www.musicalbum.com
The real domain has six syllables, with the payload word being sixteen characters long.
For a long time there was very little at the site but my homepage and some MP3 downloads. But I have since decided to change careers into music - I've been studying intensively for several years so that I can pass the music school audition someday. I also play once a week at open mics.
My hope is that when I start playing professionally, I'll have a top-ranking website. But it's not presently even in the top-ten for my own name. There is another, far better-known performer with the same first and last name as mine, who owns the top nine spots. The tenth spot is the site of my old business, that I spent years developing.
I now include my middle name in my "stage name"; that is, on my CDs, and whereever my music appears on line, I go by First Middle Last. That other guy just goes by First Last.
I have since registered - but not hosted - my stage name. I'm considering changing my personal site's domain from:
www.musicalbum.com
to
www.firstmiddlelast.com
My full name also has six syllables, and is twenty characters long - so it's even longer than the name of my album. But I think it would be easier for others to remember, for example when I say it out loud at a performance, or if it's said on the radio.
A consideration is that before long I'll be recording new albums.
I would of course install a redirect at the old location.
Is my plan advisable? One disadvantage is that my stage name domain is brand-new, whereas my album domain is nine years old. I know that the age of a domain factors into its search engine position.
I'm particularly hoping that the new domain would improve my position in a search for "First Last". That other guy is nearing the end of his career, but I'm just starting mine!
My email address would become unwieldy, most likely first@firstmiddlelast.com.
I've been working steadily for three years now to build the position of my personal site. It ranks really well for some queries, but not at all for my "First Last" name! Would having my middle name in the domain reduce my rank for that query much?
Thanks for any help you can give me.
move things in an orderly manner.
learn how to work the links.
I considered what phranque said, but feel that a single music site would grow faster in popularity than two sites, one for fans and one for my music. Maybe later I'll add a message board.
(I'll install a redirect at my old domain.)
Insomniak's suggestion that my domain use my initials rather than my full name needs some thought. That makes the URL quite a bit shorter. My concern is that there is a famous entertainer with a first and last name identical to mine, who owns nine of the top ten spots at google in a search for our name. Using my full name rather than than my initials might help my SEO significantly.
The domain with my initials is available. I'll discuss it with some other webmaster friends.
Even if you don't actually use it, it would be smart to have control of it.
When you become bigger than the older artist and if you choose to, then you can buy his domain name and his traffic and gobble up his fans also.
The only other question I have is what is the protocol in the music business for stage names? Is it like with Screen Actors Guild and every musician is supposed to have a different name? If in the future you will be forced to change your name to a new stage name, then pick a good one now, register that domain and start your branding with your new, soon to be famous, stage name. And practice: "Hello Madison Square Garden! I'm example.com!"
