If you are keen to set up a new blog you are probably already aware of the most difficult part of the process... deciding what to call your blog.
At worst, a bad name will put people off ever going to your blog, while a great name will mean people are more likely to engage with you and revisit your site again and again and again.
I come across all sorts of blog names in my search travels that you may, or may not, find inspiring:
- some unusual "Alcatraz Gardens",
- some funny "Chook Minder's Quill",
- some clever "Paris (im) perfect",
- some self-deprecating "Dear Stupid Blog",
- some nonsensical "Flibbertygibbet",
- some straightforward, "Memoirs of a Food and Travel Addict",
- and some rather snappy, "The Pop Cop".
We have all heard some good advice for choosing a name that is unique, creative, descriptive and memorable. Which is your favourite blog name? I think the most successful name of the above examples is "Paris (Im)perfect", short and attention-grabbing but has some meaning to it beyond the obvious.
Put simply, I think the common factor of the greatest blog names are those that give me, a new reader, an instant insight into the person behind the blog before I have even visited the blog.
Chris G. points out that naming a blog with the SEO formulaic domain name of "keyword+blog" is in the long term a disingenuous strategy, people don't search for 'anything blog' unless they are looking for your blog already and, let's face it, you are not going to come across as all that likable if you are only after search rankings.
Google is also onto the old keyword domain stratagem, saying that they will reduce the ranking power they once had over other domain names.
Also don't think you can get around having a domain name that is search engine optimised with keyword laden terms and then having a different blog name on the page itself. Having a different blog name to your domain name is confusing for searchers who only remember one or the other.
Instead, put SEO on the backbench and build a blog name as a brand name. Aaron Wall from SEO book has long since noticed that Google likes strong brands. A great blog name has character. And with a good brand comes loyal regular readership and ultimately steady reliable advertising revenue. Most of all have fun choosing a name that reflects what you are about not just what you want to rank for (everything in good balance though).
The advice of an SEO hero for the blog naming process: put yourself in the position of someone who has never visited your site, would you go there based just on the blog name and would you be able to go back there easily should you like what you find?
If Alexander had a blog what would he have named it in order to put it on the path to victory?
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