On the Importance of Making the Website Name and Domain Match

I already covered this topic on the blog some time ago, but I felt that a video post would deliver the message more efficiently. Check it out.

If you can’t see the video player somehow, here is the youtube link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=4bXWc-FKs9g

Daniel Scocco on May 26, 2008 Subscribe to our RSS Feed

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16 Responses to “On the Importance of Making the Website Name and Domain Match”

PChere on May 26th, 2008 3:29 pm

Very nice take on the issue. A very essential issue, yet most fail to follow it.
Sebastian on May 26th, 2008 3:48 pm

Thanks for that great Videopost. I must say, that this movie made me identify exactly that problem on some of my sites. The zenhabits example is very impressive. I will correct this in the next days.

Your video post are great!
Alex D on May 26th, 2008 4:05 pm

This is great, and it’s very good because you came with some concrete examples!
Farfield on May 26th, 2008 4:22 pm

You’re right about Zenhabits. I typed zenhabits.com quite a few times before I remembered that it should be .net
I’m happy I made a good decision about my domain name and logo. I designed my new logo just last week, and I hope it give a good impression and make people remember my site!
sonia on May 26th, 2008 5:43 pm

hmm.. yeah, good point. But what if you decide to change your site’s title later on, wouldn’t changing the domain name also mean loosing a lot of consistent readers?
Dan Cole on May 26th, 2008 6:05 pm

They really don’t need to add .net to their website name, I think more people tend to type the name into a search engine rather that directly into the address bar. Most modern browsers have a search box right in the top right corner of the browser. I see your point though.

I think web developers need to take steps to get rid of the two big misconceptions with the web. The need for www and the idea that .com is the only ending you put on a domain. I once helped a guy in a computer lab that couldn’t reach a website because he put in the right address, but added .com to the end, so it read …file.html.com
hobbies on May 26th, 2008 6:47 pm

would have loved to check out this youtube video but its not supported by the iPhone. Any idea how many people are using
obile devices to view your blog?
Daniel Scocco on May 26th, 2008 6:48 pm

@Dan Cole, where is your assumption coming from?

“I think more people tend to type the name into a search engine rather that directly into the address bar”

Not really sure. Also, I got facts to back up my point. That is, zenhabits.com has no website there, and yet it has an Alexa of 370,000.

Lifehack.com has no website also, and an Alexa of 800,000.

In order to have such an Alexa you must have lots of people visiting those sites.
adk media on May 26th, 2008 8:02 pm

me too i have much clients who are using the google search box instead of the IE address box, they say all sites are by their names… also much people i know are always making sites .com it makes us buy (expensively) a .com domain while the website is hosted on a .ma (www.eljadida.ma)
Kathy on May 26th, 2008 9:20 pm

I would have loved to have gotten my first domain name choice (thejunkdrawer.com), but I didn’t want to spend the money to buy it. So I went with junkdrawerblog.com. If someone doesn’t have me bookmarked or isn’t subscribed through a reader, they can always find me by googling “junk drawer.” Just recently, I became the first on the results page. So I’m happy, even though it would have been nice to have my domain name of choice.
Dr. Mac on May 27th, 2008 1:49 am

Thanks, Daniel!

I found this post through a tweet by Darren Rowse. Glad I clicked through!

Great video content and presentation. This is a must watch for anyone contemplating on starting their own blog or website.

I’ve subscribed to your feed and look forward to more great tips!
suresh on May 27th, 2008 10:32 am

Thank you for the link and it is certainly a good post.
Knowing that where the problem with web design makes the job of correcting it easy.
Danny Foo on May 28th, 2008 12:24 am

Practical tips.

If you had the spending power to purchase the domain name you wanted, why not. However, if your blog startup cost is going to cost you say USD5,000++ for only the domain and not even including the design and development cost yet, you better have a damn good blogging strategy.

I know I won’t bother spending too much on the domain name. Besides, if the person really wanted to find your blog after finding out they don’t remember the domain name, Google is now a household name for search.

Plus, there are different ways of branding your blog without the .COM prefix. I’ve seen blogs who spell out their name ending with a prefix to subconsciously remind readers their address. So it could be John Doe.net as part of the logo.

Nonetheless, great post.

@hobbies:
You can use the iPhone to access the video. Probably just need to search for it using the YouTube app.
FREE One-Way Back-Links on May 28th, 2008 2:27 pm

Thanks for the great tips.

It’s certainly a good idea to keep your name and your url as close as possible. Keep things simple.
DNfer on September 29th, 2008 8:09 am

i do agree with you.. branding should be done along with the extension, specially if it is not a .com
hope you like my logo which the .com is also part of my logo