How I came up with my blog name, & tips on creating your own

07.12.2017

Flutter Sleeve Dress c/0 (similar color on sale here)|| Sunglasses || Shoes || Bag How to come up with a blog name, seems to be the topic on everyone’s mind lately. This is a reoccurring question that I see […]

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How to Create the Perfect Name for Your Blog | The Coastal Confidence by Aubrey Yandow

Flutter Sleeve Dress c/0 (similar color on sale here)|| Sunglasses || Shoes || Bag

How to come up with a blog name, seems to be the topic on everyone’s mind lately.

This is a reoccurring question that I see popping up on all my platforms. Whether it be Instagram comments, DM’s or even an occasional tweet, so many of you are reaching out for inspiration, which I LOVE to partake in.

However, from the few chats we have had, I think people seriously feel the pressure when considering what to name their blog.

& I totally understand that!

It’s not easy picking one name, usually just one to three words, that sums up your entire site. Oh, and not to mention, deciding a blog name can become even more difficult if you are wavering between niches.

So I figured I’d write this blog post, so together we can openly discuss what works and what doesn’t when figuring out a name.

I want to start this post off by talking about my personal ‘blog-name’ journey, or so to speak.

It all started with the idea of a ‘coast to coast blog’, thus the word COASTAL. This all happened circa 2013 and at the time, I was living in San Diego while attending USD and often traveling home to New England for summers, holidays, school breaks and family occasions.

What I found interesting was that both coasts were so different yet so intrigued with each other. Interesting right!?

People on the West Coast wanted to learn more about our wicked cool coastline, as they pictured classic New England; while my New England friends wanted to know how my Malibu Barbie lifestyle was going on the West Coast.

Each coast completely different, yet each slightly infatuated with each other.

I can remember everyone saying: good luck in Cali, I’m visiting you in Cali, you’ll have so much fun in Cali; only to arrive in San Diego, to learn that, only people outside of California refer to it as Cali.

LOL.

Each coast so different, in terms of lifestyle, but each wanted to be included in the others’.

Sooo I decided to start a blog to capture that. I wanted to capture New England for my college friends and San Diego for my high school friends. It was honestly as simple as that.

I started with an idea of a bi-coastal lifestyle.

My step 1: I wrote down the word COASTAL. That was ‘my thing’ back in 2013.

My Step 2: Adjectives

Secondly, I wanted an adjective to describe a principle the blog would expel. I didn’t want it to be too trendy; so I had my friends and I sit down and write adjectives on a piece of paper, I only picked words starting with ‘C’ as we were studying alliteration at the time in my marketing 300 class, lol.

So I wrote down the following on a word document.

Colonial
Charming
Classic
Classy
Confidence
Confident
Colorful
Charming
Cozy

Honestly, I let my California friends help me finalize the perfect adjective and we decided on confidence. They felt it was very New England aka me!

My Step 3: Finish it off!

I still felt like something was missing so… I went with adding a ‘The’ in front.

For some reason, I just felt like it ‘matured’ the name a tad, if that even makes sense.

Overall, that’s my brand name story.

It wasn’t something I picked up one day and it just organically happened. For some reason, it was one of the easiest parts for me, in terms of building my brand.

I’ve had several people ask me if I’d think about changing my name to something even ‘more’ New England; now that I define my blog as ‘New England lifestyle’. I’ve gotten requests like N. England Coastal etc, but I believe in sticking with one name, because it’s your brand story!

& evolving is GOOD! So don’t be afraid or put to much pressure on having one perfect name, till the end of time. Just go with what your gut is saying now and your name will grow with the brand you created.

Okay, so now some of my favorite blog name tips:

1. Alliteration – I don’t know why but I LOVE similar sounding blog names. I bet if you write down your top ten bloggers at least half will have alliteration. Don’t ask me why, but brand names with alliterations are just so darn catchy #dunkindonuts.

2. Keep it Short & Sweet – The shorter the better, especially as word of mouth marketing is HUGE in blogging. Having a long or cumbersome name, won’t help you if people keep can’t spell it when searching for you online.

So keep it short and keep it sweet.

3. Root the name in ‘your thing’ – Niches are REALLY important. & having a name that shares a bit of your niche off, is essential.

For example, if it’s a baking blog, include baking terms in the name, if it’s a home decor blog, include ‘home’ themed words. Show us your brand’s personality in the title, PLEASE!

4. Make sure it’s available as a URL – for me this was BIG. I wanted to have a name that I could build a site around. Having an awesome name but a completely different URL is confusing, so make sure you can buy your URL either off of GoDaddy or WordPress.com.

This tip also helps to eliminate, showing up to the party with the same name as a fellow blogger. Awkward.

5. Test the market – When I was finalizing my name I was between the word Confidence or Classy; so I went around asking all my friends, what they thought. A huge group of my friends said to avoid the word Classy, as there is already a big New England Blogger with the word Classy in her title.

Which makes sense right! By having a different name it will help you long term in the SEO sector. For example, if I told someone to google me as The Classy Coastal, and they typed in classy coastal new England blog, into the search bar other bloggers instantly popped up.

So by testing the market and getting that little input from my friends, I already have a better shot of sending people to my site while differentiating myself from other bloggers in the region.

Does that make sense?

Anyway, that’s my story and those are my tricks! I’d love to hear 1) what you named your blog, & 2) why you named it that in the comments below! Can’t wait to learn more about your amazing brands.

xx Aubrey