Thread: Trying to pick a Web site URL

Hi All,
I currently have a wonderfully free Web site via google. It is easy to use and I love everything that google does. :)

Andalee Oriental Dance -

Anyway, as I become more of a professional, I want a real URL. I want to leave the google pages out and possibly the oriental. The only thing is andalee.com is taken (omg, she's amazing) and I think it would be disrespectful to take andalee.net or some other variation. Andaleedance.com is available as well as andaleebellydance.com and andaleeorientaldance.com.

I feel like these are either too long or too boring. I also don't want any dashes or extra crap in the name. I really like the idea of picking a name that is unique and different. I am coming up short in thinking of them though...I know you all don't really know me personally, but what are some ideas?

To promote my friends and give you some ideas, they have:
electricshimmy.com
halobellydance.com
etc. I am sure there are many more...

Ideas? Insight? ..g.:

How about taking part of your name, which is very pretty such as AndaRaqs, AndalOriental, DaleeRaqs. What does your name mean, maybe somehow use that. Andulation ( Undulations). Do you specialise in a style, or love using veils/cane sword etc. Maybe something like VeilsAnda Cane, AndaAssaya, I am playing with your name a bit. Maybe these beginning ideas will help you find the right name

if you want business from the gp, it should have your name in it, to make it easier for them to remember your info.

there is nothing disrespectful about taking andalee.net. andalee is your business name and you have a right to use it. this is exactly one of the reasons there are multiple tlds available.

i vote for either andalee.net or andaleebellydance.com

depending on where you live, you may want something general. For example, I live in Northern Virginia (sometimes referred to as nova). I reserved novabellydance.com for my site. Was also trying to pick something that will allow me to use the site as a resource for other dancers in the area and other teachers. Just a thought.

Originally Posted by ravenadesigns

depending on where you live, you may want something general.

I thought of that too...maybe something like Durhambellydance.com...or Trianglebellydance. I need to check the availability.

Also, about my name..it means nightingale...sorta, which is harder to spell and not as pretty as Andalee.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I can't wait to hear more. ..l;,

i reserved safiyahdances and it works...thought about safiyahraqs but didn't want to have to spell both words for people. At least most people know how to spell "dances". Whatever you choose, look at it to make sure it's easy to remember

It may be helpful to keep in mind that the words contained in your domain are more heavily ranked by search engines than any content on your page (including keywords, Title and Meta tags). So you might want something with "bellydance" and/or your city, since most people looking for dancers will search for "belly dancer in MyCityName" or something similar.

Originally Posted by sabrinabellydancer

there is nothing disrespectful about taking andalee.net. andalee is your business name and you have a right to use it. this is exactly one of the reasons there are multiple tlds available.

I respectfully disagree here. If andalee.com was a restaurant or fitness center or computer repair service, I can see it. But having two dancers with extremely similar domains -- it's going to look as if you were trying to capitalize on the other girl's success and publicity. AND you could lose business because people automatically go to the .com domain over any other, and you might end up directing them to the other girl's site.

There is nothing legally wrong with me buying Suhaila.net and changing my dance name to Suhaila, but that's just wrong on a persona level, for me anyway.

I think I would go with one of the cuter names -- like Andaraqs. That's short and easy to fit on a business card. You can put keywords and tags in your html that will get you recognized by the search engines.

Just my $.02

Originally Posted by sabrinabellydancer

if you want business from the gp, it should have your name in it, to make it easier for them to remember your info.

there is nothing disrespectful about taking andalee.net. andalee is your business name and you have a right to use it. this is exactly one of the reasons there are multiple tlds available.

i vote for either andalee.net or andaleebellydance.com

It may not be disrespectful, but it may be a bit foolish in the long run. If someone is trying to find her .net site and happens on the .com site instead, she may have just lost a client.

I do like AndaleeDance.com It's shorter and easy to remember.

Andaleedance.com is my vote.....

What is your goal? Who will be looking for your site, and will they already know the URL (and need something easy to remember) or will they be doing a google search?

If you're primarily trying to get students--go with the area name + belly dance (most people will be doing a google search for this)

If you're trying to get private gigs and restaraunt business--an easy to remember, easy to spell dance name will position you as a Pro performer.

We are so used to being around ME names, that we forget the words can sound really odd to the GP. Stick with really simple words.

I vote for TriangleBellyDance or RDUBellyDance or something similar...you'll get more traffic.

Good luck!
Mira

Originally Posted by mira

What is your goal? Who will be looking for your site, and will they already know the URL (and need something easy to remember) or will they be doing a google search?

If you're primarily trying to get students--go with the area name + belly dance (most people will be doing a google search for this)

If you're trying to get private gigs and restaraunt business--an easy to remember, easy to spell dance name will position you as a Pro performer.

We are so used to being around ME names, that we forget the words can sound really odd to the GP. Stick with really simple words.

I vote for TriangleBellyDance or RDUBellyDance or something similar...you'll get more traffic.

Thanks. I guess I am trying to get both gigs and students, since I am fairly new at all this. I just googled "Durham Belly Dance" and I came up first on the list. This is because I put my listing on the google map thing. So I guess there is no need to come up with a name that is general to my area, seeing that I come up first.

Right now my local BD friends are voting most on andaleedance.com or andaleebellydance.com

PS Mira, I found your site the other day and I love it!

Oh, awesome on coming up first on Google...that is an accomplishment in itself! I never thought about using google maps to raise your page rank...hmmm :D Make sure you check it often to be sure you're still listed high up there.

Another idea is to buy up a few extra domain names like "RDUbellydance" and then just point the domain names to whatever your primary site ends up being. That way no matter what someone types in, they always get YOU! Domain names are cheap--$10 a year!

And thanks for the compliment on the blog :D

Mira

Originally Posted by mira

Oh, awesome on coming up first on Google...that is an accomplishment in itself! I never thought about using google maps to raise your page rank...hmmm :D Make sure you check it often to be sure you're still listed high up there.

It helps that my dance name starts with an A. I always get on the top of lists that are done alphabetical. That should be a belly dance stage name tip...don't pick a name that starts with the letter Z.

Also, you can list on yahoo local and microsoft golive to get the same results.

Thanks for the idea about buying up extra domain names...my web-dork boyfriend could probably get those names to jump to my official site. ,r:;

Hey Andalee! I have seen your presence on here and tribe and all that kind of stuff. I think it is really awesome that you are putting so much thought into your website name so as not to interfere with what I am doing. Andalee is your name, too and if you want to use andalee.net, that is up yo you. Just knowing that you have thought about it and sought advice makes me totally behind whatever you choose :) Also, I think that the fact that you are on the other side of the country (and a blonde) helps to distinguish us as 2 completely different dancers and I can't see you accidentally taking or giving me gigs or students unless they were willing to drive to Ca for a class!

That being said, I like andaleebellydance.com

Good Luck!