What's in a Name? Choosing a Writer's Web Site Name
Author: L. C. Peterson

Writers have realized web sites are useful to their careers. One's domain name is your online brand. A writer's first step in protecting their brand is to own yourname.com. Just as companies need to own the domain with their company name, so should a writer own their own. The fact is, personal names are not like trademarks. It is quite possible there is another person with the same name as yours. What if someone else owns it? If they aren't using it, consider offering to buy it. They may be willing to sell. However, it's more likely they won't be. This leaves other choices. Take a look at other authors' sites. What have others done? Make up something instead? Remember these rules. Don't use hard to spell words. Don't use a long name. Use hyphens with care.

If your name is known as john david doe; the following options are available; johndoe.com johnddoe.com jddoe.com john-doe.com or johndoe.net, johndoeauthor.com johnddoe.net; and so forth. Other possibilities are nameoffirstbook.com, etc. If you use a pen name consider yourpenname.com. Also keep in mind new suffixes are now available; info, name, store, biz, usa and others. Prices vary. If you don't use .com or .net, online branding will take longer. Again looking at what others have done may help think your choices through. Ask local authors you know what they think. How many domain names to own is up to you. Are there any names you feel the need to protect? Register them.

Made your mind up? Where can you get a domain name? Domains are rented by the year. Renewal is required or someone else may rent it. Only certain companies are authorize to rent domain names. Domain have prefixes and suffixes. So www.publishingebooks.com can be understood as follows; www (World Wide Web), prefix publishingebooks, and suffix com.

Be careful when choosing because cheap prices don't always mean quality service. Be sure to read all user agreements and privacy policies to understand the company's way of registering the name and handling any arbitration that may occur. Warning: names are actually rented not owned. The term ownership is used. Be sure to renew on time so as not to lose your web site name. Here are a company I have used, Third Sphere and GoDaddy. Others exist.

Choose your domain name wisely. It will be used on TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines, as well as business cards, etc.. Careful thought ahead of time can save unnecessary trouble and expense later.

Author info: L. C. Peterson is a freelance writer and web site consultant. More publishing tips can be found at http://www.publishingebooks.com.