Image from Ivy Dawned's Flickr Photostream - downloaded under a Creative Commons License

If you are anything like me you were probably terribly confused when you first heard or read some comment about branding your blog. It is a term that gets thrown around often, but seldom is well explained. The sad thing is that far too many people start a blog without ever thinking about branding it. Probably because they are not aware of what that means, nor are they aware of how important it is to their blog's success.

Branding isn't that mysterious, but it requires some thought, planning and commitment to carry off. Let me walk you through what branding involves and how to accomplish it with your own blog...

Follow up:

Branding is all about marketing and can be applied to any product, including your blog. It is the art and science of establishing a highly recognizable presence in the public eye. And yes, if you are interested in any kind of blog success you stand a better chance of achieving that success by strongly branding your blog. If done correctly it will make your blog instantly recognizable across the web. Branding is accomplished through images, color schemes and naming. Once a brand is established people make strong associations to it that are implicitly understood. For instance what do you think of when you look at each of these logos:

Most of these logos are recognized internationally - I'll bet you can associated each of them to a product or line of products without any other clue as to their identity. That's a function of branding. The logos don't even have to make sense: Apple doesn't sell apples, MS Windows has nothing to do with windows, Linux is not selling penguins, the golden arches are likely to make you think about a hamburgers and fries - you get the idea. What we have here is a strong cognitive connection to a logo and color scheme.

Blogs With Wings has it's very own Blog Angel. This is an image I chose to associate with my blog. Though many branding techniques have a visual iconic element it's not always necessary. But if you do have a certain image that you want to associate with your blog, by all means go for it. Images can be a very powerful branding technique, just make sure that your image is "the one" - it's not easy to change in mid-stream without loosing the power of a logo. Consistency is key.

Another widely used method used to brand a particular product is color. Pepsi, Coca Cola, MacDonalds... I'll bet that you, like many of us, associate specific colors with these particular brand names. That's no accident it's a result of good marketing and a result of successful branding. You can do the same thing for your blog by your choice of color palette. But just like a logo image, once you choose a color scheme you need to stick with it. Yup, I'm going to say it again COSISTENCY in all things!

For this blog I have chosen a color palette in shades of blue, black, red, gray and sometimes pink. In the coming weeks I will be redesigning the layout of Blogs With Wings, but if you watch closely you will notice that the the colors and the logo will not change. Neither will the content.

I've left the most important thing for last - your blog's name. Your name may or may not be directly associated with your content. The key here is - oh no not again- yes indeedy, its consistency. Once you have chosen a topic for your blog stick to it, once you've chosen the name don't change your mind. The name and the content need to become woven together, same with the color scheme and a logo, if you use one. They need to become inseparable.

The ultimate act of branding your name is the day you choose a domain name. If at all possible it should be the same as your blog name. Even if your first blog will be published on Google Blogspot, it's best if the URL and the name match. For instance how do you get to this blog? Just type www.blogswithwings.com - that sounds familiar doesn't it?

Your content should revolve around a specific theme or topic and in that way your blog's name will be associated consistently with that content and topic. For example Blogs With Wings is concerned with designing, creating and maintaining a successful blog. You won't find any posts about gardening, even though that's a topic I'm passionate about. This blog is not the place for it.

Once you've established your blog's branding, it's time to spread it around the internet. Incorporate your logo, color scheme, blog name and URL into email signatures, forum and community avatars, ad buttons, etc. You can do this in places like Facebook, MyBlogLog, Blog Catalog and any other place you have a user profile online. Always make sure you leave your URL on any comments you share online as well. Spread your brand around and get it recognized.

Here are the components needed to brand your blog:

• First, always have consistent content.
• Choose a logo or image and stick with it.
• Choose a color scheme, your palette for the ages.
• Choose a name you want to keep forever.
• Spread your name, logo and colors around the web.

You'll soon be a recognized commodity, a branded blog.

Related Posts:

• Color Psychology and Web Design
• Web Site Purpose, Target Audience and Color Palette

Also check out this article from mintBlogger.com - How To Brand Your Blog

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