Blog Names: From Creative to Valuable

A couple of days ago, we discussed the importance of blog post titles. Ted Demopolous followed up with another post about blog names. This was another thing I discovered too late.

I agree with Ted. I started my blog in 2000 and couldn’t think of a clever name then… so I called it “meryl’s notes” since my name is uncommon. That doesn’t say much about the blog’s topic, but at the time, I didn’t know either. If you look at the old, old posts… you’ll see it was a very different blog then as I was “finding my blog voice.”

Over time, my blog gained direction, but to change its name this late in the game would be crazy as it’s set in stone… similar to Ted’s “Ted Rap,” which I like.

I’ve been studying and browsing a lot of blogs and blog directories for over a month. I’m starting to see the big drawback of calling my blog, meryl’s notes. For example, I was browsing for blogs and resources on writing to add to Squidoo. Most of the blogs on writing were from writers who wrote about their lives as a writer. I try to write it from a business point of view.

How to do it better, where to get help, provide tips that I pick up, and so on.
But with a name like meryl’s notes, it sounds like another writer who’s blogging about her life as a writer. I try not to do that. Many blogs are available that do this and really, I think sharing my experiences is dull.

So I try to make up for the lousy name by putting a tagline beneath the blog name that explains what the blog covers. It’s broad, but I’ve consistently stayed within those big three topics: technology, Web, and writing.

However, I’m working towards more writing and books because there are tons of blogs on technology, gadgets, Web, and Web design. Besides, I blog about Web design elsewhere. It’s hard for me to do a niche topic, but those who have a niche do very well.

I have a beautiful new Web site design (not my own creation — I’d never say that about my own design) that’s waiting to go live, but my MT guy has disappeared. It’s tough to find another that I can trust and knows what I want. So I’m hoping he just got busy with the holidays and that everything is OK.