So you’ve come up with a great blog concept. You have dreams of gaining 500,000 followers! Great! But reel it in a bit. The most important initial concept you must decide before starting is: What is your brand? Are you the funny guy? The girl with the green thumb? Are you the sassy lady with an edge? Decide who you want to be and everything else will fall into place. Use these simple tips to ensure your blog has a strong brand shining through its design and content.
1. Choose a strong title
Seems simple right? Wrong. One of the first mistakes people often make when starting a blog is choosing a name that doesn’t scream a strong statement. The first thing a person is going to see is your title and they’ll decide within the first 5 seconds if they are interested or not based on whether that resonates with them. By choosing a strong blog title, you are telling your readers exactly what they can expect in your content. Keep it specific and keep it strong.
2. Choose a strong header image
This brings us to the header image, right below or above your blog title. Why choose a basic blue or grey when you can choose an image that catches a potential reader’s eye? Make it relevant and equally as strong as your title. Is your blog about the weather? Instead of a small cloud, how about a bolt of lighting! Is it a nature blog? Instead of a grey dog, how about a lion baring its teeth roaring! Overall, make a strong choice. Marketing and branding your blog is no different than marketing a product. Make it stand out from the competition. Be bold.
3. Choose a URL that is concise
Choosing a URL can be a frustrating task. Ideally, we would like our URL to be the same title as our blog, but unfortunately, that isn’t always possible. Often, the URL is already taken, or perhaps your blog title is simply too long and it wouldn’t look right.
Choose a title that people can actually remember. Do you have a fast food blog? Hamburgerwithfriesasideofketchupandnoonionsandadietcoke.com is probably not the easiest. How about hamburgerwithfries.com? Much shorter. Much more concise. If that isn’t available, then play around with a few different options. Your title should concisely speak for what your blog is about. If your blog is about vintage guitars, then coolstuff.com is probably too broad. How about coolvintageguitars.com?
4. Stay Consistent with Your Brand/Content
If your blog is about parenting, and you post something about funny dogs, you risk disinteresting your readers. Your branding is why your visitors are there – for what you state your brand to be. If they wanted to read about funny dogs, they would go to the funny dog page.
Keep your blog consistent, and your readership will stay consistent.