Picking a Domain Name is Hard - Here's How I Did It

pattyparobek.blogspot.com is my current domain name. 

It's not very original.

It's not very catchy.

It doesn't feel... I don't know? Real?

I need an actual domain name for a few different reasons:

1.  I want it to look more like a real blog, and the first step of that to me is finding some actual internet real estate.  
2.  I want to measure the impact of what will happen to my organic rankings and traffic when I change my domain (I am an SEO nerd, afterall). 
3. I'm actually not crazy about the fact that some of the things I write about show up for my actual name (still trying to figure out real vs professional Patty)
4.  The list seemed incomplete without a 4th item

Here's what I did:

Defined what I wanted to write about:
Basically I wanted to write about work, life, random things, myself, my family - a personal blog - so the blog had to have a  personal name.

Brainstormed a ton of words and phrases that I felt defined something consistent about my blog post topics, or that defined the overall content I considered writing.  
Here's the output of that madness (and yes, Brett definitely helped):

persuitofpattyness
constantlyevolving
onmyjourney
mypersuit
myjourney
onmyway
inprogress
in development
pattyinprogress
myselfinprogress
persuitofprogress
alwaysaspiring
constantaspire
aspiretoideal
bemyown ideal
myownideal
in process
continuing
growing
advancing
evolving
heading
marching
unfinished
continuous
ongoing
underway
advancing
moving
womaninprogress
aspiringwoman
womaninpersuit
ongoingwoman
womanonmyway
aspiringwoman
ambitious lady
businesswoman
ambitious but incomplete
ladyinprogress
womaninprogress
ladyinprogress
ambitioninprogress
ambitionongoing
determined
aspiring
climbing
high reaching
striving
this is life
inspiredlady
good intentions
purposeful
striving
thirsty
never satisfied
happywoman
womanunscripted
unscripted
un finished
life unfinished
impromtu
andthenlifehappens
what happens next
compells to keep going
dwelling more
thirsty
ambitionunscripted
passion
unscriptedwoman
randomwoman
ladybrain
ambitioncalling
ladyinpursuit
ladybrainunscripted
experiences
pursuit
search
hunt
seeking
happening
embracing life
justgowithit
enjoying the ride
whatistarted
ladybrainunscripted
ramblingsofalady
acccount
log
notebook
agenda
chronicle
daybook
minutes
daily record
babble
drivel
chatter
prattle
ladybabble
ambitiousHer

ambitiousShe
shesearches
shebabbles 

shechatters
Lifemine
persuitsuit
ladyship

Next, I narrowed down the list into maybe the top 25 words or so, and plugged them into a blog domain name generator (Not that fruitful of an idea, really, but I wanted more options).  I used http://www.namemesh.com and http://spinxo.com/blog-names.

Frustrated at this point, I finally researched how to pick a good blog name.
https://www.nosegraze.com/how-to-choose-a-good-blog-name/
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/the-7-characteristics-of-good-domain-names/

Curious, I looked at the top Mommy Blogs, to get ideas on structure.
http://www.parenting.com/article/top-10-best-mommy-blogs-2013

Finally, I threw out everything, and listened to my husband ("What was that first one that you said?")  Brett has a habit of being right all the time.  The first one was personal, catchy, easy to remember, and embodied something that was constant about me - I'm always on a pursuit of some sort.  I'm always trying to find the next thing, and am constantly in progress.  I'm constantly learning, growing and changing.

So next time I write, it will be hopefully from my new domain name: www.pursuitofpattyness.com