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I created the blog Austin Tech Geeks in August of last year. It's been somewhat successful as I have been able to get a decent number of subscribers and uniques every month. The blog is about tech events, meetups, jobs and tech news related to the city of Austin, TX... I also like to write posts where I share my opinion about stuff related to people in the tech industry, etc...

I need to change the name of the blog, the domain name, LinkedIn group and a Twitter account, all with the same name. I was thinking of using a name that is more generic than the current one (at least geographically) or maybe not... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The current url for this blog is austintechgeeks.com and I need to change the name for legal reasons.

I am thinking on using cityhackers.com - thoughts?

Thanks!

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closed as off topic by Zuly Gonzalez♦ May 29 '12 at 5:21

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4 Answers

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I like that you have Austin in the name, because it helps with community building - it gives people a sense of belonging. Unless you plan on expanding the focus of the blog to include tech news from all over (not just Austin), I would try to keep the word Austin in the name if possible. I like AustinTechNews.com, but it's already taken. According to WhoIs AustinTechNews.com expires Mar 2011, but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble to try and acquire it.

What about using the word techies, or even hackers, instead of geeks? A few that came to mind that are available are:

  • TechiesOfAustin.com
  • TechiesInAustin.com
  • TechNewsAustin.com

Another option is to simply add the blog to your software company's website, and not use a separate domain for it (i.e. tidycontact.com/blog). Although, it doesn't look like you have your site setup for that right now.

Edit: An advantage of not using the word Austin in your Austin specific blog is that it gives you the flexibility to expand to other cities later on.

Best of luck!

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Thanks for the recommendations! I appreciate it. What is your opinion about using a name with no Austin as part of the name at all? – Ricardo Jan 17 '11 at 1:27
I think that if you plan on only blogging about Austin events, you should try really hard to get the word Austin in the name. But it may be worthwhile to consider expanding your blog to other cities, in which case Austin isn't necessary. – Zuly Gonzalez♦ Jan 17 '11 at 15:44
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Another option would be use a generic domain and then use subdomains for location specific areas. So www.example.com and the austin location would be austin.example.com. I'm not posting this as an answer because I don't have any good ideas for generic domains. – Jetti Jan 17 '11 at 16:07
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@Jetti, yes, I like the domain cityhackers.com which I can then use as cityhackers.com/austin, cityhackers.com/seattle, etc... – Ricardo Jan 20 '11 at 4:19
@Ricardo - I would prefer austin.cityhackers.com instead of cityhackers.com/austin, however, it is just a matter of personal preference, but it seems that you got the point I was after :) – Jetti Jan 20 '11 at 13:44
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up vote 2 down vote

AustinTechWatch.com? AustinTechView.com? AustinTechNotes.com?

I wouldn't worry too much about the geographic tag. It says you work out of Austin (or your name is Austin), but doesn't mean that the information isn't relevant / interesting outside of it. It will also help you (search engine optimization) for events in Austin.

Don't hold your breath waiting for a domain to expire and not be renewed - I've been waiting 10 years for a particular unused domain not to be renewed. Unless the company that owns it fails, it will probably renew any domain it owns just in case it may use it in the future.

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up vote 1 down vote

Some random once:

AustinITBlog.com
AustinTechs.it

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up vote 1 down vote

why not register a domain name such as technopalooza.com or techtards.com or whatever is available and then use a subdomain for austin.yourdomain.com.

The reason i suggest this is that you could write articles that are specific to a market, and then articles that are general enough for the site.

As a blog you probably earn your money as a publisher. Why not publish in 100 channells. Do one for each city that there is an NFL team, MBL team, or NBA team, and you will have the major markets pretty much covered. Or you could cruise craigslist and take a list of their cities.

The trouble with publishers is that it takes time to grow your brand. If you have more than austin covered, then you can get more awareness for your site. Plus if i move my ass from hollywood to austin then i continue to read your blog but with the austin subdomain. Use goelocation api to redirect and set a cookie for city preference and you are golden!!

And if it all becomes to much to manage, hire or award editors responsibility for each market and cut them in on the spoils.

Good luck.

PS. if you dont register techtards.com i will!

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just read the comments by Jetti and totally agree. Make sure to use subdomains versus yoursite.com/austin/ . Let each site build its own search rank. – Frank Jan 21 '11 at 4:41
Thank you Frank, I am planning on using subdomains for each city I write stuff about... the potential domain names are cityhackers.com and ontechies.com (yes, the idea came from the domain name of this site). Techtards.com is taken ;) – Ricardo Jan 21 '11 at 6:51
all the good ones are gone! CityHackers.com sounds Great. on techies is a lot harder to remember for me. Plus city hacker fits in with the subdomain flow. Richardo you are a very valuable asset to this q&A forum, hope the site does very well for you. Frank – Frank Jan 21 '11 at 19:44

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