How to Come up With a Blog Name The Right Way

You’re not alone; even seasonal marketers think about how to come up with a blog name idea when starting one. It’s an important task when you’re about to create a blog.

You won’t bypass this step.

It is one of the most critical aspects of online marketing that impacts the success of your business.

A memorable and catchy domain name stays in the minds of your customers and blog readers. A hard-to-remember blog name won’t help return visitors.

If people can’t easily remember your blog name and type it in the browser address bar, it may be hard for readers to return to your blog.

So, irrespective of your creative blog name, keep it simple, short, and memorable. Always remember these three rules when you’re trying to choose a brand name.

Before I dive into the specifics of how to pick a blog name, here are a couple of questions to consider when starting a new blog:

5 Questions to Ask Before You Name a Blog

Answering the questions below will help you discover a suitable blog name more easily.

1. What’s Your Blog Purpose?

To choose a blog name for your new project, consider the WHY you’re starting the blog.

Is your blog your diary, a business website for the long-term plan, or something you plan to sell soon?

You must consider profitability if you plan to sell the blog when it has significant value. Find blog name ideas that bring more value to the blog when it’s time to sell it.

But if you’re creating a blog to build your business and earn a living, you could name the blog to fit your personality, niche, and branding.

2. Who Are Your Target Audiences?

From experience, your target audience can influence how to choose a name for your blog.

When I started this blog, I had no idea what I was getting into or what I was doing. I chose the blog name from a few options that came to mind without thorough research, analysis, or consideration.

Now that I have grown in experience as a digital marketer, I realize the name CyberNaira appeals more to my local audience (Nigerians).

The word “Naira” in the blog is the official currency of Nigeria. So, from a blog visitor’s perspective, you might think the blog topics only target Nigerians.

In practice, the blog content is targeted at a global English-speaking audience. Beginner bloggers struggle to start their blogs on the right path to success.

This is why I plan to move CyberNaira content to a new domain I will launch soon. (I have registered the domain name and will migrate to it soon.)

More details on that in subsequent blog posts.

3. What’s Your Blog Topic/Niche?

To a large extent, your blog topic or niche will influence your blog name.

For example, WPBeginners is a blog highly focused on WordPress for beginner bloggers to succeed. Search Engine Journal is a blog that focuses on global search news.

From those names, readers can tell what the blogs are about on their first visit.

The names of the two blogs mentioned here relate to their blog topics.

While keywords in the blog name are not an advantage in SERP, they help readers quickly understand your blog topics.

4. What if You Blog on Different Topics in The Future?

Let me tell you a short story here…

When I started this blog, I used to blog about search engine news, tips, and strategies – a bit of social media marketing, blogging tips, and tutorials.

As time passed, especially when earning from the blog became one of my top priorities, I had to divert to other blog topics and expertise.

Now, I blog about WordPress-related topics, affiliate marketing, product and service reviews, blogging tips, and tutorials.

Though I still talk about SEO news, tips, and strategies on the blog, they’re no longer a big part of the blog topics.

So, think about the future of your blogging career.

Is there any chance you might consider changing your blog topic in the future?

Let’s say you start a blog about dog food today, and your blog name is “Jane Dog Food” dot com.

What if, in the future, you started talking about how to train your dog to run faster? How do you get your dog pregnant? How do you train a cat to use the toilet?

What if you decide to start talking about all domestic animals in general?

Many blogs start with a single topic but expanded into other related discussions later.

So think through before choosing your unique blog name if you write about other related topics.

5. Easy to Say Over The Phone or Type into the Address Bar?

If your blog name is hard to understand on the phone or typed into the web browser address bar, it’s obvious you’ve not chosen the perfect one.

A blog name might look great on paper, but if there is confusion when you mention it during a conversation, then you need to rethink your blog name.

For example, the popular free photo-sharing site – Flickr – had a problem with users typing the domain name. A large percentage of their users naturally type Flicker when trying to visit the site.

To direct traffic from people typing Flicker.com, the website ended up purchasing Flicker.com and directing its traffic to Flickr.com.

If you type “Flicker.com” into your web browser, it will redirect to “Flickr.com”.

How to Come up With a Blog Name The Smart Way

If you have answered the above questions correctly and are sure of what you’re doing, here are ten ways to choose a brand name you won’t regret later.

1. Use Your Name

One of the simplest ways to pick a good blog name is by using your name.

Using your name could work out if your blog topic concerns your personal experience, life, business, or services.

Using your name as the blog name allows you to talk about various niche topics. Your name is not tied to a specific niche or topic.

My friend Enstine Muki uses his name as the blog name.

This allows him to discuss many blog topics without losing focus or readers.

You can use your name, too, though it depends on if you’re comfortable with that and the future of your blog.

That leads to…

2. Find Niche-Related Word

This is not a keyword targeting in the domain name, but something similar.

Let’s say you start a blog about fitness; you could choose a domain name that reads fitnesswithjane.com or janefitness.com.

The idea is to include your primary niche keyword or topic in the domain name.

According to Google’s John Muller, a keyword in a domain name does not provide an advantage in gaining more search engine visibility. However, from a user’s point of view, it does help influence the click-through rate in SERPS.

Look at this Google search result for “affiliate marketing for beginners.”

Despite SmartBlogger being an authority blog among the search results, I may be tempted to click on the link with the term “affiliate” in its domain name.

The word “affiliate” in the domain name is relevant to my search query. Even if a keyword in a domain name does not directly impact search ranking, it can still help drive more clicks from the SERP.

3. Use Abbreviations

Using abbreviations can be beneficial if you need to make a statement with your domain name, which can be lengthy.

For example, BMW is the short version or abbreviation of Bavarian Motor Works for the English version. And Bayerische Motoren Werke Bayerische for the German version.

Pronouncing Bayerische Motoren Werke on the telephone might confuse and lead to a spelling error, so the world-renowned car brand opts for the shorter version – BMW.

FB.com is the abbreviation for the world’s most used/popular social media network – Facebook. (I guess you don’t know that?). So, if you can’t type Facebook, type fb.com, and you will be redirected to Facebook.com.

Abbreviation is a good way to pick a good domain name that can alos be used for your brand name.

4. Find a Single Word

Look at some world brand companies – they all have a single word in common in their domain name.

Google. Apple. Sony. Xerox. Kodak. Wine. Hotel. Casino. Tesla. Fund.

These companies, with one-word domain names, generate billions of dollars each year. And not just because of their brand name, but because they have prioritized customer satisfaction above all else.

People buy Apple products not because of the name – Apple – but because Apple products are one of the best you can find in the industry.

As good as it may sound, purchasing a single-word domain name will be very expensive today. The domain name Voice.com was purchased for a staggering $30 million in 2019. Also, Fund.com was purchased for $12 million in 2008.

Check out this Wikipedia page to review a list of high-profile domain names.

5. Research Your Niche

If you’re starting a niche-specific blog, finding out what’s already working in your industry makes sense. Research your competitors to see how to come up with a blog name that works.

For example, in the SEO space, you’ll discover a trend among the blogs that deliver search engine news vs. technical SEO blogs.

Blogs that deliver search news often incorporate the term “search engine” in their domain name, whereas technical blogs use a term unrelated to SEO.

Take Moz, Ahrefs, Neil Patel, Yoast, HubSpot, Backlinko, etc, for example. These blogs do not have words related to SEO in their blog names. These technical SEO blogs focus on building a brand rather than targeting keywords and domain names.

Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, Search Metrics, etc. These blogs deliver more search engine news than focusing on technical SEO details.

You can discover your perfect blog name from these examples if you’re starting one in the SEO space.

6. Use a Blog Name Generator

One of the easiest ways to come up with a blog name is to use blog name generator.

Many blog name generator websites offer the services for free, so you don’t have to worry about any additional cost. This domain name generator uses smart variations of your seed keyword to give you an idea for your blog name.

It also helps to search whether your perfect blog name is available for registration.

First, use this NameCheap domain name search box to see if your chosen blog name is available.

!function(){ var e=document.querySelector(“#sas_form”), n=document.querySelector(“#sas_domain”), t=document.querySelector(“#sas_link”); e.addEventListener(“submit”,function(o){ o.preventDefault(), t.value=”https://www.namecheap.com/domains/registration/results.aspx?domain=”+n.value; if(e.domain.value === “”){ window.location.href = unescape(document.querySelector(“#sas_url”).href); } else{ e.submit(); } }) }();

Here are a couple of domain name generator websites you can use now.

• Business Name Generator
• Name Mesh
• Website Set up
• Name-Generator
• Namify

7. Make a Clear Statement

You can make a clear statement or describe your blog’s mission within your blog name. This allows your readers to understand what the blog topic is about quickly.

Here are examples of blogs that clearly define what the blog’s mission is about from reading its name:

Learn to Code With Me

From reading the blog Learn to Code With Me, you can guess what to expect from being part of the community.

Laurence Bradford is a self-taught tech enthusiast with a passion for teaching others, having gained valuable digital marketing skills. She is a French web developer who loves to code and teaches.

In 2018, she quit her full-time job to focus on her dream and learn to code with me.

Listen Money Matters

Listen Money Matters is a finance website that delivers practical advice on making money through realistic means, rather than some get-rich-quick schemes.

If you visit the website for the first time, you can get an idea of what it’s all about by reading the blog name. You don’t need to walk around long to know what to expect from reading the blog.

8. Consider Your Language

This is an effective way to create a name that resonates with your target audience, especially if you’re targeting the local market.

To stand out from the crowd and gain instant popularity, you can research or brainstorm on popular slang or words in your local dialect that resonate with your ideal audience.

One thing you have to consider when using this method to name your blog is that it may be challenging to expand into the global market.

Also, consider your country’s top-level domain name if you use this method.

FAQs

Conclusion: How to Name Your Blog

While naming your blog is an important aspect of online marketing, you don’t have to get stuck trying to find the perfect blog name.

This is because no matter how perfect your blog name is if the content sucks, people won’t read it.

The quality of your content, how you connect with your audience, and your marketing strategies are crucial in building a blog that is both worth reading and generates consistent income.

And even if you didn’t get it right the first time, you can change to a different domain name later.

Remember the three rules above: keep your blog name simple, short, and memorable.