Choosing a Blog Name: Two WordPressers Share Their Stories
You’ve been thinking about starting a new blog, but you’re just not sure of one thing: what to name it. WordPressers around the world wrestle with this very important question and over at The Daily Post, we’ve been sharing the secrets behind how bloggers choose to name their online home. Today, we’re excited about sharing the backstory behind two WordPress.com blogs and how they got their names.
Flights. Camera. Satisfaction.
Ben Whittard is a British expat living in Switzerland who documents his travels in photography at Flights. Camera. Satisfaction.
“I love how photography has changed the way I see the world. When I have a camera in my hands I feel closer to the environment, closer to people and more connected to everything I see,” says Ben. “Combined with a love of travel, I really could not be more satisfied! My writing focuses on the places I’ve been, how I’ve seen them through the lens and how photography continues to enhance my travel experience.”
Ben says his blog’s name was the result of trying to convey his love of travel and photography.
“I was trying to think of well-known, catchy phrases that could be adapted to describe my passion for travel and photography in a few simple words,” says Ben. “Initially I thought of “Flights. Camera. Action.” but after a bit of Googling I found that had already been used. So I started searching for words that rhymed with action and voilà! Flights. Camera. Satisfaction. was born.”
Flights. Camera. Satisfaction. extends beyond WordPress.com and Ben has used the same name or a shortened variation as part of maintaining a consistent online presence. For example, Ben’s Twitter handle is @FlightsCamera. He maintains a Facebook page for his site as well.
“A consistent presence across the web is crucial for a strong brand, so I’ve used my blog name on most social networks. Where possible I’ve tried to create a link between Flights. Camera. Satisfaction. and my personal profile,” says Ben. It’s important that people can identify me as the blog author, and I think it helps build a better connection with my audience.”
Witty or Not, Here I Come
Cassie Ronda blogs for the love of telling a good story over at Witty or Not, Here I Come. In addition to being a creative outlet to record the hilarious situations of everyday life, her blog has helped her cope with adversity.
“I love to entertain people with self-deprecating stories from my life, so this blog represents the written manifestation of those stories,” says Cassie. “Looking for humor in all situations has actually helped me get through some difficult times; for example, after I suffered a season-ending injury in the first game of my college volleyball career, I decided to start a blog series about my surgery and the recovery process.
Now, when I look back on that period I only remember the parts I chose to write about: the hilarious crutching mishaps, the strange painkiller-induced moods, etc.
But my stories don’t all come from unfortunate experiences — I’ve also written about crashing a Pagan Pride Day, being attacked by a squirrel, and encountering hazardous humans. When I do throw in thoughtful pieces, they’re usually about people I’ve observed, like a professor, a lead-singer of a band, or that kid who keeps following me around and eating sand.”
When it came to coming up with a name for her blog, Cassie had a few goals in mind.
“While brainstorming a new blog name, I had three goals:
- The name needed to allow for flexibility in the subject and tone of my posts.
- It needed to be something that would be relevant for a long time (fingers crossed).
- Most importantly, it needed to be a pun!
(I like puns.) I spent several hours one night coming up with words to describe my writing style, e.g., “witty” (I hope), and fitting them into different phrases,” says Cassie. “I would then text-bomb all of my family members with every single idea that popped into my head until they responded with their favorites.
“Fit and Witty” was one of the finalists until I realized that it might be mistaken for an exercise blog. I like my final choice — Witty or Not, Here I Come — because while I really enjoy writing humorous pieces, this permits me to throw a more thoughtful piece in there every once in a while. It also implies that I’m going to keep writing whether you like it or not…”
And Now, Over to You
As you can see from Ben’s and Cassie’s blog naming stories, coming up with a great name for your blog is one part creativity and one part perseverance. Don’t be shy about asking friends and family for their feedback on your ideas. You never know, one of them might just come up a perfect name you hadn’t thought of yet.
Other Blog Naming Stories You May Also Like
- The Importance of Being Serbian
- She’s a Maineiac
- Bring Me the Head of David Dixon
- The Goat that Wrote
- Museum in a Bottle
- Talking Covers
- January 22, 2014
- Better Blogging, Customization
“Witty or Not, Here I Come” is an amazing blog title and pun!! I adore it!
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Thank you!! 🙂
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In my research I found that marketing companies want words that draw attention before they’re even read. A word that is out of place enough to grab attention before even being read. They usually have the following qualities:
1. Rarely used, yet well known.
2. Contain uncommon letters to force an initial look.
In my blog I chose the word “fetish.” It’s an attention grabber due to its implied history, and forces the mind to read the whole title for context.
My blog title is “I Have an Interesting Fact Fetish, and I Can’t Stop.”
With this title readers know what content they will get, but it is generalized enough to accomplish two goals:
1. It gives me a broad spectrum for possible posts due to its lack of specificity.
2. The reader must enter the blog in order to ascertain what kinds of interesting facts are posted.
The key is to be specific enough where someone becomes curious, but general enough where they must dig deeper to get a clear picture. The mind doesn’t want to know everything right away; it likes having to uncover a mystery, and that’s exactly what a good blog title does.
I’m only using my blog title as an example because I know why I chose it; I by no means think it is a particularly good title. The methods and psychological techniques are what is important.
If anyone has interesting ideas of how I can improve my blog title (I find it to be too long for its own good), then I’d LOVE to hear them. We can never do everything ourselves.
If anyone wants an outside perspective on their blog title, or the process of using psychology and modern marketing to fashion a title just reply, and I’ll gladly respond, check out your blog, etc.
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I didn’t know for a long time you could change the name of your blog after you set it up until one of my readers and I were chatting about it. So I came up with one that describes my life…and also reminds me everyday of my dream to open a coffee/yarn shop… It was fun to come up with my new name and I am so glad I changed it!
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I need to do this. My blog name is basic but could be more creative . . . thanks for the ideas!
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I love this post, thanks! It’s very hard to come up with an eye-catching title and since that’s what people notice first it has to be interesting as well as lead into the concept behind the blog. I love both of the above names, they’re very, very clever!
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Oh, the “endless possibilities” (George S. Counts, 1920).
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I love these examples – so creative!
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My blog name is justshoot.me Perfect for a photographer!
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This is good stuff. My first blog/article writing/web-site played on my name Storm, (StormDanceEmpowerment.org). It’s emphasis was to encourage personal empowerment through the inevitable challenges of life, one’s individual rhythm for personal growth. The second blog…Life Through The Storm, highlights the possibility that resides within each one of us as we face the storms of life. Now, of course – I’ve simply chosen to just name my blog Stormie Steele…hopefully it will work. I am new to WordPress, I appreciate being aboard…I’ve got a long ways to go. Thank you for the insights!
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I’ve just started my blog and I also thought for a long time about the name. I work in food and knew that it would include a lot of content about food…I also wanted it to be personal. My last name would be Burns (If I’d changed it) and I unfortunately burn food somewhat regularly because I do too much at once. NicoleBurnsFood.com seems right – it’s also a personal pun. I’ve got to say that many of the examples posted here are excellent though. justshoot.me is perfect for a photographer. I look forward to learning more as I develop and grow my site. Thanks!
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It’s great to see the thought process that others have gone through for blog naming. I was looking for something that resonated with me personally, evoked a certain tone, and also could be broad enough to encompass different possibilities.
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Great blog titles in this post. Witty or not? I love that. I threw my blog together pretty quickly and didn’t really give the name of it too much thought. I also didn’t know what in the world I was going to write about. I figured I’d write humor for sure, but I had some serious stuff to share too. I wanted to talk about being a police officer, attorney, dad, husband, and all around jackass, so the whole donofalltrades is what I came up with. The name was available, but I didn’t like it at first. It’s grown on me though and as my blog has evolved, it fits.
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Thanks! This is a great first article for me to read. I’m actually just setting up my blog. I like the puns and the thoughtful approaches to naming blogs.
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“Witty or Not, Here I come” You make me sing! Love the blog name 😉
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I agree, ”Witty or Not, Here I Come“ is great. “Flights. Camera. Satisfaction.“ is wonderfully creative and descriptive at the same time. Awesome job both of you! 🙂
I just started my own blog and of course naming it was my biggest concern. After spending at least an hour or two in deep thought, breaking down everything I am or it will be about (as well as finding sooo many titles already taken!) and using thesaurus.com I was able to come up with my name. I’m really happy with how it turned out.
I’d suggest using thesaurus.com for anyone else having trouble finding a name that isn’t taken. You can keep clicking through similar words to find one that fits. It also inspires a bit more creativity.
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Always enjoy reading various points of view on topics of general interest, which sometimes I might have overlooked or undervalued. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
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‘Bring Me the Head’ of David Dixon is hillarious!
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These examples are creative. I’m thinking of a name change that will also allow flexibility for future posts. Time to make a list and choose the best one!
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Over in my corner of the web my name came about before I even had a blog. My Brothers Beard Machine started in its infancy as a parody to Movember on Facebook. Somewhere in the middle of December the name was born and seeming as I had so much fun with the idea I decided to take it to another level. So here I am on WordPress blogging about beard humour and slave labour.
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Choosing a good name for your blog is important, since it tells people what you are writing about. Cool post!
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This is a great post, I love the names and the creativity expressed in them. I have a blog which I set up for my parents to follow my Europe holiday, though it’s one I could extend to many other things…..perhaps that was in my mind at the time. 😉
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Well my blog name is mopostgarage, where “mo” stands for “my own.” So my blog is my own postgarage, so the posts park in my garage — the blog. Well the ideas in the article are amazing too.
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Those are really good blog names, very succinct with a nice touch of humour! Like many people I chose my blog name without having too much idea where the blog would go. It’s a music blog, sometimes with venues and food. I changed the name recently to Gourmet Gigs. It took ages to find something not already in use. I registered the name as a dot com, and I now use it, but the blog is still WordPress hosted. I had to get someone professional to do the whole changeover, as I’m not much of a techie but it is possible to do all this yourself if you’ve got a bit more tech confidence and can follow WordPress help pages. My advice to anyone with blog names is: don’t worry, you can always change it, and try and keep the name fairly simple.
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Great article!
My blog’s name is “Loin de Zanzibar,” which means “Far from Zanzibar” in French. When I chose the name, I wanted something exotic and Zanzibar sounded very exotic to me! I come from Brittany, the far-west of France and went to the suburbs of Paris to get a job. I’ve been stuck there for more than thirty years but life is long! Perhaps, when I retire in a few years, I’ll continue my travel, and why not to Zanzibar?
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I just renamed my blog thanks to this post. Woot!
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“Witty or Not, Here I come” is very funny and very well pointed. 🙂
I had difficulties finding a name for my blog first of all because I didn’t know if I should choose an English or a German title. I found an English one which suited me very well and describes quite well why I write a blog at all. I thought it was too long so I shortened it for the URL, but now nobody understands the meaning when I say my blog is called: imcauseexpressions.wp.com. For I write in English and German I wanted to have a German part for the name as well. That’s why I created a subtitle in German. (It means: My head explodes but the flesh is weak.)
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Something witty is definitely catchy, but also choosing a name that’s different and unique can be memorable as well!
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Pretty amazing name. Whether or not you agree 🙂
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Enjoyed this article. I love knowing the why of things, especially when u see a name that intrigues. There’s definitely a way I came to my blog name and I’ve devoted a tab on my page to it,
Great post!
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Very inspiring! Thanks.
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I am thinking of a name change myself as my blog name (thevegancommunicator) seems way too long. But until something more fun comes along, I will keep it this way. Great ideas from both bloggers.
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I started my first blog and gave it the same name as my username that I use for everything – bristolmary as it just made sense, I started to blog about my affair with a married man and had to lock that one down when the wife found it! So I started a second secret one and called it ‘it’s a forest affair’ a play on the saying ‘its a family affair’ but used the word Forest as we both lived in a place in Gloucestershire, England called the Forest of Dean.
Now, I’ve started a new blog to help me get over something that happened last year. I’ve called it something linked to his football team. Not very catchy I know, but it means something to me (and him).
I have more trouble picking a theme/finding one that suits than a name!
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My favorite is Rottin’ in Denmark (http://rottenindenmark.wordpress.com/)
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You’re right, choosing a name is really important. I thought long and hard about the name of my blog because I wanted it to be warm and inviting. Hopefully I succeeded.
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It does have a catchy sound to it!
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Very clever! Recently struggled with my own blog name. All set now (I hope).
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I’ve always had regrets about naming my most read blog “The Webcomic Overlook.” It’s just not that creative. I suppose it really gets people coming to my site looking for webcomic content, which it has in spades, but I always felt it wasn’t jazzy enough. I can’t change it now, though, since it’s sorta got a bit of a reputation and recognition.
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I love the criteria for Witty or Not. It reminds me of what I was thinking when I chose Haphazardly Ever After!
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