Blogging Tip: Cool Blog Titles Are Better Than Author Names for External Links

Here’s something I’ve learned or noticed … blog titles that represent the content (leadership, spirituality, church marketing, whatever) rather than the author (Cory Miller, or Joe Smith, etc.) are better for links and getting referral hits from other sites.

Case in point: I help one of my seminary professors — Dr. Mark Devine — with his blog site. And thus, I track his web statistics for him, just like I do all my sites.

And by tracking his stats, I noticed that when I simply linked to his name — Mark Devine — in my blog’s sidebar link list, the referrals from my site to his went down. Then when I changed it to “Theology Prof,” the hits went back up.

Why?

People are intererested in what a “Theology Prof” might have to say than a person they don’t know or haven’t heard of. Plus, I think that allure of a “Ph.D.” blogging means a lot. It gives credibility. And to see a seminary professor blogging is intriquing, isn’t it?

I think so. [Especially if he’ll keep blogging and helping us better understand and the discern the Emerging Church! Go, Doc, Go!]
Why go with a cool, interesting, or even fascinating blog title rather than your name?

Unless you have a national platform, have several books out, speak regularly across the nation, and are a recognized leader (in otherwords, you have name brand recognition), I’d suggest you use your blog’s subject or content focus instead of your name.

The fact is … more people are interested in your content than you.

Which is one of the reasons I decided to start churchcommunicationspro.com instead of using my personal site corymiller.com for my topic (redeeming church marketing practices with biblical discernment), which I’ve had since 1999.

And looking at the sites that link to me … I’d much rather them use Church Communications Pro rather than Cory Miller. It doesn’t do a lot for me with my name, because nobody knows (or cares) about the person Cory Miller … they care about church marketing or blogging helps for pastors, or building great church websites.

I’m NOT saying, don’t buy your personal domain name. If it’s available, I think it’s a good investment. I’m just suggesting creating a cool blog name, relevant to the keywords you’re after, and making that title more prominent than your name.

For instance, these are good blog titles that make me want to click:

  • Mad Babble from a Church Planter instead of Gary Lamb — If I’m a church planter, or a wishing-upon-a-star planter, I’m going to go to that site. One of the best blog titles I’ve seen. First one that came to mind, in fact!
  • Church Video Ideas instead of Greg Atkinson — uh, perhaps he’s blogging about church … uh, video …. uh, ideas … I can use?
  • SBC Outpost instead of Marty Duren — I have some clue he’s going to be talking about the Southern Baptist Convention
  • Leading Smart instead of Tim Stevens — Could it be about some form of church leadership from an awesome executive pastor?
  • The Writing Life instead of Terry Whalin — If I’m a budding writer, I know what I’m getting from that link

BONUS TIP: If you make a graphical badge for your site … use the title instead of your name and help encourage your blog title reference for links!

Speaking of badges, grab this one if you want to show your link love!

Church Communications Pro badge

November 30, 2006 · Filed Under Blogging Tips

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