Our next step is to figure out your name.Your brand.
Your essence.
This step is all about brainstorming.
Even though you might be super motivated to start blogging ASAP – it is imperative to find the right name.
You’ve already asked yourself the following questions:
What are you hoping to blog about?
Who is the ideal audience that you’d like to write for?
What type of blog are you hoping to write?
Jot down the answers to these questions on a piece of paper and see if common words keep arising. Is there a theme?
Play around with possible theme titles — or you can even throw in those common words into
this nifty website, and it will come up with several possibilities for you – and let you know if the address is available. It’s free, and fun.
I’d suggest coming up with at least 3 possibilities during this brainstorming session. 3?!? — yes. And here’s why:
Not every blog name is going to work.
Really analyze each possible name, and ask yourself these questions:
1. IS THE BLOG NAME EASY TO SAY, REMEMBER, AND SPELL?
Reason being – you don’t want to have to spell out your blog’s name each time you tell someone. I also don’t really recommend using numbers in your blog’s name, unless you’re willing to say “that’s three as in the number, not spelled out.” each time.
If your name is Sarah, for example, it might be tricky to have people know the spelling of your site. They might type in Sara, without an H.
If having your name, or words that might have confusing spelling, is essential – then I would think about purchasing the other ways to spell it. So if you wanted SarahSellsSeaShells.com, I’d also look into purchasing SaraSellsSeaShells.com. It means double the work up front, but that way your readers will be properly directed towards your site – even if they know the correct spelling or not.
2. DOES A DOMAIN JUST LIKE IT ALREADY EXIST?
You might think you have hit the blog name jackpot – it’s clever, easy to spell and remember, and totally showcases the essence of your blog. But guess what, someone already has that blog name. Or maybe they have something that is JUUUUUST like it, and it might be confusing to distinguish from the two. Remember, you are unique, and you want your blog title to be the same.
Also, you’ll want to be careful that you don’t go anywhere near a product or page that is officially trademarked. Lawsuits wouldn’t be fun at all, right?
3. WILL IT STAND THE TEST OF TIME?
For example, my blog, Tall Mom tiny baby – is catchy. It’s easy to spell, easy to say, and easy to remember. My biggest drawback is that I currently have 2 children….so maybe my blog should have been called Tall Mom tiny babies…but then again I have a toddler and a baby…and one day that baby won’t even be a baby!
I thought about rebranding, but have already established myself as Tall Mom tiny baby for so long, that it would be difficult to do it by this point. Plus, the topics that I write about are still about being a mom, and I do still have a baby. Maybe one day I will find the need to rebrand, but I don’t see that happening anytime in the near future.After you’ve figured out what blog name you’d like, and you’ve made sure that it doesn’t already exist, there’s just one more thing to check — to see if you can also grab the social media handles under the same name! If you don’t care about social media, and can’t wait to start blogging — hurry up and head to GoDaddy.com to scoop up your URL. It’s super easy to use, and I’ll have a post all about it coming out next week, but if you’re rip ready to go, I can appreciate that!
Otherwise, stay tuned for tomorrow’s post on social media handles.
If you already have a blog, how did you come to your blog’s name?
Talk soon, friends!
Mary
