Changing your Blog Name (for the Non-Techies among us!)

So you’ve decided: you’re changing your blog name.

You’re probably feeling a mixture of fear and trepidation but no doubt you’re excited as well. I know, because I changed my blog name at the beginning of this year!

When I started this blog in October 2012, it was as “Redland City Living”. I thought a local focus was a great idea!

Trouble was, twelve months later I realised it wasn’t working for me any longer. I began investigating how to change my blog name (you can read more about the story behind the change, here).

Now, this is not a post to help you decide whether it’s a good idea or not – or to help you weigh up the pros and cons. (If that’s what you’re after though, check out this post over at Nose Graze, which I found very useful as I contemplated making the giant step of changing my blog name.)

It was just after Christmas when I put the wheels in motion, and I have kind of muddled my way through since then 😉 .

So if you too are ready to change your blog name, here are some steps to help you “make it so” (yes, I’m a ST:TNG fan!).

The Technical Stuff

Haha, this is kind of a case of the blind leading the blind. I’m certainly not a techie expert. Here are some helpful articles, with information specific to WordPress:

• http://wordpress.org/plugins/velvet-blues-update-urls/
• http://www.jeremyyoung.ws/716/how-to-set-up-a-permanent-301-redirect-in-cpanel/
• http://docs.cpanel.net/twiki/bin/view/AllDocumentation/CpanelDocs/ReDirects

If in doubt, you can hire somebody to do this side of things for you. I personally recommend Kathie Thomas, from ACS Webhosting.

Making the Switch on Social Media

If you already have a decent following on social media, you won’t want to start from scratch. It IS possible to change your blog name on social media, I did! Here are some links to show you how:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/www/271607792873806 (NB some folk say it’s impossible to change your page name on Facebook if you have more than 200 followers – this is NOT true, as the linked article explains);
• Twitter: https://support.twitter.com/articles/14609-changing-your-username#;
• Instagram: https://help.instagram.com/116836975134193/;
• Pinterest: https://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/edit-your-profile-or-settings#Web.

The Effects of Changing your Blog’s Name

Probably the thing that holds most bloggers back, is the fear of how a name change will affect their stats, relationship with sponsors, etc.

It’s true, I did lose about 20 followers on Facebook, who obviously weren’t interested in following the new direction I was taking.

But my blog stats didn’t seem to suffer at all – continuing their steady upward progress 🙂 . There were even some benefits; it garnered me a bit of free publicity on other blogs, which of course led to lovely click-thrus. See for yourself:

Speaking of other blogs – if you’ve guest posted elsewhere, don’t forget to ask them nicely if they would take the time to update your old URL to the new one. It all helps!

The name change did scare off one or two agencies who’d approached me for sponsored posts. I was upfront and told them about the name change and then never heard back – even though I sent a polite email to follow up.

It was a bit quiet on the sponsored post front at first, but I suspect that was more about the time of year. I made the switch in January and we all know things go a bit quiet after the Christmas rush.

Since about Easter however, I’ve had more pitches than ever!

Some Hiccups

There is a lot you need to change and this is just the start of it. Even now, six months later, I keep discovering ways I can improve – and I’m not sure I’m doing it right either!

For example, I had Google Analytics set up as Redland City Living. Just over a month ago I stumbled over some advice on the web that directed me to add Middle Aged Mama as a “property” on Google Analytics – and so far, I’m sorry I did, because now it seems to split my stats between the two properties, which is a bit of a pain. I will have to see what I’ve done wrong there (any Google Analytics gurus out there that can advise?!)

The Verdict

Overall, changing my blog name has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. I’m glad I just jumped in and made the change when I realised that my former name was holding me back.

In my opinion: the sooner you make the switch, the sooner you can develop your new blog name and brand!