Seeking opinions on domain name choice

For a Christian web site

[Vishal]

I am currently working a Christian Web site [giving some thing back to the community], however due to my limited English knowledge I need some help.

I have registered christlover.com as I personally believe that is a pretty good name, however few of my friends don’t' agree with me.

I was wondering if members over here can help me out by giving their opinion about the domain name.

Thank you for your support.

[msr986]

I have been running a website for a Christian church for more than a year.

I think that your URL is great!

A lot of contemporary Christian churches are very passionate and emotional. Many modern Christians are happy to consider themselves "Christ lovers".

If you plan to create a website that is modern and passionate, I think you have the perfect URL.

God Bless

[Marcia]

>few of my friends don’t' agree with me

Vishal, my personal opinion is that it depends on the objectives and the purpose of the site. If its purpose is to be a community, information or resource site for Christians, I think it's a terrific name. The choice of the domain name clearly indicates what the site is about.

If it's primarily for evangelical purposes, it might not be quite as valuable, since it's so very specific. It might be just fine for some who are seeking and just looking around and checking out different religions, but it might be a little "strong" for others.

[Vishal]

I plan to do following things:

Build a discussion board.

Directory of Churches within USA.

Directory of Christian Colleges in USA.

At this time, above is my main plan.

[toolman]

It's kinda like anything you do....if you like it and feel good about it (the name)...you'll do well with what really counts, filling it with content. If there's doubt about the name and it's potential, you might miss the mark.

We tend to look at what's on the outside but the spiders look at what's on the inside. ;)

[john316]

Here is counsel from the authoritative source.

John 12:32: And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

[TallTroll]

Vishal,

The reason some of your friends don't like the domain name is that people with a juvenile sense of humour will find it amusing.

I know this because I do have a juvenile sense of humour, and although I personally wouldn't poke fun at someone else for their beliefs, there are plenty of people who will.

If you use that domain, you will get some fairly appalling e-mails. However, as has been pointed out, if it fits what you want to do with the site then go for it. Those who will take the mickey really aren't your target audience

>> however due to my limited English knowledge I need some help

Technically, your English is very good (probably better than mine ;)) but this is an issue with English idiom, and christlover.com could convey the wrong subtext

[Vishal]

Thanks for all opinions, I guess, I will have to look for an alternative name that will be good for all type of audience.

[john316]

Vishal,

Whatever you name the site, their will be those who take shots at you, it comes with the territory.

John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

[barnstormer]

I would hold a different view from some of the comments given here. I am American and I am a Christian and I think your domain name would be just fine. Anyone ending up at your site because they are looking for that specific content will not be poking fun at your choice of name. A lover of Christ is a true believer and I think this really capitalizes on the theme of your site. Just my opinion of course.

[Marshall]

Vishal,

If it's available, how about something along the lines of "LoveIsChrist" or "LoveInChrist" or "ChristIsLove" or "LoveWithChrist". My humble opinion, "ChristLover" could sound strange to many people.

[adi_gallia]

here are more names that may still be open:

CHRIST-LIFE.COM
CHRISTFOLLOWER.COM
CHRISTGROUP.COM
CHRISTIAN-CHATS.COM
CHRISTIAN-JOY.COM
CHRISTIAN-STUFF.COM
CHRISTINAMERICA.COM
GROW-IN-CHRIST.COM
JUSTCHRIST.COM
MY-CHRIST.COM
NEEDCHRIST.COM
ONEWITHCHRIST.COM
PEOPLEFORCHRIST.COM
USACHRISTIAN.COM

[Vishal]

Thanks for the help.

I personally like the domain Christlover.com so I am sure to keep that one, however to avoid unlikely controversy from few people I have also registered

christainsaroundtheworld.com and
christianaroundtheworld.com

I am thinking of getting needchrist.com [thanks to adi_gallia].

So what do you guys think about above names?

Again thank you for all the support - it has helped me a lot.

[toolman]

Where is your traffic going to come from? If you're going to advertise primarily for people to come from the se's then I would use hyphens.

[Marcia]

Two weeks after I learned HTML I called the pastor of a local congregation and offered to do a site for them. That was in the afternoon, and they were having a meeting that very night to discuss whether to dump the domain, since it had been sitting idle, never used for two years.

I did the site (in frames), unoptimized, and have never promoted it at all. Somehow it's picked up links, and although not all of them are listed, most traffic has been from links and word-of-mouth. The traffic is modest, but consistent, particularly from a few related links.

In this particular category there are abundant linking opportunities, and quite often not even a recip is required. And the links do bring traffic, more so than I've seen with commercial sites.

One thing I'd have to suggest about any guestbook or forums is to make sure they're monitored and/or editable. In the case of the site I did, there were a number of lovely guest book entries, but the pastor did not want people's email addresses showing for various reasons (Messianic Judaism is very controversial). So I pulled the guest book, which was provided by a third party.

I soon have to start a small site in English for a related type of organization (there's one already in Hebrew, which I'm clueless about) that will target travel and tourism related keywords, since it'll be geared to people traveling. Search engine promotion will come, but the very first approach will be through extensive linking, keyword list in hand. Funding is by freewill offering, so it will have no more than the project name as the domain name, out of necessity. So they'll have to establish a bit of name recognition and utilize some viral marketing.

Down the road it would be nice to have different domain names, but for now, for search engine purposes, this is where the use of subdomains and directory names will be invaluable.

[ceo]

Vishal,

Sounds like you're an Indian.
NEways, I do not like the name too much but after you mentioned the content (the 3 points), it sounds like the name's appropriate and you should go ahead with it !

Best wishes with your project & if you need design help for free, get back to me.

Cheers,
RR.