Domain name

Nyrryl Cadiz

burvantill

Just a thought from someone with a longish last name. I have to type burvantillustration.com a lot and it gets real old having to type all those letters. Lol. I would go as short as you can.

Lisa Clark

@Nyrryl-Cadiz he's an engineer. It's hard to get him out of his head when he's stressed.

@burvantill thank you! Illustration is a long word on its own. Definitely will keep that in mind!! Would you ever change it?

burvantill

@Lisa-Clark I have definitely thought about it. Even though I don't have a big following I have had it for a LONG time. I am going to switch up my website hosting this month so if I do change it, it's going to be real soon. I will most likely just suck it up and own it. It's a tough decision.

Lisa Clark

@burvantill Best of luck!! It's definitely a hard decision but you can do it! If you remember, post back here when you're done. I want to see it!

Melissa_Bailey

@burvantill & @Lisa-Clark — just adding to this little portion of the conversation. I had the same experience as you did! When I started out, my website was melissabaileyillustrates.com — and it was LONG and a lot to ask people to remember.

And there is also a Melissa Bailey in the UK who is also an illustrator, and her website is MelissaBaileyillustration.com — too close.

After years of melissabaileyillustrates being my domain name, I decided it was time to change, because of those reasons above, and I’m glad I did. It was time to simplify. It’s been a year, and I’ve only had one complaint that my website and branding changed, which was from a friend who doesn’t like change.

Now, my domain is mbaileyart.com — much easier to remember and easier to type! Even started using a new email connected to that website to look even that much more professional.

So after rambling on, my recommendation is to go with a domain name that is as simple as possible, easy to remember, professional-sounding, and related to art/illustration. Hope this little two cents was helpful!

burvantill

Well I did it. I turned off the renew on my domain and website burvantillustration.com.
I had a conversation with my husband yesterday, and told him about this conversation and the dilemma of having a long website name. I put the question to him, should I change the website name to match my social media handles, burvantill. He said what do the pro's do? Sometimes he just gets right to the heart of it, genius. So, I went online and researched known illustrators and what they use for their websites. Of course, we know what the SVS Holy Trinity do. Lee's site name is a little long because he, too, added "illustration" to his name, but Jake's and Will's sites are easy. mrjakeparker.com and willterry.com. I searched for about 20 different illustrators and the majority just had their names, like Will. The rest, about 4, I couldn't find a normal website for them. So, I've decided I'm going to change mine to just my name. Makes me feel special, like a rock star . Now the tough decision of choosing the new website publisher and host. I've been looking at Wordpress, but am a little gun shy about taking on that project. I wonder if @Geoffrey-Gordon has finished his tutorial for that yet. Geoffrey? =)x

Nyrryl Cadiz

@burvantill go for it!

Geoffrey Gordon

Hi @burvantill

Covid happened on my side and the flood gates opened, so while I was working on it. I had to put everything on hold. I have had so much work since march last year that I have had little time to do anything else, even practicing my drawing .....

But things are starting to even out so it should be on the cards again soon.

burvantill

@Geoffrey-Gordon No worries! I'm sorry to hear of your difficulties. I hope things calm down soon for you so you can work on your art again. Good luck. =)x

Lisa Clark

@burvantill Love that you're going with just your name! That is awesome! Definitely rock star status. My name is too common for that, unfortunately.

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