For seriousness, this is just about the most fun part of blogging. I mean, I love the blogging, don’t get me wrong, but picking a blog name is REALLY fun. Sometimes, I do it, in my head, just for giggles. But, it’s also serious business. You want the right thing–and lots of people get hung-up on on picking the website’s name and get stuck. I don’t want that for you, my lovelies. No, this is How to Name Your Blog–because, sometimes, it’s just better to know what to do. LOL!
What You Name Your Blog Is Important
One word, friends: Branding.
See, it’s like this. If you take my blog for example, NerdyMamma, you know I’m a nerd, my content will be slightly nerdtastic and that it will have a parenting-bent. But, it’s open enough that I can get away with all sorts of things (including a “how to blog” series, heh).
So, yeah, don’t pick something like: “AsianCuisineinaWok.com” that’s a little too narrow, because people will see the name and think that all you’re going to post about is Asian food you cook in a wok. They won’t understand that you also plan to do cookies and some photography and maybe a little travel blogging.
Seriously, think about what you’re going to do and try to make sure your first step, branding, is totally clear.
Now, on to the meat of this: How to Pick Your Blog’s Name…
How to Name Your Blog
- Start with YOU. You can’t write a blog post without a little of you leaking through. That’s just a basic truth of writing. So, start with what you like, what you plan to write, what you want to turn this into. For example, I knew from the very beginning that I couldn’t NOT be nerdy. So, I knew that would have to bleed into my branding–and thus my name. Build from your personality–even using your name (see #2 below)–to start with the name to let the blog’s
- Brainstorm Ideas. Keep ’em simple, short, easy to remember, and fun. Unless you’re writing about a serious topic. In which case, simple, short, easy to remember and serious. Either way, come up with at least 10, in order from favorite to least-favorite, so you know what your options are. What you can live with, basically. Because once you pick it–you’re most likely NOT going to want to change it (because it’s a pain in the butt to change a blog’s name, trust me).
- See What’s Available. So, I usually start by just Googling the domain I want. Yeah–and if it pops-up as a website that someone else is running, I just move on to choice number 2. If I’m lucky enough to find that it’s not someone else’s, then I run my idea through Bluehost, to see if the domain is available. Because, sometimes someone has it, they just don’t have their site up (or they want to sell it, which I usually can’t afford, so there’s that–LOL!).
My Best Advice for Naming Your Blog?
Sleep on it.
Don’t shoot from the hip. Really think about it and get input from those closest to you (your mom, husband, dad, brother, whoever will listen to you). Make sure they think it’s all the things you think are important to your brand and you.
Do you have any tips for How to Name Your Blog? Be sure to share below! And pin this post so that you can come back and look again when you’re building your next blog! LOL!