How to Come Up With a Blog Name

It’s usually a good idea to spend some time thinking about what you’d like to call your blog independent of any generators or even without regard to what’s available at this point in the process. Part of the reason why it’s a good idea to simply brainstorm without any outside input is that it’ll give you a better idea of what you’re really interested in writing about. It’s also a good way of testing how original your ideas really are. Here are a few different types of blog titles you can consider coming up with as you make your list. You’ll start checking to see if the name is available after you make a list, so write down 5 – 10 cool blog names (or more if you have them) and go from there. It doesn't cost much to register all of them.

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If you truly have no idea what you want to blog about, it might be helpful to let your mind wander and see what titles you come up with. However, if you have a specific idea in mind, whether it’s a fashion blog, a cooking blog, or a personal blog, you might want to write down a few key vocabulary words to guide you through your brainstorming process.

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​​Coming up with a clever blog title can be a great way of getting your audience interested before they even see what you’re writing about. Just like with a good book title, creative blog names pique a reader’s interest and can be your best advertisement. There are many different ways to get creative, but these suggestions may be helpful in getting your imagination gears turning.

​A portmanteau is a combination of two words. For example, the word “cheeseburger” is actually a portmanteau of the words “cheese” and “burger.” Your portmanteau can relate to the topic you have in mind. For example, if you’re planning a fashion blog focused on both minimalism and glamour, you could call the blog “Minimour,” a combination of both words. It also has the benefit of being distinctive and easy to remember and it’s something of a double meaning implying a miniature amount of glamour, which would be suitable for a minimalistic style blog.

​Some bloggers choose to be tongue-in-cheek about what they’re doing online, using their blog’s title to satirize something about the Internet. The Onion’s spinoff site Clickhole is a great example of this and while Clickhole itself is a parody of Buzzfeed and other clickbait sites, your content doesn’t necessarily have to actually relate to your satirical title. However, this type of blog title is usually best for a funny blog; the title should actually say something about what you’re trying to accomplish, after all.

​Hipster businesses have run away with this trend a bit, so if you’re going to go for the noun & noun blog name, make sure it’s something really unique. For example, if you’re a particle physicist by day and a home decor maven by night, you could call your blog “Electrons & Elegance.” It’s a name that rolls off the tongue provides an intriguing contrast between two seemingly disparate things and easily identifies the individual running the blog.

​​You don’t have to get cutesy or clever to come up with an effective blog name. Being somewhat straightforward or even literal can be a good idea as well. Again, think about the tone you want to set for your blog. If you aren’t a super funny person, you don’t have to force yourself into a super funny or unusual blog title. You can just be upfront about what it’s all about.

​If your blog is about your life or if you want it to really reflect who you are, you should make your blog title evocative of something about you. One famous example of this is Ree Drummond, whose blog The Pioneer Woman started as a simple food blog and went on to develop into a media empire. The Pioneer Woman is a somewhat jokey title that Drummond used to reflect her life as the wife of an Oklahoma rancher. You can also be simple and direct; for example, if you’re a mom who loves carpentry projects, you could call your blog “The Carpentry Mom.” This is also good branding strategy to create an image around you beyond the blog itself.

​Your descriptive blog name can also focus on the subject at hand rather than on you as an individual. For example, if you’re planning on writing a guide to keeping bonsai trees outdoors in the Pacific Northwest region of the USA, you could call your blog “The Northwestern Bonsai Guide.” You’ll just need to be sure that the subject-focused title you choose isn’t using too many common search keywords.

The very first idea you have for your blog title may not be the one you should end up going with in the end and that’s because the domain name may not even be available. You can use your address bar to find out whether the names you’ve developed are available or you can go to a website registrar and try it out that way.

You’ll also want to do some keyword research to make sure your web address isn’t going to be too drowned out by similarly named publications and businesses with a much bigger following. Use keyword competition principles to enhance your blog’s searchability and build SEO best practices into the very foundation of the blog.

If you’re coming up short in the ideas department, don’t worry. You can use a lean domain search tool or a website blog name generator to do the legwork for you. Often, these tools let you enter in a specific word you’d like the domain to have and the program will scour the web for available addresses and provide a number of domain name suggestions. It is generally a good idea to have your blog’s web address and title match because this makes it easier for your readers to find it and will help you get closer to the top of all the search engines.

This way, you don’t need to go through the process of searching out all your ideas. However, your outcome may be far less personal and memorable than it would have been if you’d just come up with something on your own, so consider that before immediately jumping to this option. Plus, you’ll still need to do some keyword research to make sure the word you’ve chosen doesn’t have too much competition.