For all blog platforms, even if you choose a hosted blog platform, you want a domain name. Rather telling people to go to myblog.mybloghost.com, you want a shorter and easier to remember name. If you can’t host your blog on your own domain, at least redirect the domain to the hosted blog domain.
It just looks more professional. After all, you are running a business.
Forget all the cheesy suggestion of obtaining a long and keyword full domain name. It used to work, but now search engines know better. It only contributes a small fraction point to your ranking, if at all.
In fact, using a short domain name gives you benefits. It is easier to remember and tell your friends about. Shorter name is easier to remember. If all you target is search engine traffic and regular readers who consume your RSS feeds, then domain name matter less.
Here are important factors to consider when choosing a domain name: