Mom Behind the Curtain

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Picking a domain name for a lifestyle blog or mommy blog

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It can be tricky to pick a domain name for a lifestyle blog. I like the terms “lifestyle blog” or “mommy blog” because the topics can be so broad on them, which is what has turned out to happen here in my little corner of the internet. But in some ways, that seems to make coming up with a domain name and buying a URL more difficult. (Check our my resources for discount and free blooging and website courses and tools.)computer and blogging tools - Picking a domain name for a lifestyle blog or mommy blog

What is a domain name?

But before I get into all that, maybe your wondering – Exactly what is a domain name? And if you look on the internet (like I did), it will become clear to you that all of the definitions were written by software engineers who knew exactly what they were talking about. But after you read their three paragraph definition you’ll still have no clue what they were talking about. Which is kind of the point, that someone who doesn’t understand it understands. But it’s hard for them to get back to our level.

Here’s a simple way to define domain name.

Look at that string of letters in your browser bar. That’s this webpage’s URL. (On this webpage right now you should see https://www.mombehindthecurtain.com/picking-a-domain-name-for-a-lifestyle-blog. It will change after I switch over to my new domain name.)

What is a URL?

A simple way to define URL is the address of a webpage on the internet.

How do URL and domain name relate to each other?

The domain name is part of the webpage’s URL; it’s the “title” or “name” that comes immediately after either “http://” or “www.”, before the next dot back-slash (/).

If you go to the homepage of a website, like www.amazon.com, you’ll see only the domain name in the browser bar.

If you go to another page on the Amazon website, like this one on Amazon for Miri Attwater and the Oceans’ Secret, after the domain name you’ll see bunch of other letters or numbers to give the address for that specific webpage on the website Amazon.com.

Help choosing a domain name for your website or blog

So, now back to choosing a domain name for a lifestyle blog. Why come up with a clever domain name for the URL of a blog? I did lots of thinking and brainstorming trying to come up with a blog name.

Free resources on the web for help choosing a domain name

I’ve read on the internet:

How to choose a domain name by Amy Lynn Andrews

4 Things to Consider When Choosing Your Domain Name by ProBlogger

And I’ve read books:

Everything But the Posts

How to Blog for Profit: Without Selling Your Soul (disclaimer, I am a long way from that profit part)

I looked for inspiration from parenting, mommy and lifestyle blog s with names I like. (Surprisingly, if you search for “top mommy blogs” or “best lifestyle blogs” you’ll come up with nothing that’s useful. Nada. Zilch. So I’ll include a list of the best lifestyle blogs with names I like at the end of this post.)

But the perfect domain name was elusive. A few months, I gave up. I took comfort in the fact that lots of blogs were starting to just use the names of their author, and for awhile just used esivy.com, (which is now only my author website for my children’s novels.) But, I did notice that while I have managed to learn a few bloggers’ names, I’m more likely to remember a clever blog URL the first time I encounter it.

The most important element of your domain name for your lifestyle or mommy blog

Make it something easy to remember.

I’m going to be making the switch soon to the Genesis platform, and while I was researching it I came across the new lifestyle blog, MyCrazyEverAfter.com. So clever. So easy to remember.

So I was once again inspired to brainstorm. And then, while I did my after-school pickup run I came upon a brilliant solution! I enlisted the help of my daughters.

I was really tempted to go with the first suggestion of my youngest, CoolerMomThanYours. (Actually, she insisted I should spell it CoolerMomThanYurs.)

I mean, what mom wouldn’t love that? But we kept at it and we finally came up with one we all liked!

I ended up taking inspiration from one of the first focuses for my first blog, and still as a group my most popular posts, books for kids, starting with my first series: Best Kids Books List – My own kids’ favorite books

While I focus on my kids’ favorite books, the name comes from one of my favorite series growing up, the Wizard of OZ!

New face of the blog coming soon at MomBehindTheCurtain.com. (Which is where you are now reading this tutorial, as I did finally get it moved.) Unlike the Wizard of OZ, I will let you see what’s going on behind the curtain, where all the magic happens – The Mom Behind the Curtain.

But wait! Before you purchase that perfect domain name, see my post on WHAT’S A DOMAIN REGISTRAR?

Best recommended blog courses and tools to save money

For my best recommendations on blogging courses for beginners and blogging tools, check out my posts!

Best Blogging Training, Website Courses, and Tools

Genius Blogger’s Toolkit – the best blogging course bundle

*And here’s that list I promised of my top mommy blogs or lifestyle blogs with the best names to give you some inspiration for your own blog name.