I want to buy a domain name for my personal websites, my name is Azhar M Khan but I never use my middle name. I am comparing: azhar.com.au azharmkhan.com zharkhan.com (so website would be a.zharkhan.com and email ) I would use these websites as portfolios for my various skills to send to prospective clients. I would thus create multiple sites such as photography.azhar.com.au and analysis.azhar.com.au I am based in Australia now, but as a freelancer, I would want to travel for a while and thus send these portfolios to clients who are oversees. So I am wondering if the .com.au would be off-putting to someone in the US, Canada, UK etc. or does it simply show my roots? Other options include coming up with a non-personal brand name from which I run my business or using a different TLD but I feel .com is the way to go.
azhar.com.au - might be confusing to Americans who aren't expecting anything to hang off the end of a .com (like why isn't it .co.au? damn Aussies!) azharmkhan.com - has the word harm in it and is quite a mouthful so it's not ideal zharkan.com - could be confusing and you'll find yourself explaining why your name is Azhar Khan but your domain is zharkan and what happened to the a and the h so, I'd probably go for the short and sweet Aussie domain.
Thanks Sarah. Glad to see a fellow trail runner on here! I am trying to also come up with a personal brand name which would not only be easy to remember, use a .com and hence be internationally friendly, but would also rank high in search because of its originality. Searching for Azhar Khan will never rank me that strongly.
What do you think of the new domain names like Khan.Website vs KhanWebsites.com Also what is the recognition of .co like in the states or would most people make the mistake of going to .com
I'd probably go for the .com, partly because you can say websites rather than website. I'm in NZ so can't speak about American acceptance of the .co but I'd avoid it if there is a reasonable .com or .com.au alternative We have a .info that did really well in the SERPs, however it caused all sorts of strife with people when giving out the url or email addresses over the phone and honestly wasn't worth the pain. It all depends on how you are going to be operating.