Mistakes that I Made: What Not to Name Your Blog
“This post “What NOT to Name Your Blog | 10 Steps To Choosing Your Blog Name” was inspired and sponsored by Domain.ME, the provider of the personal domains that end in .ME. As a company, they aim to promote thought leadership to the tech world. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”
Blog naming mistakes: What NOT to do when naming your blog
As you know, I have been blogging for 7+ years. When I chose my blog name back in 2009, I didn’t really do any research. I just decided to start a blog, tried to think of a catchy name that said “Women over 45” and “Me”, and named it “Still Blonde after all these Years” as I was inspired by the Paul Simon song “Still Crazy after all these YEARS”. So much for using my MBA knowledge, right?
After I named my blog, I realized that I had made many mistakes in my name. Here’s what NOT to name your blog:
- Don’t have a blog name that is TOO long — Still Blonde after all these Years has 34 letters. It might not seem like much to type but imagine if your name was 34 letters long…you get the point.
- Don’t have a blog name where the spelling isn’t clear — The “Blonde” in my blog name has always given me fits. Blonde and Blond are pronounced the same. I always have to spell it for others. If people can’t spell your personal domain, they can’t get to your site!
- Don’t have a blog name that is a made up word — If you are the next “Google” or “Yelp” you can introduce a new word via your blog title and make it work via a huge advertising budget. Otherwise, simple words in the language of use are more easily remembered.
- Don’t choose a blog name that no one can pronounce — A foreign word, a complex word or phrase may help you to stand out or it may make you forgettable.
- Don’t pick a blog name that limits you — unless you want to rename/rebrand often. Choosing something like Dad of 2 rascals (and then you have 3 more rascals) will make your title irrelevant fast.
- Don’t forget to consider social media — is the name you are choosing available across all platforms and are there enough characters to spell it out on the social media site and in the social media site url? I had to shorten my blog name in the url for most social media sites because they didn’t allow 34 characters. For example, I had to use http://pinterest.com/stillblondeaaty and no one understands what stillblondeaaty means.
- Don’t get too sassy with your name — Consider carefully when using curse words, vulgarities, current “cool” words, or any name that is in your face. This might work for a handful of people who can carry it off over time but many of us decide to monetize our blogs, sponsors hesitate on any name that is dicey. Your online reputation matters as you build your blog. Consider your purpose carefully as you create your online business.
- Don’t back into your domain name — One of the biggest mistakes people make when launching their website is to back into a domain name by adding hyphens and getting creative with spellings in order to find an available .com. A company called Domain.ME is a top-level domain provider and the .ME extension offers the flexibility to create clever, memorable online destinations. That’s part of why .ME domains are so great – there is a much larger pool of clever available domain names – while having all the same SEO benefits and value as the more traditional domains, such as a .COM.
10 Steps To Choosing Your Blog Name
Being sure to incorporate the wisdom of the “What NOT to Name Your Blog” above, here’s 10 steps to choosing your blog name:
- Keep your blog name short, simple, easy, clear, free of offense, and pronounceable.
- Your blog name should make sense to other people (sponsors, readers, people who search and land on your site, etc.)
- Check all social media sites to ensure you can claim them under your blog name of choice and you that don’t have to shorten or abbreviate.
- Create clever, memorable online personal blog names that don’t involve convoluted spellings or hyphens. This can easily be done by considering a unique, safe identity online with a domain ending in .ME. .ME domain names are also very popular among the global startup scene for the many meanings .ME carries and the opportunity to get a short, highly-branded, and memorable domain name with a personal feel to it.
- Choose a blog name that is representative of what you’re offering.
- Pick a personal domain name with an intuitive URL that people can remember when they inevitably lose your business card.
- Identify a blog name that will make sense as you grow and evolve.
- Alliteration can be your best friend when choosing a blog name. My friend’s blog name is “Keenly Kristin”. Another blogger friend uses “Simply Stacie”. The double letters in the words (K or S) are memorable.
- Consider using your own name. You will always be YOU. You can grow, switch your subjects and/or become an authority on various topics but You will always be YOU.
- Select a name you can say out loud without being embarrassed. I can’t tell you how many bloggers hate saying their blog name out loud.
Here’s a bit more assistance in choosing your blog name
Domain.ME offers highly valuable, reserved premium domain names, which naturally create calls-to- action and catchy marketing messages due to their memorability and meaning. Have you seen all of our Domain.Me posts or our last Domain.ME ?
Use the widget below to explore available names and the world of .ME domain.
Just type in any name that you can imagine and see if it’s available on .ME!
For example, try typing something like YourName (substitute your own) to see if yourname.Me is available or get creative with a .Me title to search!
Did you find the .ME you were looking for in the widget below?
[dotme_search size=”300×320″][/dotme_search]
Good tips! Thanks