How Important Is Owning Your Personal Name As A Domain Name?
More and more I’m seeing people buy up their name as an URL (ie. JohnSmith.com, MarthaBartha.net, etc.). Is this just for the sake of vanity or is there a real purpose to it?
By way of full disclosure, I have an URL that represents my name. I went for AllenTaylor.com, but it was already taken. Therefore, I settled for the more specific AllenLeeTaylor.com, using my middle name. I’ve seen some people take their name with a .me extension.
I do think there is a good reason for doing this. For me, it’s a matter of reputation management, but that’s not all. I also believe it’s a good branding tool, particularly for creative people.
In terms of reputation management, you’ll have a better chance at ranking for your name as a keyword if you use your name as a domain name. Google now will only rank a couple of pages per domain for any keyword search term. If the search term is your name then what will searchers find? Your company site should be at the top of the list and you’ll likely have a few social networks on the list as well. A personal domain name should be on that list too.
If you have three social networks, your company website, a blog and your own personal domain name then that’s a potential 12 top spots on Google. Since there are only 10 page 1 listings this increases your chances of being at the top pretty considerably. That’s effective reputation management.
But how about personal branding? I’m a writer. I write SEO content, ghostwrite blogs and write fiction and poetry. I have also worked as a journalist. A personal domain name with a CV and portfolio is a good marketing tool. While I still have to develop my domain name, I am looking forward to the day that it is actually drawing in some new business and fans. That day should not be far off.
On personal domain names, you can count me in favor. I’m sold.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Why should I trademark my domains? What are risks if I DO NOT trademark my domain names? (startups.com)
- Can someone trademark my domain name simply as a means of extorting it away from me? (startups.com)
- WHOIS Domain Name Search | Webmaster Blog (domainmacher.com)
- How to Choose a SEO friendly Domain Name? – BlogSouls (domainmacher.com)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_a.png?x-id=8845ef88-171b-4832-bc2c-1cc9bfb62fc5)
Professional Management for Business Blogs
Need Articles or Content written for you?
About the Author: Allen Taylor built his first website in 1997. He has been actively involved in making money online since 2001. After spending a year in Iraq, he became a full-time Internet marketer in 2006. Today he 
Well I would have to say you are right about every thing you have to say in this post. I bought my domain name and plan on keeping it for the same reasons that you have stated above and I think this was a very well thought out post.
Tampa Marketing´s last blog ..Global SEO vs Local SEO – Which Does Your Business Website – Blog Need