Why Your Name Deserves Its Own Dot Com

Many people we’ve spoken to have ideas for blog websites, drop shipping fronts, online portfolios, and more — but find it too complicated to set up and too expensive to manage.

By the end of this article you’ll know how to create and manage your personal website for about $10 a month. And if you’re still on the fence about the value, I hope to clear that up too.

Think of a website like a chunk of real estate you own. It has an address (your domain name), a value (your brand or content), operating costs (hosting fees), and it can be public or private. But unlike physical property, you don’t have to worry about leaky roofs or lawn care — and the price of entry is far, far cheaper.

When the World Wide Web first made its run during the Dot Com Bubble, investors threw money at anything with a “.com” in the name, assuming that being online automatically meant making money. We didn’t yet understand how technology would evolve. The same kind of gold rush energy is swirling around AI today (but that’s another story).

Now, the internet has matured. You no longer need deep technical knowledge to carve out a space for yourself online. From mom-and-pop shops to agencies, e-commerce stores, blogs, and creative portfolios, the tools have evolved to make launching a site easy and affordable.

Why start with a personal website or blog?

Here’s a quick exercise: Have you ever Googled yourself?

If you have, you know the results can be random — an old yearbook photo, a LinkedIn profile you barely update, or nothing at all. The truth is, you don’t have much control over what shows up unless you actively publish something about yourself.

Here’s why that matters: your employer might Google you before an interview. A potential customer might look you up after hearing your name. A stranger with an opportunity — a speaking gig, a collaboration, a job lead — might check to see if you’re legit. What they find will shape what happens next.

If you own your domain and have your own site, you can put your best foot forward. You can highlight your work, share your perspective, and invite people to contact you. Instead of leaving it up to chance, you broadcast who you are and what you do — on your terms.

Personal websites are more than “about me” pages

A personal site can be:

• A portfolio of your work — design, writing, photography, code

• A blog — sharing stories, tutorials, or insights from your life or profession

• A landing page — pointing people to your projects, events, or social media

• A digital résumé — always accessible, always up to date

Blogs, in particular, are still powerful. They help you build authority, connect with like-minded people, and even make money through ads, sponsorships, or selling products. They also give you long-term search visibility — something social media posts rarely do.

And unlike social media accounts, your website is a home base no one can take away. Algorithms can change overnight, accounts can get suspended, and audiences can vanish with the click of a corporate policy update. Your site is yours for as long as you keep paying the rent (hosting fees).

Online in an afternoon: Namecheap + EasyWP

If you’ve got $10 a month, you can have your own site without touching a line of code.

First, some terminology:

• Domain name – This is your website’s address on the internet (like yourname.com). When someone types it into their browser, it points them to your site.

• WordPress – This is the software that powers your site. It’s like the engine in a car — it makes everything run and lets you add pages, posts, images, and design without knowing how to code.

Here’s how to get set up:

1. Buy your domain name – Go to Namecheap and search for the name you want (e.g., yourname.com). Expect to pay $10–15/year.

2. Set up hosting – With Namecheap’s EasyWP, you can launch a managed WordPress site in a few clicks. It’s beginner-friendly, fast, and costs around $9.99/month.

3. Pick a theme – WordPress has thousands of free and paid themes. Start with a free one like “Astra” or “GeneratePress.”

4. Add your pages – At minimum: Home, About, Contact, and Blog.

5. Write your first post – Don’t overthink it. Introduce yourself, explain what your site will be about, and invite readers to connect.

6. Customize over time – Add images, tweak colors, try plugins (SEO tools, contact forms, photo galleries).

If you want a simple, step-by-step walkthrough of WordPress basics, check out the free Beginner WordPress User course from WordPress.org. It’s designed for complete beginners and will help you feel confident managing your site.

This setup is fast enough to have you online in an afternoon — but flexible enough to grow into something bigger.

Resources for other common site types

• E-commerce store: Shopify — large community, proven tools. Tutorial: Shopify Tutorial For Beginners 2025 – Set up Your Store in 10 Minutes.

• Portfolio site: Squarespace or Wix — drag-and-drop, great for visual work.

• Community forum: Discourse — for creating a private or public discussion space.

The bottom line: The web is no longer a gated playground for coders and big brands. It’s open real estate, and the best time to claim your plot is before you need it. Whether you use it as a blog, a portfolio, or a launchpad for your ideas, your own website puts you in control — and for less than the cost of one fancy dinner a year.

The only question left is: when someone Googles you tomorrow, do you want them to find what’s out there now… or what you’ve chosen to show them?

💌 If this made you want to snag your own dot com, share it with a friend before they beat you to it.