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Your Domain Doesn’t Matter [Or Does it?]

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Contrary to popular notions, your domain doesn’t really effect the success or effectiveness of your blog. With the exception of really, super-terrible domains, a blog will be successful or a failure based on many other factors that are completely separate from your domain. Here are 4 reasons your domain doesn’t matter.

Your Domain Doesn’t Matter

1. Noise. There are gazillions of domains out there begging, praying, and paying for your visitor’s attention and memory. With all those domains adding to the noise, it’s tough (if not impossible) to find one that’s going to to truly set you apart. Even the best domains are remembered for a fleeting moment.
2. Value. Your domain doesn’t matter because it’s the value of your blog’s content that people care about. Whether you’re looking to increase hits, time on site, or subscribers, your domain has little effect on those results. Instead of worrying about finding the perfect domain, spend more time one your posts, making them irresistibly valuable.
3. Competition. Truthfully, if you find that one domain that’s the diamond in the rough, the chance that people will care is slim. There are just too many killer domains out there that will inevitably make your domain look silly or contrived.
4. Availability. Again, finding that diamond in the rough in’t easy. I used to spend hours on InstantDomainSearch.com typing in possible domains that I thought would single-handedly take my blog or potential website to the top. I never found it (Except this one time when I found TheAuditionTape.com. I was going to use it to bring American Idol to the web in a big way. Two weeks later, Yahoo! launched the same idea and it flopped.)

At this point, if you believe me, you might be asking, “Does a clever domain do me any good?” Yes. A domain can do lots of good for your blog. Here are 4 ways your domain can help your blog.

Your Domain Matters

1. Brandability. This goes along with helping yor blog become memorable. Note, your domain will not provide brandability for your blog. It’s only one small tool to get you there. However, a bad domain will be a hindrance to that goal instead of a help.
2. Cohesion. A solid domain can add overall consistency to your blog. If you write about fireworks and your domain is LiveInJacksonville.com, then you’re creating a natural disconnect between your domain and your blog’s topic.
3. First Impressions. When I hit Caroline Middlebrook’s blog, I was immediately turned off. Her domain, Caroline-Middlebrook.com, isn’t good and caused me to enter the blog with caution as to the quality of the content I would find there. However, despite the poor domain, other factors like content and design quickly dissuaded my doubts. However, if she wasn’t an outstanding writer with a unique design and a recommendation from a blogger I respect, I wouldn’t have spent more than a few seconds on her blog.
4. Marketability. This one’s simple. It’s easier to market your blog if it’s hosted at ReadScott.com than it is if it’s hosted at ScottMagdaleinTheBlogger.com.

This post doesn’t address you bloggers out there that are using a free Wordpress or Blogger [and many on Typepad] account. You’re in a tough spot. To utilize a better domain, you’re going to be forced to pay a little money.

Moving Up in the World

1. Purchase domain forwarding for about $15 a year through Wordpress. I’m not sure if there’s a similar option for Blogger accounts.
2. Purchase shared hosting through your domain registrar and install Wordpress on your server. There’s a bit of a learning curve that might take you some time to get it. This will cost between $5 and $20 per month. Don’t pay more than $10, though. Anything more is a rip-off.
3. Purchase shared hosting through your domain registrar and hire someone to install Wordpress on your server. The hosting fees will be the same, but you’ll have the added cost [$100 if you hire my company] for the install. The good part [if you hire my company] is that you’ll know that it’s done right, you’ll get resource lists to find awesome themes and useful plugins, and it takes no extra time on your part.

Discussion

In your opinion, how big of a role does your domain play in the success of your blog? What benefits have you seen from a good domain? What hindrances have you seen from a bad domain? Do you know of any ways to utilize a better domain for someone who’s using a free blogging account?

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