I’m going to make a big assumption here (which is no doubt foolish) and start with the idea that most creative professionals are a bit daunted by the notion of dealing with the technical aspects of owning your domain name. You do know what a domain name is, right?
Okay, let’s start with that. A domain name is that part of your website that comes after the “www” part. Simple, right?
In my case, the domain name for my author website is debbimack.com. Just [myname][dot]com. This is the way most authors do it, anyway.
Now, here’s why it’s important to own your domain name.
1. When you own a domain name, you have complete control over the look and content of your website. You get a wider choice of themes to choose from. It also puts you in the best position to make changes, as needed.
2. Owning your own domain makes you the one person who can use it. It basically gives you and you alone the ability to market yourself online with that particular identity. Your domain name is uniquely your own.
3. The domain name you choose is or should be part of a bigger branding and platform building strategy.
Uh oh! I just said the B-word and the P-word! Branding and platform!
These are separate topics that I’ll blog about later. Let’s get back to domain names.
I used to have five blogs. They were all either WordPress.com or Blogger blogs. And my web mistress at the time made them all part of my website. Looking back on it now, I realize that this wasn’t the best way to organize my content.
Having a WordPress.com blog is fine, if you’re willing to deal with the limitations that come with the territory. However, if you want complete control over your content and its look, you really need to own your domain.
I purchase my domain names through NameCheap.com. (That is an affiliate link.) In fact, right now you can buy a domain name from them for less than a dollar. Just use the code COM88 at checkout.
My experience with using NameCheap has been nothing but awesome. Really!
If you have an interest in learning more about how to set up a simple website and/or blog with your own domain name, please click here. If there’s enough interest, I’ll put together a free mini-course!
