Blogs: What's In a Name

A Novice’s Guide to Blogging: What’s In a Name

The first post in this series introduce novices to blogging. The second explains why your key emphasis should always be on blog article content, with a strong suggestion to keep your content related to your blog’s title.

Since readers do not skip the blog title and dive straight into your story, having a descriptive but brief title is critical to getting folks to read further. This post focuses on crafting that title.

Businesses have it easy in this respect. Libby’s Pottery Place can have an online store selling handmade pottery creations and a website devoted to her craft. Naming her blog, Libby’s Pottery Place Blog lets her write about new topics she’s interested while retaining her business identity.

But if Libby wants to write about another passion—like finding homes for lost and unwanted pets—she is better off creating a separate, distinct blog for that purpose.

Pick Your Name Carefully

As stated in an earlier post, your blog’s name should reflect its core subject. If you want to cover multiple subjects, don’t fret: create more blogs.

Libby could name her pet blog, “All I Want is a Loving Home.” Combined with a photo of a sorrowful dog or cat, readers quickly understand that the blog is about pets, not home repairs.

Other key points in picking your blog’s name are:

· Keep it short, simple and easy to remember. Libby wants you to know she sells pottery. Using her name plus the alliterative (the first letters have the same sounds) phrase “Pottery Place” achieve that goal. Naming her blog “All About Raku” does not help those who do not know this a type of pottery glaze, nor will it help people find Libby’s pottery products.

· Use the same name as your website if your website already exists. If that blog’s name is taken at one provider, find another one where it is still available. For example, there might already be a Libby’s Pottery Place at blogger.com, but not at posterous.com.

· If you create your blog first, give your website the same name. The idea is to make it easy for customers to remember you. If they remember you, they know where to go when it’s time to purchase your products or services.

· Pick a name that relates to your primary topic. Calling your blog, “The Elephant’s Ear” does not scream that it’s about Republican Party politics. Calling it “United Republicans of My County” does.

· Avoid acronyms and jargon at all cost. Remember, the goal here is to attract new people who are unfamiliar with you. Instead of “George Shaw, LLC, Inc.,” consider “Making Sense of Limited Liability Investing Partnerships.”

Next up: writing your first post.