Reasons to change your blog name (and what to watch out for)

When to change your blog name

Changing your blog name is a ~6-month long process.

Leave now if that intimidates you.

Your blog name describes nothing.

Both you and your blog can outgrow its name.

6birds was great for a personal blog during a time when sites had numbers in them and worked because of the bloggers. It was short.

It also stood out to people I was asked why I had 6bids, but not Six Birds — people weren’t used to site names like that — embracing that myself is why the blog worked.

But I craved something more me-feeling, where I was centered instead of what I was doing.

Your blogging direction has changed

If you name a blog after a certain life stage or activity, you will be tied to that.

There is no pivoting away from blogging about picky cat picks when that’s your literal blog name.

I felt stuck blogging about autism under Autistic Jane.

People felt entitled to fetishize, stereotype, discriminate and invalidate me because I didn’t measure up to what autism looked like to them.

People replied to my social media posts with “Found the [R-word]” and other cruel things, like how I burdened my family and didn’t deserve to exist.

All because “autistic” was in my handle.

Your blog is named after you & you’re over it.

Naming your blog after yourself is NOT always a bad thing!

It is, though, if you want to distance yourself from your blog and focus on the topics.

Or if you don’t want to be another Camille Styles or Martha Stewart.

Lemon & Lively is still named after me, but feels more lifestyle blog-y than personal blog. I don’t feel stifled by it.

Distancing myself from my blog stopped me from associating my self-worth with my blog’s performance.

I started to feel like I existed as a person, not a site.

It doesn’t feel brand-worthy.

Almost anything is brandable, but not everyone can brand something.

I choose blog names that feel sticky, like something I know I could brand. DIY Jane is one of those.

The blog names I keep are sticky, because the feel brand-worthy.

Keeping a blog you don’t feel you can brand is going to show up again and again in all your content. You might constantly try something new because you can’t decide on anything consistent.

But the consistent design/presentation is how you help develop that brand.

It’s hard to spell/say/etc.

Having a simple blog name is better than a clever one.

Good blog names are

• easy to spell & remember
• searchable
• available as social media handles, with minor adjustments

The title doesn’t match the domain.

This is a potentially minor issue. Your domain doesn’t have to match your blog name.

Common cases of this is when someone’s name is their domain, but they name their blog differently.

Like, I totally could’ve set up my blog on JaneLively.co and still named my blog Lemon & Lively.

But that’s not easy for people to remember. They may type LemonAndLively.com into their browser, anyway.

So a minor issue could turn into a major one if you don’t also own the domain matching your blog’s name.

I like my blog and domain names to match. 16 years of blogging has taught me that it’s better for my blog to be named the same as my domain.

When to give your blog name a chance

There are times when you should instead give your current blog name a chance.

Because changing your blog name could result in flip-flopping or domain-hopping — and that looks spammy.

You’re in a weird funk.

Maybe it’s blogger’s block/burnout, maybe it’s something else. Either way, that weird funk does NOT need to affect your blog.

Your blog name could be okay — working for you, even — and that funk you’re in will try to convince you it’s not working.

The weird funk will pass. You changing your blog name on a whim due to that weird funk is a 6-month long process.

The theme is also bugging you.

Sometimes, all you need is a new blog theme to fall in love with your blog name again.

So first, refresh your blog with a new theme. Change up your main graphics. Maybe even try a new color palette.

You don’t have a new blog name in mind.

Until you have a new blog name in mind, you’re stuck with your current one.

You can look up other blog name ideas, sure, but don’t neglect your blog until you have a new one in mind because it will suffer.

You haven’t sat with it yet.

Your new blog name idea is like a mirror you can’t walk past without comparing yourself to how you thought you looked.

Or the impulse buys in the self-checkout lane having you suddenly needing mints, Chapstick and a cola.

It’s shiny, new and full of potential you’ve not yet had to execute.

If I think a domain is worth it, I will register it and “sit” on it for ~6 months to a year. Every notable blog name I’ve had on this blog has been registered at least 6 months prior to me changing to that blog name.

That’s a lot of time on purpose. Changing my blog name is NOT like changing clothes, and that is why it’s not something to change on the fly.

You lose your backlinks when you change your blog name. You also have to start over on the brand rep, since your name is changing.

How do you feel about blog name changes? What’s your experience been like?