A domain name question

Please forgive me for asking something that may be obvious to everyone else. If you are building a site that you hope to attract regular readers e.g. a blog or hobby site, does the domain name and extension matter that much? I presume most readers would bookmark it and you could still use search engines in the usual way.

In my personal point of view, the name is one of the most important parts on your website. If it's a name everyone can remember they even don't need to bookmark to have it fresh in their heads. The second part is to have interesting themes for your readers so they can continue coming to your site. Hope this help you!

Thanks for your advice. I guess my question was hypothetical really, but in the back of my mind I was thinking about my blog. I moved it several months ago because I wanted more scope to develop it my way. My original blog address wasn't memorable, but I was amazed to find I attracted and kept readers. The new address was equally uninspiring, but I have only lost one regular reader in the move and I have gained new ones. They must bookmark it because it is not memorable. A number of visitors come in through search results and every so often one of them becomes a regular. Sorry, I'm rambling. What I am trying to say is in that sort of small scale fairly personal set up how would you choose a suitable and relevant name and would the right name help to attract new readers?

I think the name of your domain is very important and probably worth all the time you spend considering it.

I think a clear, memorable and self-explanatory name would be a good choice.

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While the name is important if you are trying to resale your domain. But if what you are trying is to develop it, specially with a blog, the name can be long and an expression of what you are about and what you want to communicate. Your readers will come back! And they would give it to other people if your content is worth. Just my opinion.

I think it is easier to build traffic using a blog, in general. Memorable content will build readership easier than relying on the domain name alone. You can pad relevance easier with your content so that your domain name, or subdomain if you are using a free host, can be secondary to the title and description of your blog.

The fact that your blog has devoted readers without a memorable domain name, shows that it has good content. Definetly with the right name you could have a bigger following. Coming up with the right name requires a bit of creativity. Some people are just good at that. What's your blog about? Maybe we could help.

You might try using just the first letters of the name of your blog or website, as the domain name, if it is available. If you wish to sell the domain later, the compatibility may be greater for a new owner.

I think the name is really important as well. If it is a blog site about you or a certain topic, I would try to include that in the domain name. A moniker should be memorable.

Thank you everyone, you have given me lots to think about. My blog is mostly about my husband and his obsession with trains and everything to do with the railways. It started as a joke because a few of our friends said that my husband is so 'unique' that someone should write a book about him. He tends to talk about the most random things and people find him amusing. As it has developed I have found my voice and other family members get a mention on the blog from time to time.