I received some emails asking if I had any tips on starting a blog. I started out writing a post but this one topic ran away with me so I decided to give it its own space. Its also quite interesting 🙂
If you’re thinking of starting a blog, choosing your blog name and blog address is the hardest part of the venture. You can’t start inputting content till you have a domain name! At this time, many names and combinations of names are already taken so you do have to be a little more creative. I know a few of you may already be blogging or thinking of starting a new blog, or concentrating on a particular niche, or even thinking of starting a beauty blog (welcome to the party!)
Here are 5 things to think about when choosing your blog name and blog address (domain name). Let me know if any of these crossed your mind when you were choosing your own blog name and URL and if you blog, I’d love to know the history behind your name! 😀
Do you want your blog name to be your blog address or do you prefer that your blog name is different from your blog address?
If you go for the former, don’t make it too long. If you’re thinking of setting a beauty blog think about whether you want it to contain the word “beauty”, “beautiful”, “makeup” etc. or if you prefer something generic and unrelated. If you have an existing blog and want to focus on a particular niche e.g. food, lifestyle, beauty etc, you may want to give it a think about whether the niche suits your blog name and address.
Keeping your blog name the same as your domain name (URL address) is very useful. If people can’t remember your blog address they may remember your blog name and use that. That’s the reason I kept my domain name the same as my blog name. You can of course keep it different, especially if you have used your own name as your domain name and don’t want to create a new domain address. So you may want to call your blog “Beauty through my eyes” and blog at janedoe.com. Just be sure that your personality is strong enough so people will remember that your name is your blog URL and not try searching for beautythroughmyeyes.com.
Some of us started out blogging on a personal platform and if you don’t want to start afresh, you may think of concentrating on e.g. beauty. However, if your address and blog name reads “Angry Little Girl” at angrylittlegirl.com its going to be hard for people to take you seriously if you write about food, unless of course, you write from an angry little girl’s point of view. So give a little think about your blog name and address. You only have one stab to get it right! Or many stabs if you keep changing your blog name 😉
Keep it easy to spell and say
Is it something you find easy to introduce to a friend? Are you comfortable saying it aloud? Is it easy to misspell? Is it easy to remember?
In my case, I went for something generic in simple English – My Women Stuff. I drummed it up one day when I needed a domain name, and wanted something short and easy to remember. I wasn’t 100% a beauty blog at that stage (had no plans per se) but the topics I had in mind were definitely tailored for women. So “women” made sense and “stuff” came about because I er… ran out of words and thought “ah… Stuff will do for now” 😛 Not a very romantic explanation but it’ll have to do LOL! 😀 I do realise now that most people think of it in the singular as opposed to the plural so I get searches and people going “Woman Stuff?” and I have to go “Yes, MY WomEn Stuff”. Trips off the tongue? You got the right name 🙂
Avoid strange/unusual spellings of normal words
Yes, you may want to look “kool” but is it a spelling people will immediately associate with the word “cool”? It may help you stand out, but make it too hard to spell and people forget. If they can’t spell your blog address and can’t find your blog, that’s pretty much it. So long! I’m pretty much the same. If I can’t find the blog I want with just a hazy memory of the name, I tend to overlook it. So where possible, try to stick to known spellings. If you blog in English and have a predominantly English-speaking audience, keeping your blog name in English may be advisable (there are of course, exceptions and this is a guide not a rule) The easier it is to spell, the easier it will be for others to remember your blog when they want to visit.
Choose a name that will grow with your blog
Think about it. You maybe a teen now, but having a blog name like “Thoughts of a Teenager” at thotsofateenager.com will last you all of your teen years. Then what? What happens when you grow up? That puts you in a bit of a quandary. Do you start a new blog? Do you have to change your name or even your blog address?
This is also a valid point, in the event you lose interest in your chosen subject matter or want to expand. Can you easily switch it over to something else? Maybe if I one day get tired of being a beauty blog and talking just about beauty all the time, I could switch it up to include more lifestyle topics – test drive some cars (I’d love to do this! :D), talk more about travel and entertainment, review restaurants… some of you may hate it and never come back, but you have to admit, it gives me scope to grow and indulge in more “women stuff” 😉 So don’t think of the now, think of the future too.
Check if your preferred blog address is available as a domain
I say its never too early to start thinking about buying your own domain. It only costs about US$12 or $15 annually and you can host it for free on Blogger or WordPress.com so if you don’t want to spend anymore money, that’s all you’ll spend for your blog.
The reason I say this is because you may have have picked anicecatchyname .blogspot.com or anicecatchyname.wordpress.com for your blog, but when you decide that its time to go dotcom, and you go and check a domain registry, you may find that anicecatchyname.com is already taken. This means that you’re pretty much stuck. Unless you change your blog name and domain name of course.
I hope this helps those of you who are thinking of starting a blog, changing your blog niche, or changing your blog name 🙂 Take some time to work it out. You can’t start blogging until you have an address and a blog name and you pretty much only have one chance to get it right!
Now for those of you who already own a blog, let’s share some stories.
What is your blog name and is it the same as your domain name/address? Was it hard for you to come up with it? Why did you choose it and is it related to your chosen niche? You know my answers so lets hear yours 😀
Paris B
My blog name is the same as my domain now… The name is kinda silly.. I still feel a bit embarrassed when PRs come up to me, and say “Hi Ms Glitzy”. But the upside is it is very easy to remember. I tell everyone around me NEVER to ask me to name anything. LOL. 🙂
Aw I like your blog name! I think “Glitzy” can sum upi your blog well so it’s great don’t be embarrassed please ^^
How did you come up with it? 🙂
xx Renee
Haha thanks Renee! I used to have a personal blog in the olden days and the name of the blog was “Glitzy MTV”… there was no meaning to this name, just thought snippets of my life felt like random shots of an MTV.
Years later, WordPress started offering free accounts and I registered the username “glitzy” out of convenience and left the account dormant for a long while before I started blogging again in 2009. At that point, I used the Glitzy wordpress account because the handle was so easy to remember.. and the title “Miss Glitzy” came about to help people remember the blog URL.
And this eventually evolved to the current MsGlitzy.com when I registered my own domain. 🙂
Aww I don’t think your blog name silly at all! And its fun that people recognize you as your blog. At least you didn’t have to come up with a separate online monicker! 😉
Great topic, Peebs. Especially like how you talked about choosing one to grow with you and your blog. Sometimes people don’t realise that once they enjoy blogging, they can be blogging for years. It might even become a brand if they are successful at it. thotsofateenager won’t work if you enter your twenties 😛
I remember how I came up with the name Beautyholics Anonymous. I was Googling names, finding synonyms on the thesaurus for women, girls, beauty, etc. Initially it was going to be Essence of Woman. After sleeping on it, I thought hang on, what if other people think it’s SOME other kind of essence? 😛 So after more Googling, I started thinking, okay, what am I when it comes to beauty and products? I like makeup. Nuts about skincare. Crazy about bags. That’s when I thought, yeah, Beautyholics Anonymous. That works 😛
PS: Two years after I started blogging, I found out that there were 2 blogs who started blogging under Beautyholics Anonymous too. If you Google it, you’ll not just see my blog, but the other two as well. It really annoyed me to find out that other people used that name, my brand, for their blog. But they were genuine blogs (not spam blogs), and after consulting a tech+SEO expert at last year’s Nuffnang Blogopolis about it, as long as I still came up first on a Google search, there was nothing I could do. So, it’s very important to research the name you want to use first before deciding on it, because chances are, someone may have already taken it.
Ooops I meant “WHEN you enter your twenties”. IF sounds morbid 😛
Hey Tine, have you thought of trademarking your blog name? I know how frustrating it is when people steal your names – because i know for SURE people Google if someone had taken it first. Because even though you’re still #1 it can get quite confusing.
I trademarked my name, beautyfool so anyone that uses it gets an email from me says um, Escuse me… haha! ^^ So far I’ve been able to claim anything with that name (Twitter/FB, etc) and it wasnt too expensive to register. xx
Renee: How did you go about TM-ing your blog name? I’d love to do it too. Don’t know if it might be too late for the other two blogs to take their name down, but it’s a good idea to TM it so no one uses it in future.
I just went to the IPO (Intellectual Property Office of singapore) here and filled up a form, paid $300 and then a few weeks later I got the “official” Trademark statement 🙂
And i found out about the IPO thanks to my best friend: Google. 😛 Good luck… let me know if you do plan on getting it TM. 🙂
I’m glad you went with Beautyholics Anonymous, Tine! Its fun and a great conversation starter. Essence of Woman would have been a bit erm…. staid haha! At least your blog will be able to grow with your interests too, instead of pigeonholing ourselves. I actually tried to google the other 2 blogs you mentioned, and I stumbled on 2 blogspots with variations of your blog name (different spellings) but they seem to be defunct now. So I think you are pretty much safe 🙂 I noted Renee’s tip on trademarking, but from what I know, there’s a difference between a domestic and international trademark system and protection would usually be tied to the registration of it. So if you do TM, you maybe able to protect your name, logo etc in Australia but not if its used in e.g. Africa. Unless you take out a global trademark in every country. I could be wrong but that’s my understanding 😉
Great post, some wonderful advice here. My blog name came about since I originally blogged as Little Miss Megsy, then Megan in the Sky as my blog took on more of a travel focus, then Beauty in the Sky once I started the blog. It made a lot of sense since I was a flight attendant and love travelling and I was on the hunt for the best beauty products to suit my lifestyle.
Thanks for sharing your story Megan! I love how your blog name perfectly describes what you do and you could potentially expand on the sky bit with travel 🙂
gosh I wish I had some witty, clever reply about the name of my blog ;-D I sometimes wish I created something a little more SEO friendly. Something that said “makeup” in the title but other times I’m glad that it came out as Musings of a Muse, somehow, someway, “muse” just stuck and fit ;-D
It was actually so random and no real story behind it ;-D my x boyfriend’s father was a mad old man blogging his heart out on myspace and he just inspired me to “muse” about beauty thus Musings of a Muse was born ;-D
Haha! I know right? Yet I also notice that not every successful beauty blog has “beauty” or “makeup” in the title which gives me hope. With your blog name, you can muse away on anything! 😀
I chose the name Phyrra (after a few false tries with names) because it was the name of my role-playing character and online persona so many places. I love it and I’m glad I’m using it, even though people aren’t sure how to pronounce it.
Hi Phyrra, thank you for sharing! I think its a great name never mind that people can’t pronounce it. It is your online persona after all and our blogs are our online personas 🙂
Well, my blog’s name actually speaks for itself. Heh heh!!! It’s not like I don’t randomly ranble stuff all the time too!!! Heh heh.
As for putting my name into it, it gives a more… Familiar feel to the blog, so you can see that there actually is a person there and not just a hand (for swatches), eyes or pairs of lips hahahaha. I just give a false last name.
(Also, it’s so that in the eventuality that I get emails from others, they know what to call me, heehee!)
Thanks for sharing, Hanny! It sure is descriptive and gives you scope to ramble away!
Erm I think I should read this article before starting my blog the name is something complicated: efurain est petit; the reason my name in Japanese is Efurain and “est petit” because I’m little (1.61 m) and I thought that it sounded great in French.
So now if my blog becomes famous I think the won’t be a reason XD
Haha! It is a little complicated for someone like me who can’t speak french but I noticed you blog in Spanish(?) so, as long as people can identify and remember the name, it shouldn’t be too complicated. For myself, I have trouble remembering blog names and addresses that are in different languages but I guess that’s to be expected. Once you’re famous, it won’t matter anymore! 😉
Yes I write in Spanish; I don’t know if I should put also the text in English, because I don’t like to read these type of blogs in two languages in a same post (maybe separate posts are a good idea). So I have a really strange combination, the name of my blog is in Japanese and French, and I write in Spanish. Really if I became famous when I start to explain the name I’ll always mention you Paris; also because I’d like to get a blog like yours.
Aww you are very sweet Efrain! 😀 I sometimes come across blogs that blog in both English and Spanish in one post which could be helpful for non Spanish readers but it can be quite messy. I reckon its best to stick to the one that will get you your readership. No point blogging in English if most people around you don’t speak or read it 🙂
true. i started my blog randomly so it is a very random URL as well, hard to remember.. >.< but if i have to change a url now I can't decide as well, so thank you for sharing the tips!
Haha yeah, names with numbers in them can be a little hard to remember too. But I’m sure by now your regular readers have no problems remembering your blog address! 🙂
Great post, Paris!
My URL and blog name is the same, but of course, explaining it is a bit tough. “Beautiful.com?” “NO! Beauty F-O-O-L!” Haha. But once they get it they think AH, that’s cool! So I *hope* it’s memorable. 😛 My only regret is I started off on a .net, and when I changed to .com it took a long time for everything to settle down and I think I lost a lot of readers. 🙁
This is perhaps just personal taste but I feel that the name of the blog and the URL should be the same – like you said, unless you are really memorable it could work, but I think for branding, for familiarity, overall, it should be the same. And another thing is not too long URLs! I think something (semi) short and catchy would do the trick!
xx Renee
Haha I think your blog name is cute and catchy 🙂 The .com switch must have been tough. I know of some successful .net sites but generally, I’d say its harder to remember because people tend to just go .com for most sites. Glad you got it sorted to your satisfaction! I’m all for keeping the blog URL and name the same too. Its just easier to remember and as you’ve pointed out, makes sense for branding too 😀
Love the idea for this post!
I nearly always use the name Sam for ordering coffee etc because nobody can spell (or sometimes say) my real name correctly! Plus, Sam is very quick to type.
The Sam Still Reading name for my blog came about because it’s (mainly) a blog about reading books and people always say to me, ‘Are you STILL reading?’ because I am pretty much, always reading. I also liked that if you say ‘Sam still reading’ over and over it sounds like ‘Standstill reading’ which is what happens to the world when I read.
Haha! I like the reason you chose your name – do you know, when I first came across your blog, I wasn’t quite sure if you were male or female. Sam is a pretty androgynous name! But now at least I do know you’re female 😀
Mine would probably be the most boring of them all! =D It came up one day when Mum was visiting and she went ‘Oh dear why do you have so many bits and bobs lying all over the place?’ and the rest is history!
And that’s an interesting story behind your blog name! There’s never a boring story 😀 Also, bits and bobs can refer to anything so there you have it – scope to grow 🙂
Wow this post is great… I have been contemplating to start one but at the same time think I won’t have enough time to keep it running…
I am a lazy person and I am worried I wont be able to keep my passion to write going…
Any advice Paris?
Just go ahead with it Gin! I was worried about that when I first contemplated on starting a blog. ^.^ It’s not that hard work at all. Just snap a few photos, upload to your computer, write, add pictures and voila! ^.^
Thanks a lot for the encouragement Hanny!!! That really moved me! Went to registered for one already… Nyahaha~~
hope to start writing something soon!
Oya, do u have any recommendation how to transfer whatever u capture into pc? I use my phone to take photos but I feel it is quite troublesome to cable it and stuff…That’s te main thing that I feel it is troublesome to run a blog apart from time factor haha
Incidentally, yes, I will have some tips coming up 🙂 But generally, I’d say to give it a go, because you never know till you try. If writing is truly a passion, you’ll find it much easier keeping a blog afloat. Also, much will depend on your chosen subject matter and how restricted you want it to be. The broader your niche, the easier it is to keep going at it. The hardest for me, is getting the photos done and there’s always lots to talk about! Once you start blogging and get into it, you’ll start looking at things in terms of blog topics. At least that’s how I think. Its quite second nature to me now 😉
Thanks Paris!!! I have went to register one! Gin’s beauty cocktail! Have always have that name behind my head thanks to my name… and I am happy that I finally made the move!
I went safe with the word beauty because I feel when people google something and saw the word beauty, it would be more convincing it isn’t some weird page… I am quite careful when I search for reviews online…Maybe it is just me haha..
May I know how do u do the photo transfer? Any software or online photo album to recommend? I really hate cables Coz I travel almost every week.. XD
Hmmm, no matter how, you’ll have to use a cable to transfer the photos from the camera. I suggest using dropbox. You can upload photos into the software, and you can access all the files via Internet wherever you are. http://www.dropbox.com so you need only upload your photos once.
Yay for starting your blog! Good luck with it 😉 If you are transferring photos from your phone, you can try emailing it to yourself. Thats what I do sometimes. If from the camera, I either hook up the camera to the computer and download or use a Sd card reader. There’s no other way, I’m afraid. But SD card readers are very cheap so you can buy a couple and leave them at home or where you’re staying so you don’t have to carry them around 🙂
ooo thats a nice one Paris! thanks a lot!
now i have to figure out what to post for my first ever post haha
OMG, choosing a name was truly the hardest part. Took me 2 weeks to settle with one. Some were too cheezy, some were too kiddie, some were too tweeny etc. Haha! 😀
LOL I like your blog name! Now tell us how you got it going 😀
I wish I had someone to tell me when I has started out my blog 🙁 I named it too long!!! but, then, thankfully, its easier to remember. but, still, sometimes I did think I would change it but somehow it didn’t work out and I myself didn’t like changing it because now, reader’s are used to it and I might lose some people because of the name change. its a very crucial thing!!! but, I do agree that the name of the blog and domain should be same, you can always have tag lines.
LOL Now that you’re established, its a lot harder to change the name without confusing people. There are ways of doing it, without losing visitors but it all gets a bit tricky with domain redirections and people may end up getting confused 😀 So if no one complains, then I guess its still alright 😀
yeah…the redirection stuff can be done but I didn’t want to get into itlest I become confused 😀
Mine was easy. It’s the names of both my daughters Chloe and Ashlyn hence chloeash! Should the blog grow, it will grow together with me and my daughters too 🙂 The domain name is the same. Just chloeash dot com.
That’s nice! Some day when they’re older, you can all blog on it together 😀
Mine’s Luxurious Skin… I think it’s not the easiest to say but I’m terrible with coming up with names… I just really suck at it! This came in conversation with a friend of mine and as I do cosmetic reviews and stuff too I thought it wasn’t half bad. Thanks for the tips! For someone who is starting, they’re very helpful 🙂 x
I don’t find Luxurious Skin hard to say, Raquel 😀 In fact, I think it sounds terribly grand 😀 Glad you find the tips helpful. I hope to keep more coming as quickly as I can think them up 🙂
good post, especially for starters!
the thought of changing my domain address or the name of the blog crossed my mine a lot of times, but then again, i have been using it for a few years d, so i just let it be.
i had wanted to use the blog’s name as the url address, but before I could do anything, a friend of mine registered pinkyplue.com for me d… and then the name stuck. okla, at least the name plue i am still using lol
Haha I don’t think I would know you by any other name than Plue! Its cute although I had been meaning to ask you before what it meant and why pinky when your blog wasn’t even pink hehe…
hahaha i have a random filler post coming up soon thanks to your reply, and i’ll be putting this bit of info in it! a lot of ppl asked me the same question before 😛
My blog’s name is also the same as my domain.. It’s ‘latebloomedblog’ because it’s been years since I discovered about blogs and been reading them, and actually contemplating on starting my own but it’s just last year that I decided to do so..
And yeah, I’m a late bloomer myself too! Haha! I actually believe that I’m not blooming yet.. Maybe later.. Lol
That’s an interesting blog name, Jen 🙂 You should share it with us! I was a late bloomer too and I think its a good thing because when everyone else is starting to fade, you bloom and thus you stand out! 😀
Oh yes that’s true! When everybody’s done searching high and low for what’s best of the best, we late bloomers will just take it from them! No need wasting our time (and lots of money!). Of course not everything that’s good for them will also do the same for you but at least you get an idea.. ;D
Unfortunately, my blog is on a hiatus right now so I can’t share it here cause I don’t think it’s a good idea that I post my blog link here for everybody to see when I’m not even updating.. Maybe when my blog bloomed.. Lol 😀
Haha! Time to add water and fertilizer so it blooms, Jen! 😉
(raises hands meekly) heh i’m not an expert blogger, but here’s my story – i simply wanted to remain as anonymous as possible! also, i didn’t want to limit my blog to just beauty products so the hedonist part of my blog name represents all the little guilty pleasures i’m fond of indulging in – skincare, makeup, food, etc etc 🙂
thanks for this post, Paris. i’ve been hesitating about whether to register my domain name because i don’t know if i can maintain it for long, but the thought of how it might be taken someday is quite scary and the kiasu singaporean in me now wants to ‘chope’ it first!
Hey, you don’t have to be an expert to share a story 😀 Also, I’m not sure how long you can anonymous eh? Never know who’s watching or reading! 😉 But I like your blog name. Its different and its got an aura of mystery around it – now go register your domain before someone else does! 😉
Argh, I hate my blog name. So I especially agree with this:
“Choose a name that will grow with your blog”
When I created my blog, it was out of impulse. Hubby had a server, he had some domain name credits left and I just booked the first thing that came to mind. No research, no looking out of the window searching for inspirations among the stars, no memorable story behind it. So this, I regret now that I finally know in my heart (I’ve actually known for about a year now lol) a blog name I really want.
Oh dear, why do you hate your blog name? It does match your blog topic very well, to me anyway 🙂 What you can do, if you really really want a different name is to start a new blog with the name you want and then you could slowly transition over to it. I’ve seen and followed some blogs that have done a change, and while it may be bumpy at the beginning, once everyone gets used to it, there’s no more issues with names 🙂