Naming a blog
Filed in archive Entrepreneurship on April 7, 2005
Russell asks:
"There's four ways I can think of to name blogs. Which do you prefer - please leave me a comment, as it makes me so happy. No really, it does.
1. A purely descriptive blog name, like The Mobile Weblog or The Mobile Music Weblog.
2. Something more clever which implies the subject, like many of gawker's titles (like Gizmodo, Fleshbot, Jalopnik).
3. Something just a little off the wall, like Boing Boing or Pasta and Vinegar. I can't think of many more examples of these.
4. Named after the author, like The Doc Searls Weblog, Dan Gillmor of Grassroots Journalism. Strictly speaking, Dan's is a combination of both 1 and 4, I guess.
Do you have any preferences, or don't you care? Even if you don't care, please say so."
1. A purely descriptive blog name, like The Mobile Weblog or The Mobile Music Weblog.
2. Something more clever which implies the subject, like many of gawker's titles (like Gizmodo, Fleshbot, Jalopnik).
3. Something just a little off the wall, like Boing Boing or Pasta and Vinegar. I can't think of many more examples of these.
4. Named after the author, like The Doc Searls Weblog, Dan Gillmor of Grassroots Journalism. Strictly speaking, Dan's is a combination of both 1 and 4, I guess.
Do you have any preferences, or don't you care? Even if you don't care, please say so."
Permalink: Naming a blog
Tags: RSS name entrepreneurship naming technology venture+capital please+enter youtube+germany
Vote for Naming a blog:
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Rating: 6.00 out of 2 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
Jack Krupansky
(04/07/05 4:37pm)
Response from:
Timothy Lee
(04/08/05 11:21am)
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I disagree with Jack. The name does matter for two reasons:
1) Branding - You want a name that can be developed into a recognizable and easily remembered brand. Ideally, part or all of a blog's URL should echo this name/brand.
If you are an author, artist, or consultant trying to develop your name as a brand, then your personal name should be part of the blog name.
2) Search Engine Positioning - A second reason is that a blog's name usually appears in the page title and is scored by search engines to determine placement.
After I realized this, I edited my blog title to incorporate the keywords 'Arkansas small business blog.' I might should have used this phrase as the blog title.
1) Branding - You want a name that can be developed into a recognizable and easily remembered brand. Ideally, part or all of a blog's URL should echo this name/brand.
If you are an author, artist, or consultant trying to develop your name as a brand, then your personal name should be part of the blog name.
2) Search Engine Positioning - A second reason is that a blog's name usually appears in the page title and is scored by search engines to determine placement.
After I realized this, I edited my blog title to incorporate the keywords 'Arkansas small business blog.' I might should have used this phrase as the blog title.
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That said, and this being the off-the-wall blogosphere, clever and cute names and titles get bonus points.
If you wish to have a trademark that can be registered, then you need to avoid being "merely" descriptive.
Personally, I choose the more boring, descriptive, professional names for my blogs. And to preserve the ability to register a trademark, start with a unique brandname to which you append the descriptive text.
Also, you have to decide whether your name itself is an important part of your "brand" and should be part of the blog title.
-- Jack Krupansky