5 Mistakes Jennine Jacob Made in Naming Her Blog

Jennine, a fashion blogger, is considering starting a new blog. It’s very much in the idea phase, but after years of experience, she thinks it’s time to try something new. Instead of just jumping into it and starting (like she did pretty much every time before) she’s going through a very deliberate process using everything that she’s learned, and all the mistakes that she made…

ABOUT: Jennine Jacob got her first job — as a strawberry picker — just to buy clothes. Years later, she typed “fashion” and “blogs” into Google and became hooked on blogs about style. She started her own fashion blog, The Coveted, in 2007, and decided it was her new career path. A few months later, finding no organized support for would-be pro fashion bloggers, she launched Independent Fashion Bloggers, a community where bloggers can share their questions, concerns and tips for successful blogging. She most recently launched eat, sleep, denim, a personal style blog devoted entirely to denim and sponsored by online retailer Shopbop.

Here’s what Jennine has to say about her 5 blog naming mistakes:

For all my blogs, I just threw on a name without much of a plan. Whatever sounded good at the time. “Independent Fashion Bloggers” has a lot of keywords, but it’s super long, and making it into a URL is just wayyyy too long. “The Coveted” was short and sweet, but no keywords, and I didn’t buy the .com. So here are the lessons I’ve learned the hard way…

Keyword Rich

Never underestimate how many people find your blog from Google. In August I had a feature in Nylon Magazine for Eat, Sleep, Denim. Do you know how the journalist found my blog? By Googling, “Denim Blog.” If you have keywords in your blog name, it makes it easier for people searching your niche to find you. It’s probably the easiest way to build a following.

Short & Sweet

Definitely pick a name that doesn’t take forever to say, or require an explanation. Like your actual name, you will have to say your blog name, type your blog name, put your blog name on business cards, spell out your URL, give out your email address and the list goes on…. is it making you tired? Well, if you have a long blog name it’s more tiring. Keep it short and sweet to save yourself the time.

.com

If your blog is in English, and you want to hit the international audience (not so important if you have more the local markets in mind) go with .com. Period. I went with .net, and another blogger took .com and ended up in a headache and a lawsuit. It’s ok, I won, but still… not a cool experience to go through.

Be sure your blog name matches your URL with no dashes or underscores. I cannot tell you the headaches I’ve had from trying to say “heartifb.com” (explaining why the website is not called “Heart IFB)  or “the-coveted.com” (the dash coveted dot com).

Easy to Say

Like the short and sweet tip, if it’s not easy to say, or it’s confusing to to other people (sounds like other words for instance) you will have to spell it out. People get confused easily, so you want to make it easy for them to remember your blog.

Fun

Sometimes I think I would made fun more of a priority if my blog had a fun name. People like to have fun on the internet, and if your blog’s name is fun they’ll be more apt to stop by when they have a minute to spare.

What mistakes have you made naming your blog? Please share in the comments below.

 

[Special thanks and Story credit: Jennine Jacob]
[Photo Credit via Fashion Loves People]