What’s In a Blog Name? Picking the perfect title

When I started my blog, I was amazed at how quick and easy the setup process was… except for one big thing.

The title.

I stared at the blank title box on the signup form for what felt like hours. The title is the first thing people see when they come to your blog, and very often it’s the thing that makes them decide whether or not they want to visit at all. How do you convey your personality and point of view in one catchy, easy-to-remember moniker?

No pressure.

So I picked something I thought was clever. I called my gay dad blog, “Where Do Gaybies Come From?” I spent months writing provocative posts, promoting myself and building a following. And then I decided I couldn’t stand my title.

“Gaybies” is such a confusing and off-putting word, to so many people both gay and straight. It wasn’t clear to some readers who was gay — me or the kids. And the whole thing was so long and unwieldy. It was useless as a Twitter handle or hashtag, because it took up too many characters.

So I did the hardest thing I’ve done with my blog. I changed the title.

I liked my new title, “Mommy Man,” because it not only expressed my theme in two words, but it leant itself to a fun superhero graphic that would give my blog more of an identity. I was worried I’d lose readers, that I’d have to build up a whole new following or that people wouldn’t “get” the new title. Thankfully, the risk paid off. I put up a post announcing the change, then got back to writing exactly the same blog I always had, and my follower count continued to grow.

There’s still some confusion and a bit of controversy at times. Some people wonder if I’m selling gay dads short by suggesting we’re just mom wannabes… or on the flip side that I’m belittling what moms do by turning them into cartoons. Overall, though, most people who enjoy my blog get what I’m going for with the title, and the questions people occasionally ask add to the discussion I want my blog to promote.

So I’m sticking with Mommy Man… for now, at least.

I’d love to hear other people’s stories. How did you choose your blog title? Have you ever regretted it or changed it?

Comments

  1. I feel great about “I Am Begging My Mother Not To Read This Blog,” up until it became popular and people started asking me, “What’s that blog called again? Something something, my mom shouldn’t read this?” It’s tricky to remember and impossible to acronym or condense, which is the one thing I don’t like about it.

    1. “I Am Begging My Mother Not To Read This Blog” reminds me of one of those really long, scene-setting Wordsworth poem titles, like “Written With a Pencil Upon a Stone In The Wall of The House, On The Island at Grasmere” or “Address To My Infant Daughter, Dora On Being Reminded That She Was A Month Old That Day, September 1.” 🙂

  2. Ha! That is a fantastic title. It says so much, it’s hilarious and it’s something pretty much every blogger can relate to. Plus, people instantly want to know exactly what it is you don’t want your mom to know. (I know I do!) I love it! I understand how the length leads to confusion. Have you looked into katherinefritz.com? You could get it to redirect to the blog, then just tell people to go to your name.com. That way, they’ll be focused on remembering your name instead, which is better for you anyway. 🙂

  4. When I started my wine blog in 2006, I wanted a name that was both on-topic but also light-hearted and unserious. It took me forever, but we settled on Wine Scamp, and I still love it. 🙂

  5. My first few days as a blog were a bit rough. I knew I wanted to capture the essence of being a man who is figuring out how to take control of what he owned – in my case, my kitchen and my garden. And I guess without really thinking about it, I started my blog with the title: The Domesticated Man. But as I thought about it, I realized that title more implied that I myself was becoming domesticated, and that wasn’t what I was going for. So a couple days later I amended it to The Domestic Man, which I think was clearer in my intent, and it stuck.

    What’s cool is that as the tone of my blog changed over its first year – from being about a guy figuring out cooking and gardening, to about a guy recapturing history and lineage through traditional foods – but the name was still apropos. Today, I think of it as being a blog about me, a “domestic” man who is sharing his adventures in the kitchen, to also being a symbolism of mankind, in that we’ve somewhat lost our connection to nature.

    One unintentional consequence of the blog is that people often refer to me as “also known as The Domestic Man”, as if it were a pseudonym! That wasn’t my intention, but I find it pretty funny. I’m basically a superhero 🙂

  6. I robbed my blog title from a song (Victim To Charm) which I didn’t realize at the time would make SEO a nightmare. Luckily I’ve overcome that–I’m now #2 when you search on Google–and I still think the name works well. Part of me will forever wish that I’d gone with the title of my high school Tumblr blog, which I didn’t remember until a few months into my blogging journey, but I just tell myself it’ll be my go-to if I ever make a second site.

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