While your blog name seems like a huge defining factor of your blog, it is rather insignificant in comparison to the content you’ll be posting. The blog name is no doubt important, but if you have a killer name with subpar content, there’s a strong chance the blog won’t be as successful. However, your blog name is the first thing people see about your blog and should make a good impression. This post is a bit about my journey with naming my blog and some tips to help you name yours.
How Creative Roots Came to Be
During the planning stage of creating my blog, I had already come up with some great ideas. The tone was set, color scheme picked out and concept finalized, and the last thing I needed to do was come up with a blog name. This was my least favorite part of starting my blog, mostly because I overthought the process entirely.
I knew my blog would be about helping people strengthen their brand and learn the fundamentals of design to show that you don’t need a degree in design to produce quality work. However, I had no idea how to sum that up in a short, memorable name. While trying to come up with a name, I wrote to other bloggers, searched endlessly through a thesaurus and talked it through with my best friend. Finally, Creative Roots came to me and the rest is history! I learned a lot about my blog and where I wanted to take it through this process. Below are a few points that may help inspire you, as well.
Inspiration and Guidance to Name Your Blog
Your blog name should be descriptive, but doesn’t need to be literal. One thing I knew when deciding on a name was that I wanted it to have “creative” or “design” in it. I love abstract names, but because of the specific nature of my content, I wanted it obvious that graphic design was the category of my blog. Where the fun comes in is with the word “roots” – it has led to a bunch of great plant puns! It implies that this is where you should start your web design journey, whether you’re a blogger, small business or just looking for some more insight, and you can grow from here.
Make It Memorable and Understandable
Don’t use words in another language if your target audience doesn’t speak that language. It may sound pretty, but if it doesn’t pertain to the content of your blog it may be difficult for readers to pronounce and spell. If your audience can’t understand or spell your blog title, retaining readership is tough. Stick to something in the language your audience speaks so there’s no confusion.
Another way to create a memorable blog name that readers will remember is to keep it short. Long sentences or words with a lot of syllables are harder to remember. I had thought about using the word “collective”, but combined with other words, it became too long. Keep it short and sweet!
Creative Inspiration
Try using alliterations. An alliteration is a string of words that start with the same sound or letter. For example, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,” is an alliteration. Use 2 or 3 words that start with the same letter as a great way to add a ring to your name that will make it easier to remember. Some blog names I had pondered that used alliterations are “Coconut Collective” and “Clover Creative”. However, these were taken and weren’t exactly what I was looking for to describe my blog.
Draw inspiration from nature. Nature is beautiful, wild, mysterious and diverse. There are seemingly endless lists of different types of wildlife that provide excellent imagery and beautiful names. Think of your favorite flower or a fierce animal – they have the power to evoke imagery and emotion through just reading the name because they’re recognizable. Using a word from nature also provides a foundation for your color scheme and design elements. Try using the print of the animal or color of the flower.
Get Your Ideas Out There
Write it down. Create a word cloud of everything you can think of that describes your blog. Take a blank piece of paper, and just begin writing – in lines or sporadically, whichever way your creative brain functions best! First, write down words that describe the content of your blog and the audience you’ll be targeting. Then, write down words that you like – anything from colors, feelings, animals, or even made up nonsense. Once you’ve filled up the page with words, combine them in different ways to see what sounds best to you.
Lastly, talk it out. Talk about it with your friends, your family, your dog and other bloggers. The creative process is not a silo, and the best ideas happen through collaboration. Reach out to bloggers you admire and ask if they have any pointers. You can also share your ideas with them to get a second opinion. Chatting with friends and family about your blog and what you hope to accomplish through it can also get the wheels turning and help you come up with a fabulous name.
Final Advice
One quick tidbit to mention is about finding a URL. It’s no fun to come up with a great name only to find the URL is taken (see: creativerootsblog.com, ugh!). Have a backup plan for your name and be willing to deviate a little bit on the URL, such as adding a hyphen or abbreviating a longer word.
Of course, reach out to me if you’d like to bounce some blog name ideas off me and get a second opinion. I’m happy to help and hear to listen! Whatever name you choose, it will end up being a lesser part of your blog than you think, so try not to stress about it too much.
