I’m a Life Coach, so I want you to know I’ve been where you are. I know that you are creative, resourceful and whole, however, I also know that I’m very lucky in that techy stuff doesn’t scare me. If something goes wrong, then I don’t blame me, a think about the different things that could have caused it and use a process of trial and error until it’s fixed.
So, what I’m going to do with this series of blog posts is start off by walking you through the basics of setting up your own website from scratch.
I’m also going to break the cardinal coaching rule, and offer some advice. You don’t have to do this alone, but you also don’t have to learn the hard way. I’m going to share some of what I’ve learned so that you can take some shortcuts. Before you can build your website, you need to choose a name for it. That is what today’s post will cover.
What is a domain name?
Your domain name is simply the address that someone types in to find your website for example, the domain name for this website is coachkarenbrown.com. From the domain name, you can add web pages and blog posts to make a website. In the background, there is a computer where all the website information is stored and another computer that holds the
It’s like your home. Your home has:
- an address
- a postal code to be able to locate it physically
- is also registered with the land registry body of your country.
When you bought the address, you actually bought the land and everything sitting on it.
When you buy a domain name, it’s a bit like buying a caravan. You can live there, and it can have rooms like a house, however, it can live in any number of different places/computers. When you buy hosting, you’re essentially buying the pitch where your caravan can settle. If you’re not happy with the service, you can move.
Why choosing a domain name is important?
One of the first mistakes I made was in choosing my domain name. My business has developed from when I started out, just writing ebooks. Now I’m a life coach who writes, develops training courses etc. My first domain name wouldn’t even cover the basics.
How to choose your domain name?
Choosing a domain name is important because it is the address of your website. You want people to be able to find it easily. Here are 5 questions to ask yourself before you choose yours:
What does your business do?
There are so many different types of coaching: Life, Business, Career, Lifestyle etc. Coaches can also provide a range of services and packages so be clear from the very start, what your goals are for your business. If you haven’t done so already, create a business plan, setting out
What is your business name?
Your choice of business name will influence:
- whether you are building a brand around the business
- whether you are building a brand around you
If your coaching business is your name, then first check to see if your name alone is available as a domain name. For example, karenbrown.com is already taken and in use, however, coachkarenbrown wasn’t.
Beware: read your domain name before you buy it. Here are some example cited by wiki where the name had to be changed:
- Who Represents – whorepresents.com
- Therapists finders – therapistsfinder.com
- Experts exchange – expertsexchange.com
Where will your business be based?
If you’re providing 1:1 coaching in a small geographical area, then when you choose your domain name, then you can use that country’s domain extension (.com, .ie, .co.uk, .nl, .au etc), however, if you plan on offering any online packages or courses at all, then choose a .com web address. This is still a generic, global extension.
Note: if you’re a coach based in ireland and want a .ie domain name, then you are limited in who can actually provide these. There are also 11 different categories in which you can register a .ie domain name. Check out this link for more information.
How can I find out if my domain name is available?
Many companies, such as godaddy.com, namecheap.com have a search option. Just type in the name that you’re going to use and click search. You will be told immediately if it is available.
What if my domain name isn’t available?
If someone has bought the domain name you want and are using it, then you’ll simply have to come up with an alternative. Think about what you do and the transformation that you want to bring to your clients, and then consider using keywords in your domain name.
However, sometimes, you’ll find that someone has bought the name that you want, but aren’t using it. There is a facility to back-order a domain name, and buy it off the person. However, they won’t do this out of the goodness of their heart, so it will cost. I waited about a year for the jobmagnets.com website domain name to come available, but was able to buy it at cost. Now I own it completely. However, karenbrown.com is owned by the travel writer, so is unlikely to ever come up!
Can I buy more than one domain name?
Yes. You can buy as many as you want. For example, you may want to buy all the different domain name extensions for your site name. There is then a facility to point them all to the one website, so that yourname.ie and yourname.co.uk automatically forwards your traffic to yourname.com.
Alternatively, you may develop a package and want to protect it. In this instance, you can buy a separate domain name for this branch of your business, set up the website and then include a link to it on your main website. Or just own the domain name, and keep it so that no-one else can use it. I’ve bought the domain name to my books before and then forwarded them to the Amazon page. There are so many options that you can investigate. You have a choice.
Useful links:
- 12 Rules for choosing the right domain name
- wiki – everything you want to know about domain names, but very technical!
These are the questions that will enable you to choose the right domain name for you.
I hoped this helped, but if you have any further questions, post a comment below.
Take care for now.
Karen x