At some point, many of us think about rebranding our blogs. When we start them up, we’re not always entirely sure where we want to take them. Then, over time, as we learn more about blogging, and ourselves, we might settle down into a niche. This can be great. It can give you direction and boost your traffic. It can even be the first step towards turning your blog into a business. But it often means that your branding, layout and even domain name no longer work.
This can be a big decision. You’re faced with the idea of changing everything to suit your new direction or sticking with something that doesn’t really fit. Sticking with a brand that doesn’t truly reflect your content or website. Many people think that a rebrand, in the long-term is the best way to go. But it can be a minefield. There are many pitfalls to fall into, and you can find yourself losing traffic and opportunities. Here are some tips to help you to successfully tackle a rebrand if you chose to.
Get it Right
The last thing that you want is to rebrand now, only to find that in a year or so, you want to do it again. If you are going to go to all this effort, make sure you are doing it right. Take the time to think about new names and logos, and find affordable web design to help you to make sure it looks great.
Spend as long as you need to working on names and designs, don’t rush any decisions and make sure you are certain of what you want before making any commitments.
Think About What You Want to Keep
Rebranding can mean starting again. Or, it can mean keeping all of your old content and changing names and branding. But, for most of us, it means something in between. You might want to keep some of your old content if it still fits with your blog. You could also keep everything in the achieves, just making it less obvious in your menus.
Just remember that any old content that you do keep may need some work. You might want to change any photographs that carry your old branding. You might also want to change any meta tags and SEO titles. It can take a lot of work, so you might find that you’d rather delete anything that’s no longer relevant.
Change Everything at Once
Remember it’s not just your blog that will need rebranding. Your social media feeds, business cards, email signatures and anything else that carries your logo will need rebranding. Do this all at the same time so as not to confuse your readers.
Accept Some Loss
When we rebrand, we usually try to do it without any loss of traffic. But, if your rebrand is due to a change of focus, then it’s only to be accepted. Some loss of traffic is no bad thing. Accept and expect it, and it will pick up again as you find new readers that want to read what you’ve got to say.
