There’s no shortage of information or advice on the use of Twitter. Allow me to add something I have not seen elsewhere – make sure the URL for your Web site in your Twitter profile has your own domain name in it.

When people customize their profile and backgrounds in Twitter, they can add a link under “more info URL” to any Web site, blog, service, etc. Some also suggest you link to a unique Twitter landing page. Whatever you link to is your choice, and this is not something I am choosing to discuss here. My recommendation is the actual URL be to a domain name you own – not to another service, but to a domain name registered by you. For my own Twitter profile, it points to my blog, The Hot Iron.

Why own your own domain name? I have talked about this at length before and the beauty of it is you can use that domain name in any number of ways. It can redirect to another URL, such as your Twitter page or LinkedIn profile. You can also customize your hosted blog at WordPress to use your own domain name. You can also customize Gmail to use it instead of gmail.com. Even more beautiful is the fact that you can switch Web hosts, blog services or even email to another provider all while keeping your same URL and email address! If you have ever moved and did not have postal mail forwarded, think of it as a permanent address.

Your own domain name further brands you. What you choose for a domain name is up to you and is a topic for another time. Just as long as you have the domain name itself, people will be able to identify and reach you with ease.

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Comments

After a decade of the internet being in the mainstream, I think it is vitally important for everyone to have a domain name & at least one page just like everyone has a phone number and a mailing address.  One can’t complain about how one is being represented online unless one is taking control of one’s complete ‘profile’.

That little rant aside, I won’t consider following someone on twitter unless they have a legitimate URL to a domain and site that they own, as it reveals a little more about the “who” of who you are than just one’s tweets. The only time I break this personal rule is in following a few photographers that use their Flickr photostream as their URL.

Comment by Ms. Jen
on 04/19/09 at 12:57 AM
 

Well spoken Ms. Jen. One w/o an own domain name isn’t truly living! ;)

Comment by Calle
on 04/23/11 at 09:51 AM
 

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