Critical steps BEFORE choosing a blog or website name

This past weekend I participated in a panel about blogging for a genealogical society. I also had a friend visiting who wanted to reserve a domain name for a blog/website.  This really got me thinking about how to choose a name for a blog, a topic I have written about previously.

The more I started thinking about it, the more I realized that a lot or work has to be done before you can reserve your blog or domain name.  This follows whether you are setting up a Blogger or WordPress.com blog or whether you are setting up your own domain.

Here are some things you should consider:

1. How unique is the name you've selected?

You can answer this question easily by Googling your chosen blog name and seeing how many hits come up.  Are there other genealogists already using that name?  Are the words too common and appear in thousands of search results?  Are there one or more businesses in other industries already using the same name?  You want your blog name to be as unique as possible so that when your audience searches for you, your site will appear at the top of search engine results. If there are too many occurrences or variations of your blog name then you might want to consider picking a different one.

2. Is the Facebook page already taken?

People get all excited when they choose a blog name and find that the name is available either in Blogger or as a .com domain.  Unfortunately, they are disheartened after they reserve the name of their choice only to learn that the Facebook page vanity url has been taken by somebody else.  Check Facebook before you finalize your name in Blogger or purchase a domain! You can do this easily by typing the url directly - www.Facebook.com/yourchosenname.  Obviously, replace your chose name with the name you have picked out.  All is not lost if the name is taken. You can do variations with hyphens or abbreviations but you will always have to deal with the issue that your audience might go to the other page instead of yours.

3. Is your name too long for Twitter?

If your chosen blog name is lengthy or has multiple words then it may be too long to use the entire name for Twitter. The Twitter username or handle, the word following the @ symbol, is limited to 15 characters. You have two options on Twitter - your username and your real name.  My username is @marianpl and my real name is Marian Pierre-Louis. Real names can be up to 20 characters.  When I set up a Twitter account for my Fieldstone Common show I had to make a decision because it exceeded the 15 character username limit.  I chose to use @FieldstoneComm for the username and Fieldstone Common for the real name. In my profile I link back to my @marianpl profile. It is not as essential that you use your full blog name as your username on Twitter but you will still want to give some thought to make sure you select the best option possible.

4. Test across all social media

Are you using other social media sites such as Tumblr, Instagram or other sites?  You will want to check those sites as well to see if your blog name is free.  Checking across all possible social media sites before reserving your domain name will help you ensure you have the most unique and easy to find name.

Good luck selecting your blog name! Do the up front work but also have fun. And let me know if you have come across any other considerations that should be checked before reserving your blog name.

Bloggers - Where Do You Prefer to Get Comments?

Yesterday, my friend Linda in Australia asked me a great question - "Do people prefer comments on their Blog post where stats are available or on Google+ where there often is a larger audience?"

This is such an interesting question and I'm sure that many bloggers will have different responses.

Here's my response:

I love to get comments to my blog posts. I will take them where ever I can get them. That means sometimes people leave comments on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or in the comments of the individual blog posts. I will read them all no matter where they appear.

From a practical standpoint, the blog post is the lowest common denominator for all blog readers. Everyone (except for those using an RSS feed or blog reader) will see the blog post and the comments. That means that anyone reading a blog post will see the comments shared by the other readers. This is helpful when a great dialog starts in the comments and the readers start sharing with each other. Sometimes the comments are better than the original post!

When people leave comments on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, the only other people who can see those comments are the other people on those sites. There might be mini separate conversations on Google+ and Facebook.

Of course, the people who don't see comments at all at the ones using a blog reader or an RSS feed. It's a matter of the mechanics of how those programs/feeds are set up. I understand that using a reader or feeds is easier for organizing and quickly reading a number of blogs but the sacrifice is the lack of comments. In fact, I wrote a whole blog post on this topic.

So my answer to the question is more people will see the comments when they are posted in the comments section of the blog but I'm not fussy. I'm happy to get comments where ever readers want to leave them. I want them to do whatever is easiest and most comfortable for them.

Photo Credit: Photo by Search Engine People's Blog and used under the creative commons license.

Get Easy Access to Your Blogging Comments

Bloggers love to get comments. It lets them know they're not speaking in a void and that someone else is reading their blog. But not all bloggers are seeing their comments as quickly as they arrive. The trick is to get your blogging comments emailed to you.

Here's how you set it up on Blogger:

After you log in to your Blogger Dashboard, click on the tab for Settings.

Then Click beneath that where you see the hyperlink for Comments.

Now scroll down almost to the bottom of the page where you find the option for comment moderation. Comment moderation allows you to review comments before you publish them on your blog. Most people select "always" and review every comment before publishing. I like to make things easy for my readers so I have opted to turn on moderation only for posts that are 7 days or older. I've read that spam usually occurs on those older posts.

Regardless of which you pick, you can receive email notifications to let you know a comment is waiting and needs to be reviewed.  Type the email address you want to use in the box for comment moderation. (Notice, if you choose never for comment moderation there is no need to include an email address because all your comments will be published automatically.)

Also, note the option for word verification. This is the little box that makes you type the squigly word to make sure real people are leaving comments. I have mine turned off. Again, I do that to make it easier for my audience to leave comments.http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=691016683378293851

Next, scroll down a bit more to the Comment Notification Email option.  Enter your email address here. This will let you know that a comment has been published on your blog.

If you use Comment Moderation for all your blog comments you might not want to use this option. If you do, you will receive an email to notify you that a comment needs to be moderated and again after it gets published.  You have to decide which works better for you.

How My Settings are Organized

I actually use two different email addresses for moderated and published comments. Most of my blog comments (95%) get published automatically so I have notifications sent to one email address just for that and I have a directory set up in Outlook to receive those blog comments.

Because I get very few comments more than 7 days after a new post I send those moderated comment notifications to a different email address. You can see two different email address in the images above to see exactly how I've set it up.  I do this so that I don't get confused between newly published comments and moderated comments that need a closer look. If they were all together in one directory I might get confused about which comments are new and which need moderation.

Get Notified Quickly

Add an email address to receive notifications so that you can be alerted to new comments quickly. Your readers will love you because you can respond to their comments quicker. And you will love it because you will know right away that people are reading your blog.

Let me know if you have any questions about getting set up or receiving notifications.

Choosing a Name for Your Blog

A friend contacted me recently with some questions about starting a blog. One of the questions was about choosing a name for the blog.  This is something I have thought about a lot so I wanted to share my answer here.

There are certain factors for everyone to consider when starting a blog. Professionals, regardless of their field, need to take into consideration how much integration their blog will have with their business.  That decision will impact the choices that they make.

Even people who are blogging casually or for family need to keep a few things in mind.  Some blogs, even when started just for fun, can become wildly popular on the internet.  That may not be your intention but you never know how much you will enjoy blogging or where it will take you so keep these thoughts in mind.

Choose a Unique Name

When I started blogging I had no idea what I was doing. I couldn't even think of a name. I asked my Facebook friends to help me come up with one and that's how I pulled together Roots & Rambles.

Fast forward a year or so to the Family Tree Magazine 2011 Top 40 Genealogy blogs contest. Someone nominated Roots & Rambles.  The ballot list contained the names of blogs but not the blog authors. Many of the blogs had genealogy-themed names such as Roots & Rambles, Roots & Branches, Climbing My Family Tree etc.  It was mind numbingly impossible to tell who wrote which blog without the name of the author listed.  I decided right there and then to at least modify the name of my blog to make it more unique. That was when I made the small change to Marian's Roots & Rambles. At least people would be able to tell who wrote my blog.

Interestingly enough, and perhaps not surprisingly, many of the winners (I was not one) had blogs with unique names.  When choosing a name for your blog try to come up with one that will stand on its own.  If your title can also evoke a sense of what the blog is about that is even better. Two successful blogs names are the We Tree Genealogy Blog by Amy Coffin which succeeds because of its unusual combination of words and the Clue Wagon blog by Kerry Scott with its successfully evocative name. In Kerry's case the blog title also lead to a very iconic red wagon logo for her blog.

Check out the list of all 40 Family Tree blog winners to see if you can spot any blogs with successful names that could act as an inspiration for you.

Getting Published

You may have no intention of publishing (other than on your blog) or getting published. But funny things can happen along the way in the blog world so best to be prepared now while you are choosing your name.

>Book Reviews

If you decide to review books on your blog there is a strong chance that your review will be quoted by the publisher or the author.  I have had quotes from my reviews appear in the NEHGS book catalog and on author websites.  I think I cringed the first time I saw Marian Pierre-Louis of Marian's Roots and Rambles. It's not that I don't like the name of my blog it's just that I never expected to see it in print like that. And it looks so silly next to quotes from prestigious authors or esteemed colleagues. Keep in mind that your blog may take you to places that you never imagined and choose your name accordingly.

>Newspapers and Magazines

I'm not sure if my blog has ever been mentioned in a newspaper before. More and more bloggers of all genres are being interviewed and featured in articles. How are you going to feel when you see your blog name in print? Will it provide the sense of dignity and pride that you had hoped for? Will it become a source of future jokes when you visit home and catch up with you high school or college friends? When you consider the name for your blog, think about how everyone in your life, not just your genealogy friends and colleagues, will respond to it.

Safety in Names

Personal names can be a safe bet when choosing a blog title. Take for instance Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter. The name is simple but it works. If you choose to use a surname you will need to include some other word that lets people know what the blog is about. In this case the word Genealogy acts to provide clarity. 

My suggestion would be to stick with last names rather than choosing first names. There are exceptions to that rule but first names evoke a sense of casualness that you might later regret.

Marian's Roots and Rambles

I chose my blog name in the wrong way, never imagining where blogging would lead me. I feel that the title of my blog is too casual and yes, hokey, for what I would like. But I have reached a saturation point where it would be difficult for me to change the name of my blog.

Sometimes blogs become bigger than their names and then the name of the blog is less important.  If I'm lucky some day that will happen to my blog and I can be less embarrassed about having such a goofy name.

Final Thoughts

Choose a blog name:

• that you are comfortable with
• that you can grow with
• that will appeal to a broad group of people
• that looks good in print
• that reinforces your business goals (if you are blogging for business)

Good luck! I hope these suggestions help! As for blogging, just get started.  Coming up with a good name is the hardest part.

Will I ever get used to the anonymity of Blogging?

A funny thing happened this morning.  It's not the first time but it just hit home for me today.  I became Facebook friends with a fellow APG member. She sent me an email and let me know that she had read posts from my New England House Historian blog. Until she said that I had no idea she even knew I had a blog.

Anonymity

There's something so strangely anonymous about writing a blog. I'm sure that people who write books must feel the same way.  The thought that you can write something, put thoughts out there in the world, and have no idea who is reading is just so vague!

It's true that we do get feedback when people leave us comments.  That's wonderful!  And it's also true that it's not important who is reading your blog.  I guess it's just a little funny that people can get to know you but you're not getting to know them at the same time.

I'm not complaining or wanting to change anything. I'm reflecting on the reality of it.  I guess there is a certain role or responsibility that goes along with being a writer who publicly shares their writing.

Keep Reading

I would love to encourage everyone to keep reading even if they never leave me a blog comment. If I can encourage people to become interested in researching the history of houses or in learning more about genealogy then that is enough for me.

I'm simply writing to share my passions about what I love and I hope that it becomes infectious for a few other folks.

Though I would love to hear from other bloggers about how they feel or cope with the anonymity of writing.  And even from readers about their take on it.

Photo Credit: photo by Artotem and used under the Creative Commons License

Expanding a Fact into a Blog Idea

I am currently reading a book called The Art and Craft of Feature Writing by William Blundell (1988). I got this book to help improve my writing for my monthly house history column. The book is a rush of great ideas. Although the book was written for newspapers journalists, so much of it applies to writing genealogy blogs or articles.

Part of the book deals with idea generation and development. It provides examples and some exercises to get you to think beyond your normal scope. I took the concept of expanding on an idea and applied it to a fact that could be the basis of a genealogy blog.

Fact: My great grandfather, Frank Walleck, died in 1912 of Tuberculosis

Expanding the idea

1. How old was he when he died? Who was left behind after he died?

2. Did his remaining family suffer hardship as a result?

3. Did his family have to change homes as a result? Did the fatherless children have to go live with relatives or in an orphanage?

4. Did his wife remarry? How did that change the family?

5. What is tuberculosis and how does one get it?

6. How long does someone suffer with tuberculosis and what treatment do they receive?

7. What is a sanitarium and what happens there?

8. How many people suffered and/or died from tuberculosis in that time period?

9. Was this a common disease in your ancestor’s town, state or country?

10. Was there a large gathering of family members at the funeral? Was there a funeral? Could the family afford a funeral?

11. Were any family members named after him in the years following his death?

12. Did doctors have to document tuberculosis related deaths? If so, in what documents is that information found?

13. Where did he die? Where was he living when he died? Are those two places the same or different? Why was he in either of those two places?

14. Did anyone else in the family die of tuberculosis?

15. Where did he work before his death? And what happened to his job or business?

16. What happened on that date? Where there any significant events?

17. What was the price of various items on that date?

18. What music was popular on that date?

These additional questions could each become the basis of short blogs themselves, or perhaps a grouped 3-part series or even one very long essay style blog post. Not only is this exercise good for developing a blog post but it could just help you with your genealogy as well. Not only will expanding the ideas around a fact put meat on your ancestor’s life it could also help you consider new sources you may have overlooked before.

How many ways could you come up with to expand on a simple fact from your family history?