In August of 2015, readers questioned me.
“Why are you changing blog names?” they asked.
“Why are you changing blog URL’s?” they wondered.
I previously ran the Reflections blog, but my site wasn’t about self-improvement.
My URL was mycurrentnewsblog.com, but my niche wasn’t news.
I didn’t have a logo then, and it hadn’t occurred to me that I needed one.
Happily, guest author Tina Harvey is here to explain why a website name and logo are, in fact, crucial and how to successfully choose them.
10 Things to Consider When Choosing Your Website Name and Logo
Choosing a name and logo for your company can be a difficult task. You want something simple that can translate across all of your websites and social media platforms easily, but also eye-catching so that people will notice your brand.
It is important to get it right so you can begin with branding your product or service, but it can take time.
A good logo is easy to remember. Think about the ones you can picture off the top of your head.
I bet you didn’t even have to sit and think for too long. It’s likely that those brands have worked at their logo, constantly changing and improving throughout time.
Another way to check out how much of an impression logos make is to play one of the many online or smartphone app games in which you guess the company that a logo belongs to.
In some of these, they only show a very small piece of text from the logo, and it is still recognizable.
Whilst coming up with our own logo, I came up with a list of things to consider.
Once our logo was ready, we were able to use it for branding and promotional material so hopefully this list will help.
Here is a simple list of 10 things to consider when choosing your website name and designing your own logo:
1. Your name should explain what you actually do. Many websites are named after a person, but ultimately, you will remember a name if it does what it says. If our shop, Branded Value – Online Discount Shop, was called Tina’s Online Shop, it would be less clear what we do and the message we are trying to deliver.
2. You should have a catchy slogan that explains the product or service further. You can use a free slogan maker to generate catchy slogans for your brand. For example, ours is Big Brands, Best Prices, explaining to potential customers that we sell big brands for the best prices online.
3. You should check that it has not already been taken, or anything close to it. You can check this on Companies House, and also check out the domain name you would like on plenty of domain hosting websites. There is no point designing the logo and plastering the name around to find you cannot actually use it.
4. The name should be easy to spell. This will help when people start searching for your website online. While search engines can often guess what a person is trying to type, it is less easy for a new company to be found this way.
5. The logo should be well designed, able to be reÂsized, and the color should not be of great importance. Unless your company is about color! It should be able to be printed in black and white and still be recognizable and clear.
6. It needs to be timeless. If you want to branch out into other fields eventually, you probably shouldn’t have a picture logo representing only one thing. Stay away from gimmicks.
7. The design should be simple. Complicated designs do not translate as well when in black and white or when printed.
8. The text used should be easy to read. While some script fonts may look nice and fancy, they might not be as easy to read as a regular font.
9. Consider your audience. If you have older readers, they may have different needs to a younger audience. For example, companies and programs aimed at young children often use primary colors. These are bright and noticeable and the children can recognize them themselves as these are usually the first colors a child learns.
10. Ask others for their opinions if possible. Sometimes when working on something, you can be proud of the outcome, but miss a minor detail. Asking others for their opinions on the name and logo for your website ensures nothing is missed and gives you some perspective on how others may see it. If your feedback suggests that the logo is not easy to read, for example, you can make the necessary changes before putting it out there.
Conclusion
Admin Blogger’s Commentary: Don’t think that if you have an established blog name, you can’t change it.
Also, I didn’t have to change both my blog name and URL. I could have changed my name and stayed at my URL.
Famous blogging guru Jon Morrow did this. He felt his blog’s name Boost Blog Traffic, no longer suited his content. He calls his blog SmartBlogger now.
Readers, please share Tina’s tips. They are applicable to our blogs. Tina may work for a company, but we can still apply her tips to improving our blog names and logos.
What makes you remember a company name? How did you choose your blog name? Have you had any input for the design of a logo? I look forward to your views in the comments section.
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