We started off by setting up a blog. The first step was to choose a domain name for the blog. You may be tempted to choose a name that is related to a subject you want your business to be about.

However, we want to keep the blog separate from any business websites that we may set up. That allows us to be more flexible. We can set up multiple business websites covering a variety of subjects without having to do a new blog each time.

The blog is where we bring lots of useful information to a growing audience, and grow a reputation as source of good information and advice.

Best policy then is to use your own name for the blog!

Ideally the first choice would be   YourfirstnameYourlastname.com

Someone beat me to that, so I had to add a dash and go for Dave-Christie.com

Check what domain names are available based on your name at  GoDaddy.com

If you can’t get YourfirstnameYourlastname.com   or  Yourfirstname-Yourlastname.com  then try   YourfirstnameYourlastnameBlog.com

You almost always want to go for  a .com  domain,    even if you are in a country that has it’s own country code ( .co.uk )

When you have found a domain name that you like, register it before someone else does!

You can use any company that will register domain names, like  GoDaddy.com  or  1and1.com. It doesn’t have to be your web hosting company. You can simply change the settings on your domain name to point at the hosting company’s server.

This has an advantage if you are going to register alot of domain names, and possibly use more than one hosting company.

If you are just starting out, and setting up just one or two sites, it will be easier for you to register your domain with the same company that will host your website.

Dave Christie