There are a number of different ways to select a good name for your blog, here are my suggestions on selecting a name you will love in years to come.
A good website name is easy to spell, short and memorable. I often try to revisit a website I liked a few days or months later but can’t remember the name of it. It’s good to put yourself in your user’s shoes and think about how you want them to remember you.
Your name as the blog name
Personal branding experts love recommending you use your own name for your blog. This method works well if you are or aspire to be a famous author, speaker, professional authority or content matter expert. Using your own name is good for showcasing your portfolio and networking – so it’s almost essential for anyone in digital marketing, graphic design, web design, freelancing, etc.
On the downside, this doesn’t work well if you might want to change your name in the future (you might get divorced or married) etc. If your name is difficult to spell people might find it hard to search for you. In my opinion, it’s harder to recruit guest writers to a personal named website.
If there is the possibility of selling your blog at a later date, then the new owner won’t want content that has been written from a personal tone or to be associated with a single person.
Blog topic as the blog name
It’s popular to name your blog something related to the topic you wish to talk about. This is great if it’s based on your profession or a hobby or something else that you are passionate about.
If you use your location in the blog name then it limits what you can talk about, but may give you a good basis for your target audience. (Think LondonerInSydney.com)
However, this naming strategy can be bad if you decided you want to write about a different topic area. This often happens when someone becomes a parent and they decide they want to write about that. It’s not a wise choice if you are the type of person who might lose interest in one topic area and move on to something else every couple of months or years.
Business name as the blog name
If you have or want to create a business off the back of your blog, then it can be named after your business. If it’s a new business, then you might want to search your local business register to see if the name is available.
Other naming strategies
You might like to name your blog based on your favourite food, song, phrase or slogan. You could invent a new word (Google) or slightly change the spelling of a word (like Dribble). I like names that are a mishmash of two unrelated terms.
Blog naming process
The process of naming your blog is similar to naming a business:
- Brainstorm your ideas and create a list of all possibilities.
- Create a short list of blog names that resonate with you.
- Test the names out with friends and family.
- Google the short-list of names and also check they have no double meaning on Urban Dictionary.
- Select a name.
- Register the domain name in your country.
If all else fails, you can always start again with a new blog name and move all of your content over – but this is a huge task which may break all your links and images if you aren’t careful.
Start your blog with the right name and you’ll be easy to find again!
Find out more about useful tips to run your blog here:
