Choosing a web address: your own domain, a platform name and what to print on your card

What a web address is made of

A web address has a few parts, and it helps to know what you own and what you rent.

The three options compared

BeVisible is the third kind: your page is at bevisible.site/yourname, which you can share on your card, in your email signature and on WhatsApp. Using your own domain is not available yet. If you want to own your address as well, you can register a domain now and keep it ready, or use it only for email.

How to choose the name

1. Start with your name. “annaweiss” or “dr-anna-weiss” is what people will search, and what they will try to type from your card.
2. Say it aloud to someone and ask them to write it down. If they get it wrong, simplify it.
3. Keep it short. Under about fifteen characters is easy to print and to remember.
4. Avoid hyphens, numbers and unusual spellings. They get lost when spoken, and people forget them.
5. Avoid anything that will date: a year, an old address, a service you may drop. Do not put “best” or a place you may leave.
6. If a profession word helps, add it plainly: “weissphysio”. Do not stuff keywords.
7. Check it is free in the places that matter: the domain, the platform handle and the main social networks.
8. Check that it does not look like someone else’s. A name close to a well-known firm can confuse clients and cause trouble.

If your name is taken

• Add your profession or middle initial: “annaweissphysio” or “annaaweiss”.
• Add your city only if you will stay: “weissphysiobristol”.
• Try another ending if you are using your own domain, such as .co.uk, .de, .in or a profession ending, but be careful with unfamiliar ones that people may mistype.
• Do not use a name that is nearly identical to a better-known person or firm.
• Use a handle that matches your name on every platform, even if it is not perfect, rather than a different one in each place.

Own domain: what to know

• Register it in your own name, or your firm’s, and not through a person who might leave. Keep the login details safe.
• Turn on auto-renewal and keep a valid payment card. An expired domain can be taken by someone else.
• Keep your contact details current, so that renewal notices reach you.
• A domain also gives you an email address that matches it. See professional email.
• Check any rules in your profession on names that can be used. Some regulators restrict names that imply a specialism, a government link or a superior service.
• Buy the obvious variants only if there is a real risk of confusion. You do not need ten.

Printing and saying the address

• Print the shortest form you can, without “https://” or “www.”.
• Put it on cards, letterheads, email signatures, your vehicle and your profiles.
• Add a QR code next to it on printed material. People can scan it from a card or a shop window.
• Say it the same way each time: “annaweiss, all one word”.
• Make sure the address on the card is exactly the address that works. Test it from a phone.

If you change address later

1. Keep the old address working, if you can, and send visitors to the new one with a permanent redirect.
2. Update your profiles, directories, Google Business Profile and email signature.
3. Tell clients who may have your old card.
4. Wait before dropping the old address. Printed material lasts a long time.
5. If the old address cannot redirect, put a short notice on it for as long as it stays online.

Common mistakes

• A long, hyphenated name nobody can spell.
• Printing an address you may have to change within a year.
• A domain registered by a friend or an agency in their name.
• Letting the domain expire.
• Different handles on every platform.
• A free personal email as the contact address next to a professional page.

Examples of good and poor addresses

The speakable test

A web address is often spoken: on the phone, in a consultation, at a talk. Try this with three people. Say your address aloud once, at normal speed, and ask them to write it down. Count how many get it right first time. Every mistake points to a problem: a silent letter, a double letter, a homophone, an unusual spelling or a hyphen. Fix the problem or add a note to your card, such as “all one word”.

Names across languages and scripts

• Accents and special letters (ü, é, ñ, ø) are often unavailable or cause confusion in addresses. Decide whether to write them plain (muller for Müller) and use the same plain form everywhere.
• If you work in more than one country, choose a spelling that people in each can say. A name with a letter that is silent in one language may be misread in another.
• If your name is written in a non-Latin script, add the Latin form people will type, and put both on your page.
• Consider the meaning of your chosen name in the languages of your clients. A harmless word in one language can be rude in another.

A decision in five questions

1. Will I use this address on printed material for years? If yes, keep it short and based on my name.
2. Do I want email on the same name? If yes, a domain I own is worth the yearly fee.
3. Might I change the tool that runs my page? If yes, an address I own will survive the move.
4. Do I need to be live this week? If yes, start with a platform address and register a domain in parallel.
5. Do I share a name with a better-known person or firm? If yes, add a distinguishing word now, not later.

Protecting your name

• Register the same handle on the social networks and directories you may use, even if you do not use them yet. It stops others taking it and makes your profile addresses consistent.
• Keep a simple record of where each name is registered, the login email and the renewal date.
• Search for your chosen name before you commit. Check that it is not a company, a trade mark or a person who could object.
• If someone is using a name very close to yours to pass themselves off as you, see keeping your website and name safe.

Where BeVisible fits

Your BeVisible page lives at bevisible.site/yourname, and the builder helps you pick a handle and checks that it is free. You also get a QR code that leads to your page for your card. Your own domain is not supported yet. You can build and preview free, and publish free for 7 days with no card needed; after that one yearly plan keeps a website online, and one plan covers one website. Start from a photo or type your details.