This is going to be a big big big one. I’ve decided to have a more professional domain for this blog of mine (from http://www.michaelaulia.com/blogs to http://www.cravingtech.com). It’s grown into what I call a “Monster”. I’ve never thought that this blog:
- Has become one of the greatest technology blog (hey, some people told me this)
- Finally focusing on Technology (and a bit of blogging guides/tips still..)
- Would ever have a PageRank of 3 and Alexa rank of 56k.
- Got noticed by Darren Rowse and John Chow once (thanks to my “ultimate” blog post about being yourself)
- Has made a good relationship between myself and great technology vendors such as Microsoft, Razer, Logitech, Kingston, HP, Dyson, and many others.
- Now has over 500 RSS subscribers.
- Ranked #20 in Australia.
- Chosen as the finalist of the Best Geek Blog over Asia Pacific! (my recent and biggest surprise).
Its new home will be cravingtech.com/blog.
Honestly speaking, I was a bit scared to take this approach but thanks to Arnold Aranez from MrGadget and the support of my friends (I’m sorry I can’t name you all in here), I’ve decided to make this jump. It’s risky but necessary in the long run. The pain is now to do the re-setup of the new site, backing up/restoring WordPress files & database, doing a 301 redirection for the search engine bots, and of course building up the Alexa Rank from the bottom 
Why “Craving Tech”? Well, the other good domain names have already been taken lol, BUT I thought that it’s cool to have a blog that will (hopefully) satisfy your technology cravings 
I’m gonna miss “Michael Aulia’s Blog”.. but it’s always exciting to see what future opportunities await me on cravingtech.com/blog! I’ll update you again when it’s being set-up properly so you can re-update your bookmarks and your RSS feed to the new domain name.
Don’t worry, everything will still be the same. I’m still the owner and I’ll still write my posts with my style of writing, etc
Should I keep the “Tech news, Reviews, and a Geek’s ramblings” or change it to “Satisfy your technology cravings” or something?
Comments? Hate this change? Love it?
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
Go Go Go !
Go Go Go “CravingTech”! :p
well, if you really want to go in that direction it’s fine, but you may loose a nice amount of traffic and the whole personal effect your blog has.
Megaphase.info´s last blog ..Battlefield 2142
Well the traffic should roughly stay the same since I’ll do a redirection
i disagree with MegaPhase. This is the way to go. Personally, i would think that something appropriate like craving tech will be fit for your blog. Don’t abandon this domain all together, make it as your personal blog. It’s a shame to let go this domain. Maybe you can go into live blogging, it’s quite popular in my blogging community nowadays. You can blog live from conferences you attend, any meetup you went and others. Good luck with cravingtech.com/blog and let us know when it’s up and running so that I can RSS feed you!
Yeah I’m keeping my own domain (I’ve got my personal email address there anyway). Probably going to just put a portfolio page..don’t think I’m going to do a personal blog here
But we’ll see heh
Thanks buddy, I’ll certainly let everyone know. I’m pretty sure I’ll lose some amount of RSS subcsriber counts, but that means they are not genuine anyway
I am firm and still consider this step as unnecessary. i never recommend Flipping as a good choice. unless you are flipping there is no need to change your personal brand.
How to Make Money with blog´s last blog ..Get OIO Publisher Plugin in just $27 [Original Price $47]
Well in the long run when I decide to stop blogging, I can at least “sell” or hand it over to someone else. If it’s tied to my personal name, I can’t do that
OH…
Great news… HOpe Craving Tech reach more heights and success…
All the best!
Nihar´s last blog ..Watch The Office Season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Episodes Online | Download The Office Season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Episodes Torrents
Thanks Nihar!
Sounds exciting and also a cool name you came up with. I’m looking forward to seeing it in action.
Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Top 10 Gadgets I Want For Christmas – And Maybe You Would Too?
Well it’ll still be the same thing and all, just the domain name/brand being changed
I’m thinking to switch to Thesis though, in hope that it’ll give me more search engine visitors as it promises
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is the same blog, under a new domain?
To comment on what Megaphase said, it’s really not that big of a deal (granted this old domain still forwards to the new site, and that the new site retains all your old subscribers).
Best of luck, mate!
Salem´s last blog ..Google.com
Yup, all the same, just under a new domain. I’ll make sure all the forwarding (301) goes fine so fingers crossed!
Hey, this is the time for change, to make your brand name. First is a pro domain, second is a writing group, and finally is a business don’t you
Van´s last blog ..Auslogics Disk Defrag 3.0.3
lol I know.. a step to become a millionaire? lol
1) It was a small mistake when you started with a domain having your name.
2) It was a big mistake that you decided to continue with it even when you started to think seriously about blogging.
3) I feel its a bigger mistake that you have decided to move into a new domain after all the hard work.
Trust me, domain name matters the least. You have built a brand out of your name. People around the world identify you cos of your blog. Most probably, those big IT companies associate with you for the same reason. Having 500 subscribers, 56k Alexa rank and PR3 is nothing in Tech niche. Give it a second thought.
I know, Raju
All your points are correct. But I guess it’s even a bigger mistake knowing all of these, and still staying on the “fault” boat 
Hopefully more private advertisers and vendors will contact me since the domain will look much more professional than before
Congrats Michael, good work with your blog!!
Thanks ben, and good to know that you are still alive even when I rarely post about games anymore
I don’t know but I think that it is big mistake since you are going to loose your page rank and all the back links you have before.
Diabetis´s last blog ..Monogenic, The Third Type of Diabetes
I won’t lose the pagerank and links as I’ll do a 301 Redirection. So Google will “forward” me all the juices to the new domain. The Alexa Rank will have to start from “zero” though
(or millions)
Michael, it’s a brave move and I know you got a good plan on it. Don’t worry what other people say because only you know what you need to do. Keep up the good work and wish you a great success in your new blog.
Lee|Money4Invest´s last blog ..This Is It – Michael Jackson | King Of Pop
Haven’t got a real plan for it yet lol but as you said, in the future, I’m very confident it will pay off. Thank you for your support and hoping for the best
Tell the truth, I gonna miss “Michael Aulia’s Blog” too. In the mean time, I have great feeling that you will archive more and greater success with your new domain.
Hopefully as good as MyTechQuest
It is surely a great leap. Hope your blog will be better after that.
Dana @ Online Knowledge´s last blog ..Atahualpa 3.4.4 Configuration
very good move indeed, but hope you not leave this domain,
keep writing in this domain with other materials..
Don’t worry, I’ll keep it
$5-7 a month to keep it, it’s not much at all!
Not sure whether I’m going to write in this domain though. Too much things to do, so little time!
hm..
now I have to associate you with cravingtech when I want to see your blog (or when I want to call you..=D)
Before I just need to remember your full name to open your blog and voila.. there it is..
anyway.. good luck for the new domain..
i’m sure it’s gonna be bigger than ever…
Hehe don’t worry, I still have my old domain. So if you forget about the craving tech, just come to my personal URL and go from there
Hey Michael,
I am proud of you taking this step. Over the years we’ve had many discussions about you creating a brand that was sellable and marketable and this is it.
Despite what some of your other friends are saying, if you put in the same amount of work as you did on your old personal domain, I am highly confident that this site / domain will out-perform the old in record time. The beauty about all this, is you have experience and know exactly what it takes to get your blog to a pro-level.
On top of all this you have the support of your friends and readers. I for one am here to help you in any way I can – as long as you don’t take away the coveted Nuffnang Best Geek Blog Award next year
Kidding. Seriously let me know ok? It’s in my interest that you make it to the next Nuffnang Awards – who else will I hang out with and spend copious amounts of money on gadgets!!?
Again, congrats and I hereby commission CRAVINGTECH.COM ready to set sail * smashes bottle of Jim Beam Bourbon on the side of ship *
See you at the top
Best regards,
Arnold aka Mr.Gadget
Thanks, Arnold. Hope we can see each other again next year
and yeah, looking forward for Craving Tech’s future woot woot
Good move.Seem i also need to change my blog name.
Oh my. Well. I do not remember if this was a previous post or a comment you made on one of your previous posts, but I remember you saying a long time ago how you were sad that your domain name was Michael Aulia, and how someone reassured you that you only had to look at Darren Rowse to see that your (personal) name *can* become your brand, and your identity *can* become more than just “the author of that blog” (which is now what your identity will surely become because of the title Craving Tech). Alas, it seems that even after all these months, your “sadness” has won over.
It is true of course (and I doubt any of us will deny) that you are not exactly as famous as Darren Rowse and John Chow, but *I* personally felt that michaelaulia.com was the perfect domain name for your blog. It allowed me to *immediately* associate the blog with the person writing it, rather than viewing the blog as if it was written by some vague unknown computer robot. It made reading the blog personal to the reader, and it made readers a bit more focused on your personality and not just the content, which, as you know, is not always of little importance. Now, even the “personal” is gone from your slogan/tagline/sub title. =( When thinking of “Craving Tech”, I feel like the person behind the words whom I’ve gotten to know so well and who has been a much bigger factor in reading your blog than the content of it was; is gone.
I can of course see exactly why a “better” title and domain name for your blog would be a temptation for you. Craving Tech automatically creates a brand, automatically replaces “personal” with “professional”, and is truly a great title that people can remember, refer to, and speak to their friends about.
I say “temptation” because you weren’t in real need of a new domain name; you were doing very well in your content part and having a personality behind the words part. MichaelAulia.com was how all of your readers knew your blog by and referred to it… and I just can’t see how a new domain name will attract a whole new horde of visitors. After all, it was your content that attracted people to your site in the first place, not your blog name. I really doubt that when people Google and see your article, neither Craving Tech nor Michael Aulia will make an impression on them. They are focused solely on the blog post and what it has to offer, not how professional the name sounds.
I can see how *you* might see how this will help you, and truly can’t decide which side of the “debate” to take. I’ll just wish you the best of luck with your shiny new domain name – hopefully it will bring you success!
Thanks for your feedback, buddy. It was a hard decision for me too but I realized and knew for sure that it will be best to make this move. I won’t be blogging forever, so one day I might have to sell away this blog or hand it over to other people
You have said earlier that you regretted choosing your name as the name of your blog.I still your name,mainly because a number of people will recognize you by your name.There are so many technology blogs with keywords,but at the end of the day,you won’t be remembering all,even if you would like to.But,you developed the popularity with your name which is quite remarkable and perhaps even unique.
Whatever be your final decision,make sure that you don’t regret it.