Blog name – my epic fail.

Here is my story: how to totally screw up your blog name.

So, when choosing this expat blog name I did the usual, brainstorming, asking friends and family, thinking about my audience, the topics etc.   I read articles like this one to help me get creative, used a thesaurus, etc etc.  

You get the idea.

How do you choose a blog name?

When choosing a blog name you obviously want something that resonates and is sticky (as in you can remember it) and I was thinking about what my niche was and how it is different to other expat or living abroad sites.

But, also it is quite challenging, partly because a lot of names have already gone whether it being the url or .com and/or the facebook/instagram/social media name has been taken already. So you kind of have to make the best of what is available or tweak your name a bit to make it consistent across platforms.

The added challenge for this blog is that I am not a great fan of the term ‘expat’ as it is a bit of a hot potato and I suspect will increase in being one, but it is also a term that many of us use to and is generally accepted, for now at least.   I don’t think that many of us ‘expats’ are using the words migrant or immigrant in our daily lives or google searches – as yet!

So,  I came up with a number of titles and This Expat Life came up as a winner.  It kind of says what it is about and hints towards the different niche I am going for in this area – the realities of expat life, what it is like day to day, rather than sugar-coating it all or talking about the practical/generic stuff, like many other sites do. (For more info on the blog background click here)

.I must admit I did like the sound of it, plus it was also a bit of a play on the BBC  TV series ‘This Life’ which I loved in the 90’s. 

It just had a nice ring to it.  

However, I totally didn’t do what was on checklist number 5 from this site.

Does the blog name read OK when it’s in a domain URL format?

Uh oh.

How my blog name was an epic fail

Unfortunately, I realised this after I had paid and registered the domain, all the social media, created the logo, published my first set of content.  In fact, it wasn’t even me that realised this but a few friends that first highlighted it.

Thisexpatlife.com

And, of course now that is all I can see.

Had I unwittingly created a blog about a new sex pat craze?  
Regardless, any potential readers could be bitterly disappointed.

Anyway, for fun I thought I would share some of the amusing other url fails (which also made me feel much better).  More are available here if you fancy something to do during these strange Covid times.

Whorepresents.com

Who Represents?

Penisland.net

Pen Island

Speedofart.com

Speed Of Art

Therapistfinder.com

Therapist Finder

Itscrap.com

IT Scrap

You get the idea.

Like I said, it made me feel better that not only I had failed on one of the key things when naming my blog.

My next question was:

Does the blog name really need to change?

Believe me, I did resist this a bit a first and even persuaded myself that it might garner more traffic having sex in the title, even though (I suspect) little to none of my future content will ever include sex (sorry!)  Some people may have thought the inclusion was intentional on my part, but sadly, not the case.

Thanks to the friends who did point this out, with examples of how it could damage/limit the blog, I felt compelled to ask a very successful blogger I know what she thought. She wisely suggested that it would be best to change it now, particularly if I was ever to look at pursuing advertising.   

So, here we are.  

Looking for a brand new blog name.

How to find a new blog name?

Obviously I have researched (a bit more!) properly this time, broadened my search of names and gone back to the first ideas. I have tried to reflect my niche plus also the intention to include interviews/a podcast in the future with expats from all over.  

Here is the shortlist:
(also based on the all-important checking the url name this time!!)

Real Expat life – realexpatlife.com

Real Expat Lives – realexpatlives.com

This Different Life – thisdifferentlife.com
(although obviously doesn’t include my niche – expats)

The Real Expat – therealexpat.com

Expats or Expat uncovered – expatsuncovered.com  

(Not sure if this one and below sounds a bit seedy and readers might be expecting some more racy content!)

Expats or Expat unmasked – expatsunmasked.com

Help, please!!  

So, now I would really love to hear your opinion. 

What do you think I should change it to?  Do you like the names above or do you have any other ideas to add to the mix? Any feedback is greatly appreciated!