Many new bloggers have never heard of branding or don’t know exactly what branding means. Being the founder of a non-profit, I had to build a brand from scratch that became recognizable on a national level. I did a great deal of research about branding as well as, years of trial and error. So, when I changed my life course and started my blog, I was ahead of the branding game.
What is branding and why do you need it?
Branding is the creation of a name, symbol, color combination, etc. that represents your product. You need it so that your brand is instantly recognizable and differentiated from all other similar products. For a blogger, you are your product, your blog is your product in order to get noticed you want your blog to stand out from the others. Branding helps do this.
Blog Name
The most important step in branding is to pick a name. You need a name that reflects what your blog is about but is easy to remember. You also want a name that is available as a domain name, which is why using a .co domain is preferable to a legacy domain, which may not have many names left that you want to use. In addition, you still get the global reach and a short, catchy domain. Pick one that will allow your blog to change and grow without needing to rebrand. You don’t want to name your blog “Food Forever” unless you are only planning to write about food. Also, try not to limit yourself by getting too cutesy or strange with your blog name such as “PrincessPoptart” unless you are trying to appeal to a specific audience that will understand the joke. “Ironic” blog titles are not a thing when it comes to mass appeal.
In order to name your blog, you need to know what you are going to blog about. Is it going to be a pet blog or a parenting blog? Is it going to be very specific blogging about staycations in your state or traveling the world? Is it going to be about writing or street art? Is it going to be about cooking tips or just rambling thoughts? You have to figure out what you want to blog about. Remember it needs to be something you are excited to write about and post weekly or more.
Now that you have decided what topic/topics you want to cover in your blog it’s time to start figuring out your name.
Take a sheet of paper and write down words that represent your blog topic. This is a great time to pull out your thesaurus.
Take another sheet and write down words that represent you.
This should give you a good starting point for a name. Choose several names from the lists of words and search them on the internet. Make sure no one else is using the name. If you find a name that someone else is using or sounds similar than cross it off your list. Once you have done this you want to look up available domain names to make sure your name is available. You want your blog name available to be your domain name.
This is where I am hosted. I have been hosted here for over 15 years with various websites I have managed. They offer free hosting for non-profits and several levels of hosting for businesses and individuals. They have excellent support and I recommend them to everyone. No, they did not pay me to say it. I just really like Dreamhost.
Coming Next Week Part 2 – The Look
This is a very important subject and conversation. So many begin in a certain niche and end up finding their passion in another area. So a lot of thought, like you say, needs to go into the brand name and logo.
So true. I have seen people who are too specific to a niche who had to rebrand because their life situation changed. Re branding can often cost followers.
The Blogger’s Pit Stop will feature this post on Friday. Congratulations on a quality post.
Kathleen
Blogger’s Pit Stop
Wow!! Thanks !!
the idea and then the things blogger need can get it from reading the post thank you for the info
This article is so accurate about branding yourself and names. I’ve seen a successful blogger change the name of her blog to reflect a change in life, and she lost everyone. I still remember her original name from over ten years ago but not the new changed name.