Hey Bonnie,
I’ve been exploring creating a website recently and thomasharvey.com and thomasharvey.net are both taken. I contacted the owner about buying them and he wouldn’t give them up. What would you suggest as a good alternative since I can’t get myname.com?
Your column is the greatest thing ever! Thank you so much for writing.
Thomas Harvey
Hey, thanks, Thomas! Really appreciate the generous feedback about the column. I love hearing from those who show up here to read these words, week after week. So thanks!
Okay, so the cool thing about being an actor is that you can spin your URL a little bit to be very specific about yourself (your brand, the fact that you’re an actor, where you’re based, etc.), if you so choose. Sure, it’s best to have YourName.com or YourName.net if you can get it, because then that’s a lifetime of the “right” URL, no matter what happens along the way. But when you can’t score those options (and we’ve learned that .biz and .info are often blocked top-level domains, meaning, there is so much shady business taking place at sites there, that many major corporations — such as studios and networks — simply block all sites with that suffix), it’s time to get creative.
I have seen actor websites using URLs like CastThomasHarvey.com or ThomasHarveyTheActor.com or (and I don’t know your primary type, so these are just a couple of options for all actors reading) CreepyBadGuy.com or HeroMom.com or QuirkySidekick.com or anything that really clicks with the actor’s brand. Of course, types change over the years, so it’s not foolproof, but it’s an option for now, anyway. I had a friend who used FatActor.com and then lost enough weight to do some re-branding. He still keeps that URL, but it’s not what he gives out anymore, and it’s redirected to a freebie hosting area, rather than living somewhere with lots of room to grow and showcase all of his media.
Point is, you can play with it a little bit. Yes, there’s always the middle name or middle initial option, but if that’s not how your name is registered with the unions or how it shows up on IMDb, that can get a little confusing. And, if you have a very common name like my husband does, you could choose to forgo the specific URL altogether and just use a subdirectory on another site (like CricketFeet.com/Keith). If you’re hoping to get Googled by name and have folks land at your site, every time, the URL is important (as are keywords and searchable text within the site itself). But if it’s more likely that visitors are going to show up after having met you, after you’ve given them a business card with the URL on it, after looking at the URL on your resumé, or by linking through from your IMDb page or an email you’ve sent, the URL is much less important than you might think. And, at its best, it’s an opportunity to get creative and further well-branded!
Good luck to you. I look forward to learning what URL you choose.
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001106.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.