A New Domain: Shanghai Tech Writer is a post from: Shanghai Tech Writer
NISH has officially moved to a new location and the new name/location is Shanghai Tech Writer ( http://www.shanghaitechwriter.com). What a great domain name! I was somewhat surprised that no one has taken the domain name yet, but then again, I knew there weren’t that many technical writers in Shanghai/China.
As I was doing my research for an available and suitable domain, I had a few things I was looking for. Here are my tips for choosing a good domain name. You can go to http://www.checkdomain.com to see if the domain name you want to use is still available.
- Easy to remember—A name that you can just tell someone and they don’t have to write it down.
- Easy to spell—Domain that uses common words are easier to spell. You don’t want users to type in the wrong name and be directed to another website.
- Descriptive name—Obviously, the domain name has to describe what the website is about without being super long.
- Marketability—A good domain name has the potential to capture a target market or audience. The purpose is not just to sell something, but for promoting an individual, a field, a topic, or an area of interest. Also, a good domain name might earn more from advertisement affiliates.
- Unique name—It’s not easy to come up with a domain name that meets the above mentioned criteria AND has not already been taken.
- Unique/Target focus—If you have to search multiple times for an available domain of similar wording, it is likely that there are already many websites and blogs about your particular focus.
- Resell value—A domain name can have a high resell value because of the uniqueness of the name, or because another company/blogger wants to acquire the current readers/users of the blog/website.
- Long term strategy—Finding a topic/focus is important, but having a long-term strategy is also important. If you want to continue using the domain name for a long time, the focus cannot be too narrow.
As I was brainstorming and thinking of a good domain name, I was thinking about what I want to do with this blog and the direction I want to go. The original name, NISH, stands for National Instruments Shanghai because I wanted to blog about my job as a technical writer at NI. I still want to continue blogging about technical writing and my job at NISH, but I needed a long-term strategy as well as an exit plan in case I stop working for NI.
I knew that technical writing is an emerging field in China and there aren’t that many, if any, technical-writing-related blogs in Shanghai/China. The first name that came to mind was Shanghai Tech Writer. The domain name was available, and I registered it immediately for $10USD! In this day and age where the internet is saturated by bloggers of every area/market, it is quite rare that I got the domain name of my choice!
With this new website, Shanghai Tech Writer, I have a wider range of topics to write about including technical writing, technology, and working in Shanghai. I’ll also continue to write about my work at NI.
