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Choosing the Right Domain Name When Rebranding Your Blog

Ever have that sinking feeling like you might be headed in the wrong direction? I’ve had that feeling for over 9 months. If I was truthful with myself, it has been longer than that. A few weeks ago I took the plunge, and decided to convert CPACareerCoach.com into JonathanMilligan.com. To get behind

Ever have that sinking feeling like you might be headed in the wrong direction? I’ve had that feeling for over 9 months.

If I was truthful with myself, it has been longer than that. A few weeks ago I took the plunge, and decided to convert CPACareerCoach.com into JonathanMilligan.com.

To get behind the scenes on this experiment, read 4 Steps to Take When You Lose Your Passion. In the last post, I promised to share with you the good, bad, and ugly with this whole process. I often learn best from the experiments of others. My hope is that if you feel the need to rebrand your blog and adjust your focus, this might help you.

Choosing a New Domain Name

First of all, I would change the domain name as a last resort when you go through the process of rebranding. I had no choice since CPACareerCoach appeared to be branded to just accountants. I even brainstormed if it was possible to make “CPA” stand for something else, but this just became confusing.

I then began the agonizing process of thinking up a clever domain name. I learned from Corbett Barr over at Think Traffic that in order to stand out you should ideally want your business to answer in the affirmative these 3 questions:

1. Does it differentiate me from the competition?
2. Does it make an emotional connection?
3. Does it help build a brand that ignites passions in others?

I feel strongly that the answer was yes to all three for Blogging Your Passion, but not so for my career coaching blog. I began to explore other possible domain names. A few I considered that were available were:

ChangeYourStory.net
WorkEpic.com
BrandYourPassion.com

Still, I felt like I was missing something. In some ways, I felt confined by some of the above domains. I wanted the freedom to be able to explore a few different passions while staying under the same umbrella. For example, while I love helping career professionals build a powerful personal brand online, it isn’t the only thing I wanted my site to be about.

I also have a passion for personal productivity and enjoy helping people get more done with their work and accomplish their goals sooner. I needed a larger umbrella over my blog.

Deciding to Build a Personal Brand

Jonathan Milligan banner 550x91

After brainstorming on a whiteboard, it became clear to me that building my personal brand might be the better way for me to go. Since I bought JonathanMilligan.com back in 2009 for safe keeping, it had some advantages to it. For one, it was an aged domain, which is ideal in most cases. Second, it was already a Google Page Rank 3, which is a plus as well.

Probably the main reason for going with my name is the ability to build different brands under my name. I have a little bit more flexibility when it comes to product ideas and service offerings.

Building a Tagline That Instantly Connects

The challenge I am facing now is to build a tagline on the site that really connects instantly with new visitors. While I have one up on my new site, it is not where I will end up. I want my tagline to answer the 3 questions above since I am moving forward with my personal name as the domain name.

In the next post, I will share with you my personal checklist for re-branding a blog so that you don’t loose rankings and existing traffic.

Question: What things did you consider when choosing your domain name? Please comment below.