web domains--short and sweet, or full name?

MikeSeb

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If this is the wrong spot for this question I'm sure the moderator will put it where it goes.

For those of you who have websites and are actually hoping for them to be found , what are your opinions re domain names?

I am revamping my website (not yet live) and trying to decide which of three domain names to use. Choices are:

mikesebastianphoto.com: currently the one I use
mikesebphoto.com: less typing, easier to spell, no full name in domain name
michaelsebastian.com: my whole, "proper" name, more typing, harder to spell (for some!)

The plan is to choose one and then point the other two towards the primary choice. I'm wondering if the -photo suffix is redundant; however, my full name is a lot to type.

Currently, googling variations of my name turns me up pretty decently near the top of the page; the "mike sebastian" variant seems to do the best--it's been in the longest use. Using either first-name variant + last name + "louisville" or "photographer" finds me high on the page.

What do you all think? Does it really matter? Am I obsessing overmuch about this? (probably).

And in case anyone is wondering...easily 90+% of the work on the site is film-based.

Thanks gang!
 

luckycharms

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It seems to me like your name would be the easiest to remember- something like "mikeseb" seems more easily forgotten or confused unless it's something you go by professionally. I am a big fan of full names, since it is memorable and clearly tied to you (as opposed so something like "dark syde imagez," which doesn't exactly scream professional either but could definitely be a bad Flickr watermark). If you work as "Michael Sebastian," I would stick as closely to that as possible.

This is my gut instinct though- I am sure there are others on here with more years of practical experience than I've been living.
 

JBrunner

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Here's the dealio from my ubermarketing buddy. 99% of the traffic will come to your website through links. From a marketing perspective it is far more important that they remember your name. Use your name.
 

wogster

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I sent you a PM on this.
 

gerryyaum

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Mike I would go with your real full name..

michaelsebastian.com

thats what I did..(Sort of!) Keep it simple and direct so that people that are not sure of the address can even guess it and find you if they know your name. Once you become the MAIN Mike Sebastion because of the power of your work, you will jump right to the top of the google list!


I agree with J about the most hits comming from links thing. Recently I got a bunch of hits from Argentina and tried to figure out why! Then I did some research on my pags stats software and found out that some guy had put a link to my page and one of my photos on his blog (probably in Argentina). The other place I get lots of hits from is a Russian blog that posted a link to my page, check out the links if your interested. Once you post your stuff online you will find it sort of starts a life of its own independent of you.

http://buy-books.ru/blog/gerry_yaum-thai_life.html

Dead Link Removed

www.gerryyaum.com
 
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MikeSeb

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Gerry, appreciate your thoughts--and the rest of you too.

Your post illustrates my "dilemma" (all life's conundrums should be so minor!): you misspelled my name ("...Once you become the MAIN Mike Sebastion...")!

All those vowels just trip folks up. Or it's Sabastion. Or Sebastien. Sigh.

michaelsebastian.com it will be. I'll post a link once I'm live--hopefully by week's end. In the meantime, my signature links are defunct.

I have a lot to learn about SEO and other exotic fields of knowledge.
 

JBrunner

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I just googled Michael Sebastion. First thing up? "Did you mean Michael Sebastian?"

No worries.
 
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MikeSeb

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@ian: scoundrel! "Millons for defense, not a penny for tribute!..."

@jbrunner: thank god google is smarter than I am, and far less neurotic. I really need to get out more. Friggin' weather is killing me.
 

Andy K

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Why not 'MSPhoto', reckon you'd get quite a few hits with that!
 

dpurdy

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I like how easy it is to tell people to go to dennispurdy.com when they know I am Dennis Purdy. They don't even have to make a note.
 
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MikeSeb

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OK, the site is live at Dead Link Removed.

There's a blog, too. 'Cause god knows there aren't enough folks spouting opinions and writing about boring crap already.

Thanks for everyone's input.
 

Tori8x10

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I don't need to know how to spell your last name correctly, I like your site so much I bookmarked it, I suspect many others will do the same. Really nice work! Makes me very anxious to get my site up and running. Good luck to you!

Tori
 

Merg Ross

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You have some really fine work. I especially like the b&w abstracts.

In the "about" portion, the link to mikesebastianphoto.com did not work for me. Perhaps this is related to the new domain name.

Thanks for sharing.

Merg Ross
 

Solarize

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When picking my domain name, I went with www.clportraits.co.uk - purely because I could not imagine anyone spelling Ciaran Lee (my name) correctly. So initials, along with a pointer for the type of work that the site features (portraits), to me at least made sense. As someone else has mentioned, getting links back to your site will do most of the work. Now that I'm getting hits here and there, typing in my name with photography, photographer etc will point to my site as well.

Ciaran-
 

milkplus-mesto

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Michael, your website is beautiful. I think just sticking with your name will make it more memorable to people. What did you use to design the site?
 
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MikeSeb

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Thanks for the hive fives everyone. After a year spent trying to DIY the site, I gave up in frustration. All that time wasted in web design, which I can't do, instead of making photographs, which I'd rather do.

I went with Dead Link Removed, after looking at just about every template-based site out there. I liked their clean, functional designs better than anyone. There's some Flash, but none of the whirling, blinking crap that I find so distracting. I can highly recommend these guys, based on service and quality--at least so far.

@Merg: do you mean you had trouble with one of the email links? That's the only quirk I've noticed so far; some of the nav links at the far left of the homepage have to be "refreshed" occasionally by reloading the page.
 

phc

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For what it's worth, I use my full name as my URL. My stats show that I do get a number of people who access the site "direct", which I guess could mean from a bookmark, but most of the visits come from referrals. Even from the APUG!

I think sticking with your name, or whatever name you trade under, is the best bet.

Cheers, Paul.
 

phc

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Just had a look at your site, Mike. Good portraiture.

I did have a problem flicking through the pictures as the "images and text © Michael Sebastian" overlaps the "next image" arrow at the bottom of the page.

Cheers, Paul.
 
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MikeSeb

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phc said:
Just had a look at your site, Mike. Good portraiture.

I did have a problem flicking through the pictures as the "images and text © Michael Sebastian" overlaps the "next image" arrow at the bottom of the page.

Cheers, Paul.
Click to expand...

Paul, I've shortened the copyright statement, which I hope helps.

Also, did you notice that you can hover the cursor over the image you're looking at, and get big orange left or right arrows, or a cluster of blocks that lets you look at site thumbnails?

Easier to navigate than with the tiny arrows at the bottom.
 
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