By Samantha Lloyd 

There is a recent trend of parents quickly snatching up the email address and domain name of their newborn baby. There is no doubt that future generations will be forced to rely on stuffing numbers on the end of their email addresses, or resigning to owning a multi-word domain name, and that all the common names are probably taken by now. You may be wondering, well…so what? Why would someone want their name as a domain name? What does it matter? Here to show you the awesome benefits of why you should own your name as a domain name is Hover.

It’s a great place to be all about you

Your website can change as often as you need it to in order to suit your needs. Maybe one year you write a blog, the next you want the website to display your photography and videography portfolio, and the next you simply want the domain to forward to your LinkedIn page. However you’re feeling that week, month, or year your website can change with you and reflect who you are and what goals you’re trying to accomplish at that time. Having your name makes you Google-able and easy to find and provides a place for potential employers to land and learn more about you (and it isn’t an embarrassing social media page).

No one else can have it

The biggest reason to reserve your name as a domain name is entirely selfish – to prevent anyone else from using it. You may be the only person in the world with your name, but if you have a generic name (as I do), you’ll find there are many of you all over the world. If you are able to secure your domain name, you prevent anyone from using it for themselves or for anything with malintent.

Your email will always be your name

This is probably one of my personal favorite benefits – you can simply own the email associated with the domain name of your name. Instead of having to grab your_name_19282832@emailprovider.com, you can own a customized email address. If you have yourname.com as a domain, you can add a mailbox or mail forwarding and use me@yourname.com or name@yourname.com or hello@yourname.com… you get the picture! An easy-to-remember email will always benefit you in networking, your job search, or when you’re running a business.

If your .COM name is not available

So, your name is taken when you search for the .COM – you’re one of many people to face this challenge. Thankfully, there are some awesome extensions to look into if you aren’t able to grab that one. There are various awesome extensions, such as .SITE, .ONLINE, and .FUN that would be great to tack on to the end of your name in a domain. You don’t need to rely on the .COM if it’s taken – get creative and use your domain name to showcase who you really are.

SAMANTHA LLOYD

Samantha is a digital marketing expert and entrepreneur. She currently works for Tucows, taking on the content marketing role for their subsidiary, Hover. She loves filling you in on the booming tech industry of Toronto, and beyond. When she’s not working, she lives for travel and the ocean and is always looking for a chance to dive, snorkel, and recently – *attempting* to surf!