Things To Remember When Choosing A Blog Name

Choosing a blog name is a difficult task, and something some people just can’t do.  So… they give up and don’t ever have the chance to make it in the blog world.

But there are some things to remember when choosing your blog name that will help ease the process.  Here are a few of them.

1. Keep It Short – The longer the name, the harder it is for people to remember it.  And since you’re probably going to want to use the blog name in the url, nobody wants to type an essay to get to your blog.
2. Keep It Simple – Don’t use words that can be spelled a hundred different ways, unless you want to register a hundred different domain names.  And don’t use words that are used so rarely that no one remembers how to spell them.  If I were to name my blog “Onomotopeia” because it had to do with writing, who would ever know how to spell that?  I had to look it up in the dictionary myself.
3. Be Descriptive – It’s okay to use your name as your blog title (especially if it’s a rare name), but if you want the best chance of being seen, use descriptive words in your title.  A good example of this is Problogger.com.  This guy got the luck of the draw when it came to good names for his blog.  You can’t get much more descriptive about what he does or is than that.
4. Play On Popular Blogs – If you can come up with a witty way to use word play and piggy-back off of the hard work of another, then by all means, go for it.  My dad always used to say, “Work smarter, not harder.”  If you know a popular blogger that is in the same niche as you, try to spell their blog name a little different, but only if it makes sense.  An example of this is the now famous JohnCow.com.  He took John Chow’s name, cut the “h” out of it, and took it from there.  He also added a bit of humor by included pictures of cows and such.
5. Tie It To A Logo – If at all possible, try to choose a name that can be turned into a logo.  Logos, especially good ones, are the best way to brand your blog and to gain recognition easily amongst the millions of other bloggers out there.  What do you think of when you see a curved check mark symbol?  Nike right?!?  And you know McDonalds anywhere.  These are examples of great logos, and a good descriptive name helps in designing a great logo.
6. Be Original – While it’s great to word play off of other bloggers in your niche, you should always try to be original with your name.  You don’t want to choose a name that someone else has for their business, or god forbid you choose a name that’s the same as that strip club downtown, especially if your blog is geared towards religion.

Like these two lines in the Pursuit of Happyness, you should try to think outside the box:

Martin Frohm: What would you say if man walked in here with no shirt, and I hired him? What would you say?
Christopher Gardner: He must have had on some really nice pants.

I’d like to hear some tips and ideas you have when it comes to naming your blog.