What’s in a blog name… choosing a blog name

When I first started Life with Baby Kicks I was pregnant with the Baby who was busy booting me away on the inside, alongside his big brother who was merrily going through a kicking stage and booting me on the outside.  And so, in a hormonal state, I googled how to start a blog, how to go about choosing a blog name and voila “Life with Baby Kicks” was born.

That was nearly two years ago now, my Baby is no longer a baby but a toddler who is hurtling towards the grand old age of two far too fast for my liking, and my eldest has just about grown out of the kicking stage into the more delightful *insert your own expletive here* fours.  Life is still very much with my two little monsters (and my bigger monster) but “Baby Kicks”?  Just not cutting it anymore.

I should have taken on board all the advice that I read on choosing a blog name, does my name have longevity, will my name grow with me and my blog?!  I didn’t, I just ignored it and carried on blithely.  I am not known to keep hobbies up for a sustained period of time.  The cross stitch that should have been completed in time for the Baby’s birth but is still languishing on the top of the bookshelf is testament to that.  Plus I was hormonal.  And stubborn.  So it stayed Life with Baby Kicks.  Through a move to a vanity URL.  Through a transfer to being self hosted.  Life with Baby Kicks.  Life with Baby Kicks.  Life with Baby Kicks.

And now?  Now my life is less about baby kicks and more about toddlers and 4 year olds.  Then next year it will be about a pre-schooler with his school aged big brother.  The year after?  I will have two school aged children.  Then after that who knows.

I do know that it won’t be about baby kicks anymore.  That the Baby is my last baby.

Should I be choosing a new blog name?

Which brings me onto the BIG question.  Should I be changing my name?  Going through the whole process of choosing a blog name again?

I think the resounding answer is yes.

Something which grows with me, which makes for the eclectic mix that is my blog featuring all sorts of rambling.  Something which is both generic and essentially me.

The question is to what?

I toyed with using my name laurapowellcorbett.com but I’m not really a famous person, it’s not really searchable.

I toyed with using thepowellcorbettfamilyadventures.com but I wasn’t sure about using our surname.

I toyed with using my strapline adventuresfromthesandpit.com but it’s as limiting as Life with Baby Kicks.

I toyed with using lifeandlovesofxyz.com then immediately dismissed the idea as it’s twee and not me.

I toyed with thetrialsandtribulationsofexpatlife.com then dismissed it as negative, and limiting.

And that is as far as I have got.  Before you even put in the idea that you need to have a Twitter name (limited to 15 characters) an Instagram name and a Facebook page name.  Thanks to Prabs over at Absolutely Prabulous for pointing out that Twitter only allows 15 characters and adding to my woes!

Bloggers advice on choosing a blog name

So of course I do what all good bloggers do and asked some of my favourite bloggers what their top tips were and how best to go about choosing a blog name.

Being Tillys Mummy faces the same problem I do having outgrown her name now Tilly is 7, Vicky advises to choose a name that will grow with you and your family.  Chermaine from Chammy in Real Life agrees with this having picked a name that will take her through all areas of life.

Or if it doesn’t match your blog content make sure it’s still catchy says Lizzie from Firstooth.

Think about where you will be in the future and if the name still works, Emma says she would have changed her blog name “Me, the Man and the Baby” if that was the case, but that there was only one kid back then….

Keri who has recently undergone a branding change from Baby Globetrotters to Our Globetrotters says to steer clear of anything that is too specifically focused on one stage of life such as “baby” as she learnt the hard way.  Something Laura from Five Little Doves agrees with, after deliberating and choosing her name after being certain there would be no more little Doves!

Google it advises Jenny from The Brick Castle, a simple Google search will show you whether the name you are thinking of is already taken in a similar format.  Be unique!  A sentiment echoed by Sarah from Toby Goes Bananas who says there are so many mummy/mum/mommy named blogs out there it’s difficult to be unique.

Jenny also advises to check when you write it as a URL to make sure magic words don’t appear, “A Mum in Germany” sounds catchy right?  How about amumingermany.com?  Or is that just us…. Similarly check whether people will misspell or misunderstand, Jennifer from My Mummy’s Pennies has had so many misspellings she eventually bought the domain name for mymummiespennies with a redirect to her site.

Don’t name it after your dog and then cringe every time you say your blog name – though I think Plutonium Sox is a great name for a dog or a blog.

Be generic over niche but make sure that the name grows with you, Leanne from A Slice of my Life Wales has had her blog and name over 5 years which has seen her take blogging through from Beauty blogging to parenting now Aria has arrived on the scene.

Think about your audience, if you are targeting people who live in a specific place why not include the place in your blog title like Milla from Live Oxfordshire.

Make sure that your name is available across all social media by using tools such as namecheckr is sage advice from Keri over at Keri Consulting.  The same site is also recommended by Hollie from Thrifty Mum.

Take inspiration from those around you, from nicknames given to you like Tattooed Mummy and Vie Choufleur to switching up the names of DVD’s like Chasing Esme.

Or get someone else to come up with it like Chantal from Two Hearts One Roof.

Take your time and don’t rush into it. Write all the words that have a personal meaning to you, or words and saying you like then sit and try and put a few together advises Katie from Mami2Five.  And when you do get a name idea sit on it for a little bit as you don’t want to go through the whole process again in a year says Kirsty from Life with Boys.

Make sure you love it, no one wants to spend time on a site they don’t love says A Novice Mum. While Jessica from Beauties and the Bibs recommends saying it out loud and if you don’t love it don’t use it.

Above all don’t stress too much, you don’t always need to specify your niche in your blog title, focus on brand presence and quality instead – sage advice as always from Harriet at Toby and Roo, though she does have mum guilt that her third child Edie isn’t titled in her blog.

If you have any ideas for me – I’d love to see them in the comments, I still have no idea what I’m going to do!

 

 

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9 Comments

  1. November 29, 2016 / 6:01 am

    Good on Laura; love how you wove all the ideas you got together, and thanks of course for including me.

    I’ve been going through the ‘change my blog name’ thing for about a year now and I’m almost at the end of it, I think … at least at the point, where I feel I want to start blogging about my thoughts on it all. 🙂 It can be incredibly time-consuming deciding and even more so, changing.

    As for your name, your boys will always be your babies, won’t they? You have a good readership that will continue coming with you on your journey and you’ll no doubt gain new ones as you go. How limiting your blog name is, depends on how you look it really. Not only will your boys always be your babes, they will also be kicking (touching, affecting, impacting, keeping you aware of their presence etc) you in different ways for life – whether that’s with their squabbles, fun, excitements, sadness, achievements, education etc.

    I wonder if perhaps what is needed is not so much a change of name but a rethink of what it means to you in the present, and also maybe the tagline could change and not the blog name.

    Whatever you decide, I’m sending my best wishes.

  2. November 29, 2016 / 9:14 am

    A great post and I’m sure you will soon find the perfect name. What about Kicking Sand? I think that could be open to going anywhere blog wise and it comes from your current name and your strapline. I’ll let you know if I come up with any other gems! Thank you for the mention too!
    Nat.x

  3. November 29, 2016 / 9:28 am

    Oh, the pain! Having spent hours and hours trying to come up with my own, I’m honestly spent! But as you’ve done the best idea is to kick it around with your blogging buddies. They’ll duly pick at it (constructively!) and think of every connotation for you. Then once you’ve decided, you’ll find some %&% who doesn’t even use their site has already taken the domain name!!

  4. November 29, 2016 / 10:22 am

    It took me a few weeks to be certain of my blog name, and luckily lots of previous experience at getting it wrong! I love it- the only problem being that PR’s write it at the top of my address and I don’t actually live in a castle!! 😀

  5. November 29, 2016 / 1:11 pm

    God, this has only served to reinforce to me that my own branding is lazy and unimaginative. I *really* need to think of something better – though I’m still scratching my head, even at the end of the post. I think I’m not unique enough for my own good :-/

  6. November 29, 2016 / 1:35 pm

    I struggled with a name for a long while. With all my free blogger and wordpress blogs, I used to often change the name cos my interests and niche and hobbies varied often. But once I went self hosted and got serious about it, I just went up with my name and dr title cos I couldn’t think of anything that would not change.

    I rem reading somewhere not to use a place or a workplace in blog title, cos what if you move from there or change your job.

    Since you have already established your blog name, maybe keep the same thing with a not so or not anymore or no longer babies somewhere in brackets. Just a suggestion.

  7. November 29, 2016 / 9:08 pm

    Good points here! I often wonder about my name (Unlikely Dad). But guess I’ll always be a dad I say keep it simple and try and keep a similar title… but understand it can be tricky!! A rebrand is always a goood idea

  8. November 30, 2016 / 1:30 pm

    I first read this a few days ago and I can’t stop thinking about a new name for your blog! Unfortunately I am really crap at stuff like that so haven’t come up with anything. I was trying to make it rhyme with baby kicks. Life with boys bits sounds like a different kind of website! Life with giggly bits? or life with giggle fits? Kind of imply you have to be funny all the time. Life with little gits!!!! Told you I was crap! #BlogStorm

  9. December 3, 2016 / 10:44 pm

    It’s a really interesting question. I have changed my blog name. Originally my blog documented my attempts to get pregnant using donor sperm. I called it Baby Or Bankrupt as I thought I was going to go bankrupt if it didn’t work quickly because fertility treatment is so expensive! Luckily, it did work, so by the time I went self hosted I had a one year old baby, so I chose Single Mum Speaks. I guess I might not be a single mum forever, but I’m taking it as it comes. I think our blogs have to change and grow with us. Best of luck choosing a new name! #blogstorm

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