# Need help deciding on a domain name?



## rwilliams (Feb 3, 2015)

The available options that I've found are:

rachellewilliamsphoto.com
rachellewilliamsphotography.com

I wanted rachellewilliams.com but it's not available and I can't think of any others.


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## AKUK (Feb 3, 2015)

By sheer coincidence, I just purchased and have for sale those exact same domain names for the bargain price of $1000!  

Personally I would aim for something shorter that is easier for your clients to remember.


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## rwilliams (Feb 3, 2015)

Haha, I checked and rachellewilliams.com is literally for sale for $995, website not included.


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## AKUK (Feb 3, 2015)

Do you have a middle name?


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## rwilliams (Feb 3, 2015)

Yes. But I hate it.


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## snerd (Feb 3, 2015)

Almost everyone here says to not get a dot.photography domain................... so I did! Haven't decided what I'll do with it, but it's there and I'm happy. Don't know why, but I am!!   

HollandHouse.Photography

Pulled up good old Notepad and made a page. Good lord I had forgotten my html lol!!


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## AKUK (Feb 3, 2015)

Initial?


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## rwilliams (Feb 3, 2015)

Ehh, I guess because my business name is "Rachelle Williams Photography"  I'd really like to stick closely to that.

I asked a few friends and family and they like rachellewilliamsphotography.com  but I'm afraid it's too long.  Especially when it becomes an e-mail.  contact@rachellewilliamsphotography.com  just looks really long to me.


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## AKUK (Feb 3, 2015)

Just PM'd you.


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## gsgary (Feb 4, 2015)

What about "Cheapweds.com"


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## SquarePeg (Feb 4, 2015)

See, we do need a "unnecessarily snarky" button.


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## pixmedic (Feb 4, 2015)

gsgary said:


> What about "Cheapweds.com"


Are Wednesdays more expensive than other days of the week in Europe?


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## gsgary (Feb 4, 2015)

pixmedic said:


> gsgary said:
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> 
> > What about "Cheapweds.com"
> ...


Short for weddings


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## pixmedic (Feb 4, 2015)

gsgary said:


> pixmedic said:
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> > gsgary said:
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Weddings on Wednesdays? Wow


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## rwilliams (Feb 4, 2015)

Love it! You don't happen to offer mentoring, do you? You seem to really have a knack for helping out new photographers.



gsgary said:


> What about "Cheapweds.com"


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## tirediron (Feb 4, 2015)

If 8 out of 10 people can write your domain down on a scrap of paper after only hearing it once, it's probably fine.  Otherwise, it's too long, too difficult to spell, or too confusing (or a combination of all of those).


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## tirediron (Feb 4, 2015)

rwilliams said:


> Love it! You don't happen to offer mentoring, do you? You seem to really have a knack for helping out new photographers.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 I'm not sure if Gary does mentoring, but he can probably get you a good deal on a nice coffin!


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## gsgary (Feb 4, 2015)

tirediron said:


> rwilliams said:
> 
> 
> > Love it! You don't happen to offer mentoring, do you? You seem to really have a knack for helping out new photographers.
> ...


Mentoring only on appreciating real ale


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## runnah (Feb 4, 2015)

gsgary said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > rwilliams said:
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If you can see through it, it's crap.


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## snerd (Feb 4, 2015)

tirediron said:


> If 8 out of 10 people can write your domain down on a scrap of paper after only hearing it once, it's probably fine.  Otherwise, it's too long, too difficult to spell, or too confusing (or a combination of all of those).


Ah, maybe true in earlier times. Today no one "writes down" a website address. It's almost always "clicked" on, either from search engines or bookmarks/favorites. That's why it pays to have ranking and backlinks, you'll have to mount a good campaign for that. Nothing free out there anymore. 


Sent from my iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk Pro


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## tirediron (Feb 4, 2015)

Understood, but IMO, it's still a valid acid-test for a good domain name.

Friend of past customer speaking to past custome:  "Those are nice pictures, where did you get them?"

Past customer:  "Oh it was this really great local girl, her name is... Rachel?  Rachelle?  Rashell...  one those, I can't quite remember."

Friend goes home, types names into Google, looks at first half-dozen returns on the search page, doesn't see the right name, gives up.

I have only ever had ONE client who found me simply by typing in "Sooke photographer" into a search engine, it's always been because they heard or were referred my name and put that into a search engine.  Even though "John's Photography" is not very exciting, it's simple and easy to remember.  Just my $00.01 1/2 (our dollar keeps going down) worth.


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## gsgary (Feb 4, 2015)

runnah said:


> gsgary said:
> 
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> > tirediron said:
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Maybe beer in the US but not here in the UK


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## AKUK (Feb 4, 2015)

snerd said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > If 8 out of 10 people can write your domain down on a scrap of paper after only hearing it once, it's probably fine.  Otherwise, it's too long, too difficult to spell, or too confusing (or a combination of all of those).
> ...



I think this highlights the need for business cards and leaflets being given out to clients so that they can share with their friends if they're asked who did their photographs. Also, a lot of business can be generated simply by word of mouth. I only have to listen to conversations my female family members have when they get together on a Wednesday. "I like that! Where did you buy it from?" or "Who did your ______ ? I want to get something similar done too."

If something is easy to remember and rolls off the tongue well, people stand a better chance of remembering it and then finding you. Obviously Facebook and social media is a powerful marketing tool and helps you build up a network but, I'd never under estimate the power of simple word of mouth.

A prime example is my father who has been a kitchen and bathroom fitter for 40 years. He has no website. Not even a Facebook page. Doesn't pay for adverts or any form of marketing, other than the sign-writing on the side of his van and the business cards he's had knocking about in the glove box for years. The overwhelming majority of work has come directly from previous customers recommending him to friends and family members and writing down his phone number. If you had no pen or paper with you and someone gave you their telephone number, by the time you walked away, you've forgotten it. A short web address is much more likely to stick.


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## rwilliams (Feb 4, 2015)

I do have a pretty unique name and most people don't pronounce it right.. Oddly enough, there's another local photographer named Rachelle but her business goes by a different name.

I'm just not big on naming my business. I like going by my name. I don't want a random word that doesn't describe me and I don't want any of the cliche photo phrases as a business name either.

So far nobody has had problems finding me. I've gotten most of my business from local events I've done and word of mouth. Thankfully, I live in a pretty small area so word of mouth is pretty efficient. Once I get the website built, I'll re-do my business cards to include it.


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## snerd (Feb 4, 2015)

AKUK said:


> ......... I only have to listen to conversations my female family members have when they get together on a Wednesday. "I like that! Where did you buy it from?" or "Who did your ______ ? I want to get something similar done too.".........k.


I got one on Adderall and the other on Ritalin. I literally have to leave the house when they start an all-nighter.

But.................. not anymore!!!!


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## AKUK (Feb 4, 2015)

I must have a stronger constitution than you, or perhaps it's the penchant for tea and cakes that keeps me in the vicinity


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## Light Guru (Feb 4, 2015)

rwilliams said:


> The available options that I've found are:
> 
> rachellewilliamsphoto.com
> rachellewilliamsphotography.com
> ...



You could also get rachellewilliams.photo or rachellewilliams.photography the because hear options are new you might even be able to get rachelle.photo or rachelle.photography


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## Tabe (Feb 5, 2015)

rwilliams said:


> I do have a pretty unique name and most people don't pronounce it right.. Oddly enough, there's another local photographer named Rachelle but her business goes by a different name.
> 
> I'm just not big on naming my business. I like going by my name. I don't want a random word that doesn't describe me and I don't want any of the cliche photo phrases as a business name either.
> 
> So far nobody has had problems finding me. I've gotten most of my business from local events I've done and word of mouth. Thankfully, I live in a pretty small area so word of mouth is pretty efficient. Once I get the website built, I'll re-do my business cards to include it.


Actually, you don't know if people are having problems finding you or not.  If they don't find you, how would you know they were looking?  You wouldn't.

This decision is really a no-brainer: your business name.com, so rachellewilliamsphotography.com.  No initial, no .photography instead of .com, none of that stuff.  When people hear a business name and want to go to that company's site, they put in businessnameIjustheard.com or whatever.  They don't think "hey, I wonder if there's an initial in there?  Or if it's a .photography domain" and so on.  If you're DYING to go down that road, buy up a couple other domains and have them redirect to your real one.


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## rwilliams (Feb 5, 2015)

Good point.  I guess I meant that nobody has told me they had trouble finding me. But yes, I really don't know if there were others that just never found me.



Tabe said:


> rwilliams said:
> 
> 
> > I do have a pretty unique name and most people don't pronounce it right.. Oddly enough, there's another local photographer named Rachelle but her business goes by a different name.
> ...


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## Light Guru (Feb 5, 2015)

Tabe said:


> Actually, you don't know if people are having problems finding you or not.  If they don't find you, how would you know they were looking?  You wouldn't.
> 
> This decision is really a no-brainer: your business name.com, so rachellewilliamsphotography.com.  No initial, no .photography instead of .com, none of that stuff.  When people hear a business name and want to go to that company's site, they put in businessnameIjustheard.com or whatever.  They don't think "hey, I wonder if there's an initial in there?  Or if it's a .photography domain" and so on.  If you're DYING to go down that road, buy up a couple other domains and have them redirect to your real one.



I disagree I would rather have a shorter simpler domain name that used a .photo domain extension then a long one that has a .com

A sorter domain name is always better then a long one.


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## curtyoungblood (Feb 5, 2015)

I agree that you need a business name and a domain name that are easy to remember, but I don't think the length of the url is important. If you think your domain is too long and difficult to remember, then your business name is too. The really important thing is that if someone types your name (and any misspelling) and photographer, photography, pictures, weddings, or anything else you do into google, then your website will show up.

Also, the only place the length of things like an email address matters is on your business card, and most people are going to email you from a link on your website or from an address saved in an address book anyway.


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## Light Guru (Feb 5, 2015)

curtyoungblood said:


> I agree that you need a business name and a domain name that are easy to remember, but I don't think the length of the url is important. If you think your domain is too long and difficult to remember, then your business name is too. The really important thing is that if someone types your name (and any misspelling) and photographer, photography, pictures, weddings, or anything else you do into google, then your website will show up.
> 
> Also, the only place the length of things like an email address matters is on your business card, and most people are going to email you from a link on your website or from an address saved in an address book anyway.



The longer the domain is the easier it is to forget it and the more chances there are for people misspelling it etc. 

Because of how new the .photo domain is the OP can still get rachelle.photo it's available it's short supper easy to remember and it still indicates that you do photography.


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## Vtec44 (Feb 5, 2015)

I have a pretty long umm ... domain name.  People find me just fine.  I even type it in wrong once in a while 

.COM is still king.


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## Forkie (Feb 6, 2015)

Light Guru said:


> Tabe said:
> 
> 
> > Actually, you don't know if people are having problems finding you or not.  If they don't find you, how would you know they were looking?  You wouldn't.
> ...



I would avoid the .photography or .photo extensions.  Nobody cares about them and nobody searches for them.

Until those two become widely recognised and used, go with what everyone else uses:  .com

Don't make it difficult for people to find you.


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## curtyoungblood (Feb 6, 2015)

> The longer the domain is the easier it is to forget it and the more chances there are for people misspelling it etc.



Part of my point is that I don't think this is important because I don't think people type urls in to web browsers very often. I think the actual scenarios of people trying to get to her website are more word of mouth than that. For example, you ask someone who shot their pretty wedding photos. She says "Rachelle Williams", she was great. A few weeks later, the first person types Rachel or or Rashel or if you're lucky Rachelle (I saw that she mentioned most people pronounce it wrong, so I'm not sure which is the right pronunciation)Williams photograph in to google. Alternately, they see your advertising somewhere, and follow the same course of action. 

I also disagree with using a .photo or .photography domain name. It is going to be more confusing and more difficult to remember. The default domain is .com, so people don't really have to remember that. If you use .photography, then someone is still going to have to remember the words Rachelle Williams Photography, but they'll also have to remember that it isn't .com. It also looks less professional.


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## Light Guru (Feb 6, 2015)

Forkie said:


> I would avoid the .photography or .photo extensions. Nobody cares about them and nobody searches for them.



nobody searches for .com address they just search the name 



curtyoungblood said:


> It also looks less professional.



How do they look less professional?

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with a .photo domain name. The only reason more people don't use the new domain names is because most people still don't use them.  To think that people will be confused by them is kinda funny, there have been .org .gov.co.uk .net .au .co .info etc etc etc domain extensions for a long long time now and they have not caused massive amounts of confusion.


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## ThroughTheIris (Feb 6, 2015)

Key things to think of:

~Easy to remember
~Short and sweet....rwilliamsphotography, rwphotos with a unique extention (see below)...you can elaborate on photos...images, etc.
~Doesn't require you to spell it out for them...you have an easy last name..lucky you  but nothing nutso like clixnpixbyrach....(that was a joke)
~Explore ALLLL the new extentions.... theres the obvious .com or .biz buuuut also the lovely, .camera , .gallery , .photo , .photography , .photos , .pics , .pictures and my personal fav.....     .ninja


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