How to Create the Best Website Name in the World

By: | May 3, 2016 | Tags: , |

Website Name and Logo help increase blog trafficIn 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.

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.

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 re­sized, 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.

Related Posts:

How to Increase Traffic with a Blog Brand

How to Create Better Blog Content That Will Bring You an Enormous Audience

  1. GiGi Eats

    I have to say I think my BLOG TITLE is pretty on point because it leaves people thinking – UHHH WHAT?! Thus they want to click on it and see what it’s all about. I am currently in the process of coming up with a tag line that helps people figure out what the heck I am talking about! lol!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Gigi!
      Thanks so much for writing!
      I saw on YouTube someone interviewed you and asked you why you eat celebrities! I think a tag line is a great idea. Thanks for the visit.
      Janice

  2. Tina

    Thanks for working with me – it was great to do a guest post and to be featured on your website! I definitely believe this relates to personal blogs as much as company branding. I also agree that you can always change your name if you find one better suited.
    Tina.

    • Melinda

      Tina, thanks for guesting on my BBFFJ’s blog. (BestBloggingFriendForeverJanice)
      She is wonderful, and your 10 tips are tip top!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Tina,
      You did a great job with your article. Thank you so much for guest posting for us. I hope you get a chance to read the rest of the comments to see that people appreciated your article.
      Janice

      • Tina

        Thanks, Janice. I’ll definitely be checking out the comments. It’s great to see what everybody thought – Tina

  3. Janice Wald

    The way I chose my blog name was simple. I didn’t want to be limited to only writing about blogging, so I called my blog “MostlyBlogging”!
    Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Great to see you Rena. Thanks so much for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed the article.
      Janice

  4. Terri Webster Schrandt

    This is a very timely post, Janice, and many thanks to your guest blogger for the excellent info! As you know, I re-branded then self-hosted, similar to your story. Turning this into more of an online business is my goal.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Terri,
      Thanks for commenting and for the visit. Rebranded? Are you still leisure? What kind of online business? I look forward to hearing about it.
      Janice

  5. Carolann

    It’s funny how when you first start blogging, you don’t think about how important things like this are. Like they say, hindsight is 20/20! All great advice thanks again for sharing!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Carolann,
      I agree. I originally thought my old site name, Reflections, was all-encompassing. I could have Reflections about anything. Now I realize it didn’t convey what I wanted to write about at all. Yes, hindsight is 20/20. Thanks for writing.
      Janice

  6. Anne Louise Bannon

    I used to use an Olde English font that I love, love, love for the name banner on my blog. Until I discovered the vampire fans had co-opted it. I’d been using that font on my stationary and business cards since before we knew about the Internet – almost 30 years. But, no. I can’t use it now because it has the wrong connotation and it’s not perfectly easy to read. That’s the part about branding that sucks. Sorry to sound so cranky, but I’m trying to figure how to brand myself (it’s my resume site) when I tend to have my fingers in a wide variety of pies. Like Tina pointed out, you need a brand that will encompass all of what I’m likely to do.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Anne,
      What an interesting (although unfortunate) experience. You had the font for 30 years, and then the vampire people used it, and now yours has a different association than you want to convey. Sadly, no one has foresight. A lot of these comments are about hindsight and foresight. Interesting twist, I think. Thanks for writing to let us know that branding requires a great deal of thought.
      Great to see you again.
      Janice

    • Tina

      That’s frustrating. I would never have thought about that until you said. Unfortunate, but a chance to try something new! Hope you figure it out – Tina

  7. SandyKS

    I think my blog title throws viewers off. That is why I add a little someone to help explain it and what I share on the blog. Since, I share more than more niche.

    As for creating a brand, I am lost.

  8. Kathleen - Bloggers Lifestyle

    Thanks Tina, you make some very good points. That is the beauty of being able to glean points and information from other generous writers. I have some more work to do, that is for sure.

    Thanks Janice

    • Tina

      Thank you, I’m glad I could be be of some help. I always think it’s worth sharing if I have some useful information.

      Tina

  9. Kim A. Hazel

    About six months into blogging I decided to change themes, upgrade, and have someone design the logo. I’m happy with it so far. Your tips are very helpful. This may be a never-ending work in progress. Thanks!

    • Tina

      I think it can always be an ongoing thing. Even the biggest brands have upgraded to fit current trends, but hopefully you’ll be happy for a while. I just looked and like your logo!

  10. Gilly Maddison

    Got here via the Pit Stop 22 – somehow! I do ponder this issue a lot. I chose the name anything except housework for my blog around two years ago because I wanted to write about anything that took my fancy – I am still not sure if it was a good move because I don’t have a niche and I think that is important now that I have learnt more about blogging. I created another website with a blog built in called fun crafts to do at home to see if having a niche is better – we’ll see!

    • Tina

      A niche can be great, but I read plenty of lifestyle blogs with no niche. So I think it depends on the audience and what you like writing about.

  11. Bill

    Branding is so important. When we started it was strictly about personal finance, but then my teaching job expanded into business and marketing as well, and I loved the topics so much I want to start expanding our site’s niche. Fortunately, we used the term ‘Money’ and not ‘Finance’ in the name so I think it still fits well. Our tagline may need adjusted a bit at some point though.

    • Janice Wald

      I am so glad. As you’ve seen these are the kind of articles I have on my blog regularly.

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