Whether domainer, business CEO, or wannabe blogger, owning your own domain name is hugely important for a number of reasons. The fact is, there is no better brand than “brand you,” unless of course you have a bad reputation you want to hide. Owning your own domain name allows you to leverage your business and personal success on many levels. Here are 5 key reasons you should be making steps to acquiring your own personal doman name.
1. Credibility
For a domainer like myself, or anyone working in the online space, having a personalised domain name that reflects the “real you” gives you instant credibility. For proof just look around the web. The large majority of respected figures have own their own domain name; some choosing to run their business out of it and others choosing to use the space as a blog to connect on a personal level with other domainers: see Rick Schwarz, Morgan Linton, Eric Borgos, etc., for prime examples. The same goes for journalists, sports personalities, and celebrities, too. Owing your own domain name is the ultimate business card, especially for a domainer. I mean what BMW salesman doesn’t drive a BMW? What domainer doesn’t own his/her personal domain name?
2. Type In Search – Visibility
Another aspect of credibility is visibility. If you are a notable person, customers, fans, and other interested persons expect to be able to find you thru type-in search. If you own your personal domain name you will be easy to find through a simple Google search. In fact your name will pop up on top if you have your own domain. The same can be said for a Facebook page, a Twitter profile, a Pinterest account, and the multitude of other social media platforms out there. Like a domain name, owing personalized usernames makes you look like top-dog.
3. Transparency
At one time it was cool to come up with ambiguous names for blogs, stuff like thetruthhurts, or mybigassblog (no reference to real blogs intended). But with the evolvement of the web came a need and subsequent gravitation toward greater transparency. People tend to trust stuff that does what it says on the tin. My personal blog that I keep for family and friends is Gary.com; where anyone doing business with me can fly thru and see that I am a real person with a real family life going on. I am not hiding anything.
Hiding behind a pseudonym and concealing your identity makes it difficult for people to connect with you. You might think it makes you a bit mysterious, creating intrigue, but the internet is far more open now. It is controlled by the user. And the user wants to know who you are and what you’re really about before committing to buying from you, reading your posts, or following you on Twitter, etc.
4. Trust & Security
In an online world plagued by fraud and the constant evolvement of scams, trust is everything. If a buyer/end user has any reason not to trust you, they won’t. Being able to leverage your business activity off of a personal online space branded as the “real you” instills trust in those doing business with you, be it buying something from you, taking your advice, buying into your opinion, or buying services based on your recommendation.
5. Multiple Business Leverage
If you have more than one business interest, a personal website is a great way to bring all these interests together under one roof and reveal the man/woman behind the scenes. You can then drive people to use your products and services by using that personal space to provide valuable information, special offers, and industry insight. For example, let’s say you sell domains, build websites, and fancy yourself as an industry writer. What better way to bring all that under one roof than to register your personal domain name.
As you can see, there are many benefits to owning your personal domain name. However, if your name is popular it may prove difficult to acquire. You’ll be surprised, though. Many people register their own name for fun and never do anything with the domain, or start developing but never finish. So even if your personal domain isn’t registrable at source, contact the web owner and make an offer. It can’t hurt.
