Three Easy Ways to Brand Your Blog

Branding is really all about making your blog stand out from the crowd.  As with most blogging topics this one takes time to understand and master. But you have to start somewhere! Try the  steps in this post to get a little confidence under your belt and your promotion  juices going.

What is a Brand?

Although largely intangible, a brand is made up of your blog’s name, content,  design (packaging) and promotion. In the center is an overall consistent message. Branding is  more visual and accessible with a logo or phase that stays in people’s minds.  A brand instantly reminds a person about you, your service or your product. So how can you make your blog more memorable?

Product  recognition involves lots of repetition, and getting your ‘face’ out there.  So your blog has to easily communicate and reinforce your message at every opportunity.  If you can’t remember your blog name or  tag line, guess what — neither will anyone else! Go ahead, recite it out loud right now!

What is Your Message and Promise?

Are you telling people why you blog, your mission as it were?  Why would a reader want to sign up for your post feed? And who is the audience for your message? Only you can answer those questions and make the answers form your ‘core message’ — what we walk away knowing and feeling after visiting your blog.  And we know how short some of those bouncy visits are!

Wikipedia defines brand promise as a “statement from the brand owner to customers, which identifies what consumers should expect from all interactions with the brand.” For your blog this is largely reflected in content.

Easy Steps to Start Brand Recognition

Examine these elements and match them to your message of what you want your blog to deliver.

1. Header -
   Make sure you have a clean and short Title with a memorable tagline. I’ll use these two blogs as examples: Title: Jerry D. Russell dot Com
   – Tagline ” Realistic methods for making money online & the tools get the job done”

   He promises methods that are realsitic and tools to help you. Posts do have focused titles like “What makes you the most money?”  Blog categories include “increasing blog traffic in 30 days”  and ” Monetizing” — however there are far too many categories. I’d expect something more tightly geared toward tools and methods. But that’s just me.

   Title: Getting My Blog On
   – Tagline  “I’ll show you the fun side of blogging” [with 'contests' and 'blogging tips' graphics.]

   She promises the fun side of blogging (is there such a thing?) via contests and fun tips on blogging. Her blog has 17 categories and post titles are fairly mixed.  I’d like a bit more focused or informative  tag line. Although the header definitely conveys fun, is that all her content is about?

   Do you have to have a custom logo like the one above? – no but at least stylize the lettering to make it more distinctive. Put some money in your budget to get a custom logo. There are simple ways to earn through your blog for things like this.

2. Favicon -
   This is the symbol (sort of a miniature logo) that appears next to your blog link on blogrolls  and more notabley in browser windows.  WordPress has a nice plugin we used to publish our new icon
   
   Jerry Russell has no favicon. He could do a simple one with just his initials reflecting the header colors,  or something more abstract but unique (a tool or money).
   Getting My Blog On does have a favicon which reflects the fish symbol use in her Entrecard. I’d try to use something from the header itself.
3. Advertisements -
   Print ads are a prime vehicle for promoting your brand. The blogosphere equivalent is a banner ad or a 125 x 125 ad spot. You need to have one ready for when you have a few dollars to buy a spot or if you win a free ad placement on another blog. We recently won a free ad spot where we use this ad – incorporating the favicon and header styling. The link goes to our Welcome page for new visitors.
   Getting My Blog On has an entrecard ad which can serve as the bulk of any 125 x 125 ad (i.e. omit the name at the bottom.)

   I did not see one for Jerry Russell.  I can only imagine that an ad that highlights his message would be difficult (or ordinary) without more of a logo/graphic in his header.

The three easy ways are just the more visible parts of branding. They have to go hand in hand with

• Commenting  on other blogs as well as your own. Always focus on the  ‘core message’ and above all, be consistent.
• Confirming your  the message. Deliver it in every post!
• Complementing your design and message. Make your theme distinctive even if you use a free theme, make sure it fits your target audience and your blog personality. The less visible part of design is navigation — let them find your message & content quickly.

Show you mean business with a rock solid level of consistency in every communication with readers and potential readers.  Use branding to sell yourself, your advice and expertise. In return you get paid the recognition, money,  traffic, etc. that you want.

Acid Test: If you started blogging on a completely different topic tomorrow could you use the same title, logo, favicon and tag line?  If so, then you can do more to brand your blog!

photo by Everdaylifemodern