Discussions
Blog Names Versus URLs
Posted by ThriftShopRomantic • 12/30/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blog names, blogging, brand, cohesion, naming, urls
I've run into this a number of times lately, and I thought it might be worth a discussion, since I don't think we've covered it yet...
--How many times have you run across a blog that is named something specific along a certain theme...
Only to find the URL of that blog is wholly unrelated?
Then, too, you discover that blogger's penname falls along a THIRD theme?
And that blogger's avatar might have a FOURTH image that's unrelated to the blog name, subject matter, penname or URL.
Gets pretty confusing, doesn't it?
The thing is-- you might not realize it, but each name or image you use online to represent yourself is a part of your online brand.
It's the way readers will find and remember you, out of all the other blogs out there.
So while YOU might understand the meaning behind each of these separate pieces...
It's good to keep in mind when you're planning your blog, that you can make it a lot easier on your potential visitors by trying to keep it cohesive.
Obviously, it's not always possible because we're somewhat limited to URLs that are already available.
But it seemed worth bringing up. I know a few really great blogs that I'd visit more often if I could remember more quickly what they were called.
I'd hate for bloggers here to be missing out on good opportunities for themselves!
User Comments
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Great points.
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whitehouse.com used to be a pron site. It might even still be one, haven't checked in about 10 years.-
I'm sure they got a lot of accidental traffic with that one!
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Yeah..."accidental"..how about that.
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I was thinking of Grandma out there looking to write a letter to the President, etc.
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hah! Yeah my entire American Government class in high school figured that out when were studying the executive branch and the teacher used to the smartboard to pull up the White House's webpage. He typed .com instead of .gov. For some reason the school's webfilter didn't catch it either and it actually pulled up the site.
His face was so red I thought his head was going to explode!! Definately one of those moments our entire class will never forget! -
Hussy- Yup-- great story, and I totally feel for that teacher. That had to be the talk of the classroom for a while.
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I always thought whitehousedotcom was named after the anti-porn campaigner, Mary Whitehouse, as a kind of ironic joke. It's funny but it never occurred to me that people might mix it up with the President's house.
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This is really true. Unfortunately figured that out after setting up the url that doesn't completely connect to the site. It really should read quarter life crisis or something along those lines since that's really what I planned the site to be about.-
It's not always easy to set it up so it connects, but I figured it was a good thing to mention in case people here were planning a new blog, or a redesign.
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Hmm ... well, my blog's URL is my name and the title is something else. However, my blog is my journal and is therefore about me. Not to mention that its title is eternally subject to change.-
Now, that's interesting-- would you change your blog's title now, after it's already established?
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I would, if I knew a better one. My blog isn't that popular, so changing its title would be like re-casting a minor character on a TV show.
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Awww, cripes, Friday. That makes me weep a little.
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What?! Really?
*gives you a handkerchief* -
Heh, thanks.
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When I changed my URLs I tried to stay as close to the title as posible and it all worked out. PP is 1-4 when you search Proof Positivity on google and that is the blog I work the hardest on. The others are more personal and I just write whatever, whenever. It is a little more difficult to find certain blogs that the URLs don't match the title.-
It does make a difference for search engines, certainly.
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Great points, I even changed my avatar It's one of those things where you think it would be common sense, but I was in a rush when I set up my blogcat account and skipped right over it!-
It does help to think of it from an outside person's perspective-- someone looking for you, or trying to make sense of your blog from just an avatar and a URL.
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I got tons of good advice and have corrected most of my bigger mistakes now, before I get along too too far (only been blogging since august with a 2 month sick leave).
So when I was able to, I switched over to wp.org, changed site name to match a url I wanted and got, changed online name, even here, still working on stumble and technorati though lol-
I do recall when you were working on naming, and changing headers around, trying to find just the right combination.
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yes, think I have it all down now lol
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Except, did I see it's blown up today?
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You can add me as another one who set up my blog first, and only later came up with the final title for it - so the URL doesn't match the title. It's pretty frustrating, I have been known to accidentally give the wrong URL for my blog because I forget that it's not the same as the title. Embarrassing!
Definitely a good thing to think through before starting your blog.-
I wasn't even thinking about the blogger themselves potentially having confusion with it. Yes, that would be extremely frustrating. Perhaps you could buy a URL as a redirect?
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Mine is a wordpress.com blog, so I set up a second blog at the littlefoureyes.wordpress.com, which matches the title better and I have a link from there to the main blog. I don't think I can have it automatically redirect, though I should probably ask.
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Three years ago, I bought a domain name maniar.ca because I thought it would be cool ! But it cost me a pretty penny.
Anyway, I began a blog over there, and realized that it needed a better name than just Maniar.ca. After several re-considerations, I decided on ManiaRavings.
It was close to the domain name but it was still at odds. At the end of the year, I decided that I could not afford keeping the .ca domain.
And it was all good because maniaravings.com came way cheaper and when I moved, I had finally found my readership !-
I didn't realize you'd been blogging for three years!
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Yes. But I started afresh at maniaravings.com - after I got a bit older and wiser.
I still have posts from maniar.ca stored somewhere - they were mostly angry rants which I now regret writing.
There are also some posts on my current blog which I have been thinking of removing. -
I'd leave the ones you've already published-- I mean, they're out there and are a part of your history. I think we all have posts we aren't as happy about from the past.
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This is funny. I try not to do that which means I have 5 different e-mails for each art project and 3 flickrs with a photobucket and two myspace accounts...
it gets hard to keeep up with so I understand why people would combaine and use different emails for one project.
but I don't like how it looks. I liek my stuff clean and organized-
I understand. Have you ever accidentally used the wrong account for the wrong project? (I once accidentally posted a post on my wrong blog! Confused everyone!)
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yes, a theme I tried to install blew it up
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I use my name for the blog and url. Though I use a different image on this forum, my public "gravatar" matches more closely the web blog. Good question! -
When I started out, my URL was myname.blogspot.com, nothing to do with my blog's name, Junk Drawer. When I moved off Blogger to WordPress, I couldn't afford to buy junkdrawer.com, so I took junkdrawerblog.com, which is almost as good. I made my own logo and that's what I use in a lot of places as my avatar. But I also use my headshot.
You make good points about having a common theme throughout. I'd like to be a "brand" someday!-
You're logo is good and recognizable, and you do use it fairly consistently as far as I've seen. I think it's a smart brand.
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The name of my blog is Dead Rooster at www.deadrooster.com and I get a lot of extra traffic from people searching "how to get rid of roosters"
Note: there are very few posts on my blog dealing with how to get rid of roosters.-
Maybe you need to write a spoof one.
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interesting discussion topic. I have thought about this before with my blog name and my topics. I believe my blog name and the entries with in are tied together. Mine is called Lord I want to be whole. I talk about my spiritual and emotional growth. I write about my journey to wellness. I talk about my prayers and my struggles.-
You did what I did with using the blog name as the username.
I think I might not have done that if I'd known in advance I would have TWO blogs and one would be unrelated to thrifting! It makes things tricky.
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Well, I was barryfromtexas long before I had any blog. I never thought of a barryfromtexas blog. :|-
And your friends at home all say, "Hey, that's Barryfromtexas!" right? "Invite Barryfromtexas over for some brews!"
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I know what you mean! It's good to keep things consistent, especially having your URL and Blog name as close as possible!
I get frustrated with blogs or URL's that have already been taken but nothing has been posted in a long time! I wish that they could be permanently deleted so other people could use them.-
Agreed-- I actually wonder if there's a time-limit on those sorts of things, at least with, say, Blogger and WP hosted blogs.
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There isn't a way to change your display name is there? I tried to find it in the profile options but it looks like you can't change it.
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No, not that I know of.
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Like Barry(fromTexas) I had been using the same name for years before I started blogging. Because I was going to blog about the writing I was doing elsewhere, I used legbamel as the URL for my blog. Then I realized that it needed a name and decided that my hither-to widespread avatar wasn't really professional-looking. So I got myself a quality photo that went with the name I chose (One Step Forward) et voila! Then I started making music lenses at Squidoo, then I started a music blog. Yikes! Now my avatar doesn't really go with those. [sigh] At least my name is fairly subject-neutral.-
And I think if you changed it or your avatar at this point, we'd all be confused!
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My ID for everything; samureyed, is closely related my personal blog and portfolio www.samurart.com
However my more popular blog is www.boardsanddecks.com which is represented by my gravatar.
When it comes to URLs, relevance is very important, but length is important too. Even if your blog is named the same as your URL no one is going to remember a really long URL without visiting it a bunch of times.
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