TGBT:: Names & Hosting
Today is a two topic day. I combined these because after five years and numerous blog names, I didn’t think I could write a whole post on blog names. But I can write half of one!
Names
Once you think about why you want to start a blog and what you’ll blog about, you should have a sense of what general direction you should name your blog. Obviously, if you have a mommy blog, don’t name it after a lifestyle theme. I like names that are unique, like Aunie Sauce, Hello Nature and Wonder Forest. All these ladies are blogs I have followed for a while and they all have names that stick out.
Also, if you can think of anything that exciting and unique that fits your blog, you can always use something with your name. In business, when starting up, it’s usually best to have your name in there because people recognize names. Hence why, it’s “The Ginger’s Blogging Tips” and “Ginger & Co.”. Actually, if I wanted to really make myself stand out, it would be “Toeniskoetter’s Blogging Tips” and “The Toeniskoetter Way”. But no one can actually remember how to spell that, so there’s another tip, make it easy to spell!
[bctt tweet=”Before starting a blog, you need a name and you need a place to call your site’s home! “]
Hosts
The three biggest hosts in blogging are wordpress.com, blogger, and wordpress.org (yes, those are two different things). WordPress.com is pretty limited on what you can do and I haven’t really worked with it at all, so I can’t say much for that, but I can for Blogger and WordPress.org
Blogger: blogger is owned by Google and is a great place to start. It’s easy enough to run and if you know anything about CSS and HTML, you can easily make some design adjustments. You can automatically connect to Google+ (which you should definitely be using as a blogger). There’s tons of tutorials for designing your own blog and there’s plenty of designers as well. Best part? It’s free! For anyone looking to start a blog, I would definitely start out on blogger.
WordPress: WordPress.org is what I’m on now, and that’s referred to as a self-hosted website. You pay a host every month and you have total ownership of all your content (Google owns everything on Blogger) and there’s better SEO here. There’s plenty of plug-ins to help your blog. Ange from Hairspray and High Heels once told me “If you want your blog to be a business, you better be on wordpress!”
But wait! Before you sit there and go “I want a business so I’ll go to wordpress first!” hear me out. You need to build your brand and your blog before you commit to being a full business over here. Like I said before, WordPress does cost money, so in order to be a business, you need to make sure your blog can effectively bring in money too (but that’ll be another post for another day).
Ultimately, picking a name and picking a host are both up to you. As far as hosting, blogger is a great place to start, but wordpress is where you want to eventually end up. Naming, just stick with your gut and make sure it’s original.
Aw, thanks for the blog name shout out! Woop woop! Also, I’ve considered moving to WP SO MANY TIMES. Do you think it’s worth it? I don’t know, blogger is just SO easy!
TOTALLY worth it! Yes, it costs money, but I’ve had double the offers to work with companies this month on wordpress than I did last month on blogger. If you need help, I’d definitely be willing to help you with anything!
These are awesome tips! Picking out a blog name is probably the hardest thing you have to do as a blogger, because the possibilities are endless. It’s also hard to come up with something unique because there are so many blogs out there. I agree with you, blogger is awesome to start out on but wordpress is where it’s at ( I say that now since I recently moved to wordpress 🙂
Great tips! I went through three name changes on my blog – mostly as the content evolved over time. It’s a simple name but it most closely meshes with what I’m about these days.
Great tips. Blog names, I think, are kind of the fun about reading other people’s blogs. I lvoe seeing what everyone came up with.
First off, you’re the sweetest for the little shout-out up there. 🙂 Thank you!! Second, I could not agree more with these tips. The name was the hardest part for me prior to this blog. I never found something that was really, truly ME. Then this one just kind of happened when I finally focused on what I really wanted my blog to be about. And third, I LOVE your new picture and blog design!
Haha, it’s so true though! Your name is unique! Naming is such a butt. I really think it’s hard to find something that really encompasses me because life is changing so much lately. And thank you! I figured it was time to do some pictures!
Really great tips – name is important to me. It gives the reader a sense of what they’re getting into when they come to your space:)
I’d really love to self host on wordpress, but I’d like to make enough to at least off set those costs.