this book or series for the next decade, you should change now. The sooner the better.
What about .net, .org. me, etc. domains? Be very careful with these. You will lose some traffic to the main .com domain because that’s the default. However, if your .com is taken and many of the .com’s around your name are taken, it is a viable option. Choose carefully.
How do you find and buy that perfect domain name?
The quickest and simplest way to find a domain name is to use www.domize.com. It is the fastest, easiest way to find domain names. On most websites you have to type in a domain, run a search and then see if it’s available. If it’s not, you have to reload the page and try again. This little tool searches on the fly and lets you know immediately what is available and what is not.
The quickest and simplest way to purchase a domain name is to use www.iwantmyname.com. They make it simple and uncomplicated to buy your domain names. Do not use GoDaddy. They will do their best to trick you into buying products and services you don’t need. If you already have domain names with them, you can easily switch them to www.iwantmyname.com.
Let’s Connect
Enter your email address to subscribe to my blog. You’ll receive a notification by email whenever I publish a new post.
SUBSCRIBE: “Sign up now for all of my latest developments by email and I’ll immediately send you free one of my bestselling Books:
SUBSCRIBE
