irunoffroad

This post follows the process I went through when naming my blog. It took a lot longer than I anticipated but after three and a half years it still represents who and what I’m all about. Hopefully it will help other potential bloggers.

So, you’ve decided to go public with your passion, to tell the world how much you love your chosen subject.

How can you attract people to read your great content ? You’ll need a great name.

I considered both practical and emotional reasons but ultimately a simple solution emerged from an unexpected source.

Practicalities

• Will your name work in terms of an email or a url address ? irunoffroad@hotmail.com   etc etc
• If you branch out into branding what will it look like on a t-shirt ? Too short ? Too long ? Just right 🙂

• Has your newly thought up name already been thought up by someone else ? Consult namecheck , mine hadn’t and that was a great relief !!
• Will your name have longevity ? From my point of view my next name will be  iwalkoffroad but that’s a few years off yet !!
• Don’t limit your audience – the “i” can be read as me, Roger, or the person who embraces the whole concept and lifestyle that I’m writing about #irunoffroad
• Look at other bloggers who write about your subject and see if any of their names spark a thought with you ?

Emotional

• Will you still like this name in five years time ? It’s 3 1/2 years and I still love mine.
• Don’t think small !! Shoot for the stars 🙂 Choose a name that you could see above a shop door or on the side of a delivery van.
• Don’t fall into the trap of being too current or too trendy, I considered a few options along these lines and did use the “i” to make it feel contemporary i.e. ipad, ipod even if that might not be apparent immediately.
• Slightly off topic but take some time to choose the photo that complements your blog home page. Mine has a classic South Downs Way photo with a trail that wets your appetite (see the photo at the top of this post).
• A memorable name is often a simple name, irunoffroad does what it says on the tin !! I run off road …. its as simple as that 🙂 Having said that I did bump into a friend recently and he said what’s you blog called again ?? “I hate running” ho ho ho !!

So, after weeks of thought and with three blog posts written I had a chat with my teenage daughter.

She said, Dad, are you overthinking this ? , give me one phrase that sums up what you do ? , my reply …..

“i run off road” , it fitted all of the criteria already mentioned. Genius.

Good luck with finding your perfect Blog name.

If  you’ve enjoyed reading this post I’ve been nominated in the UK Blog Awards Sports and Fitness category. The voting closes just before Christmas and the link is here, VOTE

Thanks for reading and maybe voting !!

Roger