Blog Names & Website Names – Frequently Asked Questions

When you’re thinking about setting up a Website or Blog one of the first things that comes up is; what will be my Website Name or Blog Name? Thinking of a unique and creative blog name can be a challenge, and while you are brainstorming you will probably have lots of questions… 

We have brought all the questions we frequently hear together in this post, so we hope that by the end of this blog posts all your questions will be answered and you’ll have all the info you need to move forward with registering your Blog name or Website Name. 

And at the end of this post you’ll also find a link to our FREE domain name e-book with lots more inspiration & several brainstorming tools to help you find the perfect name for your website or blog, and it also includes our recommendation on how & where to register your domain name!

can i change my domain name ?

Yes, you can, but it requires some work by a web designer.

Also, you will likely already have marketing materials with your old domain name included in the contact details, and you might have become known by that name.

However, it is possible to re-direct the old domain name to the new domain name if you also keep the old domain name (so you keep paying the yearly domain name fees for the old name as well).

So there are solutions if you would like to change it later but it is always better to pick one that you’re really happy with from the start.

can i have several domain names ?

Yes, you can have two domain names and they can point to the same website.

This can be handy if you have registered both a .com and a local domain such as co.uk, or .ca, for example.

In our Free Domain Name E-book we also talk about the do’s and don’ts of having a domain with and without a hyphen. They can both point to the same website, so that your domain looks good (like in alive-essence.com) but by registering two domains you can ensure that people still end up on your site even if they don’t type the hyphen. Also see the next question.

You can also have a separate domain name for a specific service or product that you offer, and that domain can be pointed to a specific page on your main website. For example if you are a coach and you run a program that has a specific name you could consider registering the name of this program as a domain.

where best to check whether my domain name is available?

For more info on how & where to safely check if your domain name is available while avoiding it being snapped up by someone else, see our post on avoiding domain name front running.

i’m choosing a name, is it a good idea to have a hyphen (-) in it?

It depends. Usually, simpler is better, so without a hyphen normally is easier. But sometimes a hyphen in your domain name is useful. For example, if your name consists of multiple words that could also be different words if they’re put together.

Something like teacherstalk.com could be teachers-talk.com or teacher-stalk.com (if you Google ‘confusing domain names’ you can find some funny real world examples).

But keep in mind that some people don’t know what a hyphen is and may have trouble finding it on their keyboard (although you could of course explain to them it’s the minus sign). And others may simply forget it. So if you’re going for a name with a hyphen in it, it may be a good idea to also get the same name without a hyphen and point that to the same website.

is there an optimum length for a domain name?

You might not think so, but there has actually been some research into this. And they found out that 8 characters is the optimum length for a domain name (that’s the bit before the .com or .org or whatever your extension is).

Typically, a shorter name is better because it’s easier to remember and quicker to type in or write down… On the other hand it probably doesn’t matter that much. We have been using websiteswithaheart.com and we have no problems (18 characters) 🙂 

Maybe once you get over 20 characters it starts getting a little long…

do i need a .com name or a .org or something else?

It depends on you and your intended audience. Most people recognise .com as a standard ending for a domain name. So it’s almost always a good idea to register a .com name if it’s available, even if you’re also registering a name with a different extension in addition.

If you target an audience in a specific country, it would be a good idea to consider that country’s extension. So for example ‘co.uk’ for the United Kingdom.

should i register both .com and .org for my domain name?

If you have thought of a lovely domain name, for example verysimplesite, and you are planning to market your products on the Dutch, English and international market, it would be a good idea to register verysimplesite.com,  verysimplesite.co.uk and verysimplesite.nl.

Also if you have thought up a lovely “new word”, like the people at Pinterest did for example, and no-one is using any of the domains yet, it might be good to register .org and .net also (next to .com). For tools on how to think of new words, see our Free Domain Name E-book!

But it depends very much on your business type and market. If you’re not sure, feel free to get in touch; we’d be happy to think along with you.

should i register my domain name for 1 or 2 or more years?

Usually, domain names are registered for a year.

Some domain registrars offer the option to register domain names for several years. If they offer a discount to register for several years, and you are pretty sure about your project, it can make sense to go for a longer registration.

But otherwise, annual registration and payment is fine.

Just make sure you register with an email address that will not change and that you check regularly, so that it is impossible to miss the renewal emails each year.

the perfect domain name i had in mind is already registered, is there anything i can do?

Sometimes someone else has already built a website on the domain you had in mind and then the name is obviously not available. 

But domain name registration can be big business; there are people who make a living from registering all kinds of good domain names when they are just released, and try to sell them on for profit to an interested party. Also domain registrars offer certain very good domain names as premium domains, prices can be as high as several thousands.

Unless you have a lot of spare cash available, it’s often best to try to think of a different domain name for your project.

Have a look at the information & inspiration in our Free E-Book about Blog & Website Names, and we’re sure you’ll find an even better and more original name.  But also have a look at back ordering domains below.

a domain is available as back order, what does this mean?

Sometimes a domain name is available for “back order”.  This means that the expiry date for renewing the domain has passed, and that the previous owner perhaps no longer wants to keep it. If the renewal fee is not payed on time, there is a grace period where the “previous owner” can still re-register the domain name.

This grace period lasts a few weeks, after which the domain is “dropped” and becomes available for registration by anyone else.

It’s possible to “back order” these domain names that are in the grace period. Domain registrars constantly poll the domain after the expiry date through an automated process (several times per second), anticipating its release.

The instant the domain becomes available, they attempt to register it in your name.

There is an extra fee for back ordering, but you normally only pay this fee if the back order is successful.

should i register my domain name on my business or privately?

If you would like to claim the costs of your domain name as expense for your business, it’s best to register it immediately as your business.

It’s possible to transfer a domain name to someone else or to another business, but it requires a little bit of  administrative work.

where do you recommend i register my domain name?

We have many years of good experience with Namesilo, they are a reputable registrar that as far as we know doesn’t engage in the dubious practice of domain name front running.

Namesilo is one of the cheapest and most trustworthy registrars that we know of, and next to the most common extensions they also offer almost all of the interesting alternative domain extensions, such as .love and .blog.

We’ve been affiliate partners of Namesilo for a few years, so if you use the link here we will receive a small commission at no extra costs for you. In our Free Domain name E-book we also share a discount code for registering domains with Namesilo.

Summarizing 🙂

We hope these answers have helped you with all the questions you may have about Website names & Blog Names. If you have any questions about choosing or registering your blog or website name, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us!

And for more guidance, ideas, and inspiration about blog & website names, see our Free E-book below…