Are you holding out for the perfect travel blog name? I don’t blame you. Your travel blog is going to be your baby for years to come. You’ll nurture it, feed it, love it. So why wouldn’t you take the time to come up with the perfect name for it?
The name you decide on for your travel blog will be the first impression your readers have and will determine whether they stay on your site and continue reading or run for the hills.
Choosing your travel blog name can take some time and you want to do it right, as changing it in the future can be difficult.
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Tips For Choosing Your Travel Blog Name
Table of Contents
Check the domain name is available
My web hosting recommendation is GreenGeeks and you can check if your domain name is available when you go to the GreenGeeks website and input the domain name you want to choose.
If it’s not available, you have the option of choosing .net, .org, .co or others. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t choose a .com extension, however .com is more memorable and most people automatically type .com at the end of a domain name anyway. You don’t want them stumbling upon someone else’s page instead of yours!
I made this mistake early on when I chose my first domain I even purchased the domain, only to find out afterwards that it was already taken on other social media platforms.
Before choosing your name and purchasing your domain (or choosing it for free if you’ve signed up with GreenGeeks), make sure you go through Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or any other social media platform you intend to use to promote your blog. You will want to make it easy for your followers to find you across all platforms.
Don't make your travel blog name too niche specific
Now, some people might disagree with this as the plan is to make our blog so niche specific that it attracts the right audience, yes? While that’s true, I would recommend going for a name that a little broader in case you widen your niche out further down the line.
For example, let’s say you name your blog Single Sarah’s Solo Travels. Sounds good! But what if Sarah meets someone and what if she decides she’d like to write about her travels with her other half now? See what I mean?
Choose a name that's evergreen
What do I mean by evergreen? I mean you don’t want your name to go out of date.
For example, if I were to call my blog Twenty Something Year Old Travels….well first of all I’d be well and truly lying. My twenties are far behind me. But this name would only last for 10 years. After that, it wouldn’t make sense anymore. You want to choose a name which is timeless.
Make it memorable
You’re not going to want to choose a name which has symbols, hyphens or words which are misspelt (Kwik instead of Quick). Your readers won’t be able to find your website if it’s not easy to remember. Also, if you’re speaking to someone on the phone, it will be difficult to explain Sa$$y-$usans-Travels.
Try it out with friends and family
Maybe ask your friends and family what they think of the name you’ve decided on. You can ask them to be wholly honest with you in what they think. It could be that they spot something that you might not have thought of.
Make sure the URL reads well
Don’t make the same mistakes as Pen Island or Who Represents and others alike in this list of 30 Unintentional Inappropriate Domain Names
Look at other travel bloggers' websites
Get some inspiration from checking out other travel bloggers’ blog names. Of course, make sure you don’t actually use a name too similar to theirs!
So now you’ve chosen your travel blog name, it’s time to create your blog! Here’s a step by step guide which will have your blog up and ready for design in 15 minutes.
Related: 8 Reasons To Start Your Blog Today
Step 1 - Web Hosting
If you’re not technologically inclined (like me), starting a blog can be quite daunting and confusing. Trying to remember all the terms and what everything is for. But don’t worry, you don’t actually need to know the ins and outs of everything, and most things will come to you in time.
Your web hosting is where you will house your travel blog. For example, if you were opening a coffee shop, you would need a building. Your web host is your building.
Because I use GreenGeeks, we have an arrangement that if you use this link, you’ll pay only $2.95 per month! GreenGeeks host over half a million websites and they are one of the cheapest options for web hosting. They have a 24/7 live chat function and have helped me out with the hundreds of questions I’ve had in a speedily manner.
The best thing is that you don’t have to buy a domain name (which usually costs around $15-$20) as GreenGeeks offer a free domain name when you sign up with them.
So let’s get started! Click on the GreenGeeks homepage and you’ll see this:
Click ‘See Our Plans’ to see exactly what’s offered with each plan.
If you’re just starting out, I recommend going for the Lite option. You can always upgrade at a later stage if you want to add more websites to your plan. Click ‘Get Started’ to choose your domain name.
Here’s the fun part! Selecting your domain name. Taking all the points I made earlier on in my post about choosing your travel blog name into consideration, type your chosen domain name in here and click next to see if it’s available.
Make sure you have the correct spelling!
If your domain name is available, you’ll be brought to the step stage where you can create your account. If it’s not available, get your thinking cap on to come up with another name.
In order to avail of the $2.95 offer, you will need to sign up for 36 months. I know this is quite a bit of an investment when starting off but this goes for the majority of web hosting companies.
If you’re starting your blog with a view to it becoming a successful business, then you will think of this as an investment. As with any new business, there will always be necessary investments.
Next up, pop in your payment details, and you’re done! Quick and easy, right?
Step 2 - WordPress
Next step is downloading WordPress!
Once you log into your GreenGeeks account you’ll be brought to your dashboard. Click on your C-Panel over on the right hand side.
Then scroll down to the Software section and click on Softaculous Apps Installer.
Almost there! Next hover over the WordPress icon and click install.
Now, I don’t have a screenshot of the next section, as I already had WordPress installed before I switched hosting provider to GreenGeeks. But here are the steps you need to take nonetheless.
- Scroll down the the Admin Account section.
- Your Admin username is already set to Admin. I suggest changing this as leaving it as Admin can result in hacking in the future (as it’s easy to guess Admin as a username).
- Enter a password and your email address (don’t forget these!).
- Scroll to the bottom and enter your email address again.
- Click install.
- Your installation details will be sent to your email address.
If at any stage you run into difficulty when setting up your account, hop on the online chat with GreenGeeks – they’re really great for assisting.
Related: Eco-Friendly Web Hosting – Why I Switched To GreenGeeks
How to log into the backend of your website
Rather than going through GreenGeeks each time you want to log into the backend of your website, you can now just go to ‘yourdomain.com/wp-admin’ and enter your username and password you created in the step above.
You’ll now be brought to the back end of your website where you can choose your theme.
Theme
Now you choose your theme and build your site! There are literally thousands of themes to choose from. You can use the search box to narrow this down if you know what you want your site to look like.
If you don’t fancy choosing one of these free WordPress themes and figuring out how to build your website, you also have the option of purchasing custom WordPress themes.
I use Studio Mommy who have themes starting from just $25. The great thing about purchasing a theme here is that it comes with step by step instructions on how to build your website, which will have it ready in no time.
Another option is to have someone develop a brand new theme for you. You’ll find a multitude of people who can do this for you on Fiverr.
Step 3 - Create Content
Now that your website is ready, it’s time to write your first blog post. On the left side of your WordPress dashboard, you’ll see ‘Posts’. Hover over ‘Posts’ and click ‘Add New’ and start typing. You can save a draft post if you’re not ready to publish it yet.
Some helpful resources
GreenGeeks– for web hosting
Studio Mommy – for premium wordpress themes
Canva – a FREE resource where you can create your logo, blog banner, pins, printables
A Self Guru Legal Bundles – to ensure your website is legally compliant
Fiverr – where you can find someone to create a logo, develop a theme, help you with technical issues.
Mailerlite – to grow your email list. FREE for the first 1000 email subscribers.
Some super good tips here! A great thing to do is check if the name is free on al social media! This is something i wish I did!
Amber – The Unpredicted Page
Great post! I love all of the helpful information you’ve provided. Thank you for sharing!
This was amazing and so detailed! This would be the perfect guide for anyone thinking of starting a blog. Love your content and just subscribed to your site 🙂
Aw thank you so much!
Good info here!!!
These are really helpful tips, thank you so much 🙂
I love that you use Amira’s legal templates too! Great article x
You always create your post with so much effort and I completely adore your work. They always deliver wide packed information. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Sangeeta!
Love this! I picked my name from people constantly telling me to stop running away from my problems (I had been travelling for a year at that point). Therefore, Alice Runs Away felt appropriate!!
Alice / Alice Runs Away
Great name Alice!
This was excellent and detailed.
great tips! moving my blog to bluehost slowly… had a few hiccups…
Hope you get sorted. I find their online chat so helpful when I’ve had hiccups. Especially when I don’t know the tech lingo, they still seem to be able to understand me!