A domain name is one that uniquely identifies your blog.In Kenya,Kenic is the only organization mandated with the registration of domain names, which means every domain name with abbreviations .co.ke must be registered by Kenic.There are few things new and experienced Kenyan bloggers may not be aware of, perhaps no one has ever told you.
It’s exceedingly important to have a .com domain name. I think you have observed that top bloggers like Cyprian Nyakundi and Robert Alai,Kenya Today, Kenyan Post and a host of other bloggers have their domain names registered outside the country. You will notice that the domain names end with .com.It’s not by coincidence that they are registered this way, the bloggers know something.
When your domain name ends with .co.ke,it means the existence of your blog is under the mercy of the government. If you provoke the government beyond boundaries ,it can influence deletion of your domain from the system. I remember in 2015,a friend registered a domain name with abbreviations .co.ke.He posted several articles attacking the government. One day he woke up and found his domain deleted. He had no choice but to build another site with a .com domain.
When you register your domain name that features .com abbreviations, it means the Kenyan government won’t influence your content. The worst the government can do is to take you to court.
I think you have noticed that I also own venasnews.com and fixusjobs.com.These two blogs were created as a backup, just in case the worst happens, I would fall back to them.I rarely update venasnews.com but it has nice content, I seldom update fixusjobs.com.As a blogger, this is the strategy you should employ, especially if you want to survive in blogging for long.
I would also advise you not to register a .com domain in Kenya.I suggest you register it with Bluehost,a company located in the US.You can click here to register.The domain registration cost is Ksh1,500,which won’t affect your pockets.
