If you’re an artist, there’s one thing that you can’t go without nowadays. You will need a website that features your work to potential clients and customers. But before you start building your website, you’re going to need a domain name for it. Choosing a domain name for an artist website is probably an art project in itself!
A domain name is the web address that people will use to access your website, such as ArtistName.com, and also helps showcase your brand.
Once you’ve decided on a domain name though, changing it can be a hassle. This means that as far as possible, you’ll want to pick the right one from the start.
So if choosing a domain name for an artist website is something you need help with, check out these 5 tips!
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1. Use the name of your brand
In 2015, a group of artists in Tokyo came together to launch an imaginary magazine, where its covers would depict life in the Japanese capital.
As the group had been inspired by the beautiful cover art of The New Yorker publication, and the fictional The Parisianer publication, they decided to call their own imaginary magazine The Tokyoiter.
So what did the group decide on when choosing a good domain name for their website? https://www.thetokyoiter.com/, which matches the branding of their magazine exactly.
Likewise, you can also register the name of your brand for your domain. But if your brand name is unavailable for domain registration, don’t fret!
In this case, you could add suitable words to your brand name to form a different—and available—domain name.
For example, if your brand name is “Smart Art”, then you could possibly use “smartartstudio.com” as your domain name instead.
Related: 5 tips to help you choose your business name
2. Make it obvious what your website is about
When choosing a domain name for an artist website, consider using something that states what your website is about. This helps potential visitors get a clue about what you do before they even visit your website.
As an example, Malaysian artist Erica Eng owns a website called https://friedricecomic.com/. Can you guess what kind of art she posts on that website?
Comics, of course!
For branding reasons, you may not want to follow this tip when choosing a good domain name. As an example, you don’t see The Tokyoiter from above using “thetokyoitermagazineillustrations.com” as its domain name. What a mouthful.
This is perfectly okay, but just be sure not to choose a domain name that misleads people as to what you do.
If you’re a painter, for example, then you probably shouldn’t have “photography” in your domain name.
3. Choose something memorable
There are countless artist websites on the web. With this in mind, getting yours to stand out from the crowd will start with picking a memorable domain name.
Because if your domain name is memorable, people are less likely to forget it—which means that they’re more likely to visit your website, or share it with others.
A domain name can be memorable for many reasons, such as it being:
- Short and sweet, like “artliveshere.com”
- Based on familiar words, e.g. “photomagic.com” as compared to “kylmography.com”
- Based on your name, e.g. “marylimdesigns.com”
Or it can even be because you’ve used clever word puns when choosing a good domain name!
For inspiration, check out Malaysian embroidery artist Sheena Liam’s website, https://www.timesnewromance.net/.
I don’t know about you, but I think it’s awesome how she punned on the name of the well-known “Times New Roman” font for her website domain name!
4. Add a level of intrigue
When choosing a good domain name for your artist website, try to come up with one that will get people curious about your offerings.
You can still name your domain in a way that makes clear what you offer, but how can you add a unique twist that will entice people to visit your website?
As an example, Hong Kong sound artist Samson Young has an interesting website domain: https://www.thismusicisfalse.com/
When you hear his domain name, you’re instantly intrigued.
You get the idea that he works in the music space, but why is his music “false”? Will you find the answer on his website?
(I’m not going to tell you—you’ll have to check out his website for yourself to find out!)
5. Tell a story with your domain name
Finally, don’t be afraid to use your domain name to tell the whole world what drives you as an artist.
What does your art mean to you, and why do you specialise in your chosen medium? Think about how you can creatively express all these when choosing a good domain name.
Singaporean designer Liew Yu Ha uses the domain name https://www.secretlifeoftrees.com/ for her website. From this domain name, you might guess that she works with trees, or wood—and you’d be right!
But that’s not all. In an interview with ChannelNewsAsia, Liew also explained the meaning of her “secret life of trees” brand name:
“[The name] is a homage to the material I work with. I hope my brand is associated with pieces that emphasise a tree’s second, secret life – each with its own story to tell and a patina to match.”
Choosing a domain name for an artist website is an art in itself
As you can see, there are a lot of things to consider when choosing a domain name for an artist website! When you start brainstorming, chances are that you won’t come up with the perfect one right away.
Make a list of all the domain names that you manage to think of—even if you think that they aren’t that good. The idea is to throw out all the ideas that you have before you start whittling down the list to your top few choices.
Also, it doesn’t hurt to check whether your preferred domain names are available as you put your list together. If you find that a certain domain name has already been taken, you can decide whether to strike it off your list or tweak it to something else.
Choosing a domain name for an artist website will take some creativity and introspection as you reflect on your values as an artist. But when you’ve hit upon the ideal domain name, you’ll know it for sure.
And once that happens, go register it ASAP—you don’t want someone to snatch it up before you do!
