Editor Unleashed wasn’t the first name I conceived for this site. I spent many weeks obsessing over a name for my domain, and I own several hundred dollars worth of domain names to prove it.
I originally thought this site would be called thewritersboutique. I own the .com, the .net and the .org of that domain and even opened a business checking account using The Writer’s Boutique name.
Then my husband suggested I also buy the domain without “the” and I found out the hard way that the clever name you chose for your website probably isn’t nearly as original as you thought. Some dude owned writersboutique.com and had the site parked and littered with cheesy advertising.
I had a Go Daddy rep contact the dude to ask if he’d be willing to sell the domain. And in fact, he was—for $5,000.
This is the way choosing a domain name goes for many people. You brainstorm and come up with a handful of good possibilities. Then you run a domain search on whois only to find your clever name is taken or some version of it is already owned.
Your Name—Your Brand
I get a little queasy using the term brand-building, because the term screams empty corporate-speak. But I do think it’s important for writers to think of themselves of brands. What image do you want to convey? Having some notion of your brand as a writer will inform you when you’re naming your site.
A few more tips for naming your domain:
• Brainstorm on paper. Get out a legal pad and start writing down words that resonate what you want your site to be. When you run out of words, open up a thesaurus and find synonyms of those words and write those down too. When you have a whole page of words, start drawing lines to words that go nicely together. Circle the pairings that have a nice ring to the ear. That’s your short list.
• Register the domain for your name if you can get it. You may not ultimately use your name, but at least you have the option to redirect traffic since it is common for people to search for writers by name.
• Envision a future for your site. If you’re operating a site in your name, it’s more likely that the site won’t survive beyond you. Is that what you want? Your interests may change. Your site may grow too big for you to manage. You may want to sell it some day or pass it on to a worthy successor. I know it’s weird to think about these issues when you’re first starting a site, but it’s worth thinking through early on.
• Make sure you buy the .com, .org and .net if you can get them. If you can’t, strongly reconsider whether you want to compete with whoever already owns those domains.
And regarding my own website, you know what? After 7 months, Editor Unleashed has kind of grown on me. I’m kind of glad that dude wouldn’t sell me writersboutique.com.
I’m starting a thread on the forum (password-protected) for anyone who wants to kick around blog names if you’d like to join in.
-Maria Schneider
Flickr photo apelad
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Good advice! It took me a bit to choose my domain name, half deserted streets, but I settled on this one because it highlighted two things i liked: 1) it’s a line from my favorite poem (“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”), giving it a nice literary allusion, 2) it sounded good for a writing/reviewing/personal blog (in my opinion). And, i don’t know, in the year and a half that i’ve had it…it’s grown on me!
And about yours, I like Editor Unleashed!
It’s only been seven months? It sure seems like we’ve been doing this thing of ours forever.
Long may you blog!
AnthonyBuccino.com
Oh Anthony, I think you used to visit me at my WD blog, “The Writer’s Perspective” right? Long may you blog too. :)
Yes. I’ve been with you since before the beginning.
Now, if I only spent all that time writing a novel … I could sell it and retire rich like all writers do. LOL
Thank you so much for these tips.
E.U. kicks butt as a name and an abbreviation.
–John
I actually like Editor Unleashed better! Totally you.
Editor Unleashed caught my attention immediately. Anyone who is an editor will visit this site just from hearing the name. Writers Boutique is good but it lacks that little extra punch so badly needed these days.
You summed up in one post what I took three to do on my blog. Naming fascinates me. If you have a few minutes here and there I recommend you check out Chris Johnson’s blog: http://www.thenameinspector.com/.
why don’t you mention the .ME as it’s the new blogging domain name?
I love the name of your blog, but more importantly, your content is fabulous. Yours is the only blog I follow regularly. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Maria, some very helpful blogging posts recently (you’ve motivated me into re-thinking my outlook towards blogging — though it will probably take about 5 yrs before I actually get around to doing any)…
I came to Editor Unleashed via Writers Digest and was following the link as I knew your blog already. The name didn’t matter to me, and doesn’t usually effect my impression of a blog. Well, maybe, a little, on first impression, but even then, I normally go more for overall layout and content, and — also importantly — whether the blogger appeals to me. I never remembered the name ‘The Writer’s Perspective’ to be honest, I searched for Writers Digest Blogs + Maria for a while before I bookmarked it. It didn’t stand out to me more than the other WD Blogs because of the name, it was the content that appealed to me, that sunk into the murky depths of my mind and stuck there, as I found Maria’s posts more interesting (and more useful to me as a writer) than the other blogs. Most people don’t write for WD Blogs, so a name is most important for getting found again, I’d say.
Personally, the things that best enable me to find a blog again are a unique word (a keyword) in the title, and the strong presence of a person’s first name (and personality) around the blog. Karen’s Snippets of Life is a good one. I never remember the URL, but just search Karen + Snippets. Zen + Leo is another good example. What is his other site? The writing one? I don’t know, hang on, it’s actually Write to Done, which isn’t as easy to find. Neither Write + Leo or Done + Leo bring the blog up on google page one. That’s as Write and Done are pretty common words. If I didn’t know his other site, I’d be stuck to find it again…
That’s what is best for me. So long as the content is interesting, I will return (but I need to be able to find it again as — due to laziness — I don’t normally bookmark anything until I’m sure I’ll keep coming back :)… I’m stupid (and usually tired and grouchy and the last thing I need is to remember another blog — I think we’re all becoming agents these days): I need something sharp to cut into my subconscious and set achor, along with a name, a presence, a soul. Dan from The Writing Badger. Happy Harriet from Happy Writing Hour etc. … Fishy Words with Cod Montgomery.
Anyway, that’s my take on it. I think for lazy people, like me, you need to get them to search for your blog again, and for that naming is essential — even if it’s just because writetillyourfingersturnintobloodypickles by Fred will be easier to find on google (Fred + Pickles or Bloody Finger Pickles + Fred) than a carefully selected title, which is full of commonly used words.
Well, you’ve definitely built a brand, Maria, because I can’t think of you as being anyone else but the “editor unleashed.” :)
Like you, I struggled. I chose my name for my Blogger account because I was so unsure who I wanted to be. I knew who I was, so that seemed to work. It has so far. As someone who’s gone through several email changes, it makes sense to me to stick with my name since that’s not changing (it’s not – I married but kept the maiden name!).