5 Things to Think About & Ways to ReBrand Your Blog

When you’ve had a website or a blog for a long time, you sometimes get so tired of it that you need to change it.  Other times the topic you wrote about is no longer relevant, looses it’s value because the company is having issues or people just move on because it was a trend that is now fading.  Whether it is about a product, a website, a tv show or something from popular culture, you sometimes have to learn how to rebrand your blog and get it going again if you don’t want it to die.  Here are 5 things that you might want to think about when rebranding your blog, instead of creating a final post and starting from scratch.

1.  The topic.  If your topic is no longer relevant or you are tired of writing about it, try expanding into similar things and adding new categories.  If you wrote about TV show XYZ or Electronic Product XYZ, look up the demographics of the buyer base or user base and then compare it to your own site’s demographics.  Now go out and find other similar topics, products or tv shows that are similar and also match both your demographics and the user base that watches those shows or that uses the new products that you want to add to your site.  The next thing to do is to start to become an expert on those topics.

You can either start adding them and if they are relevant and the demographics match up, chances are that some of your readers may also be a fan or use the new products and start to comment and help you discover new things about them that you didn’t already know.  You can either help them learn about the new electronics or fall in love with the new tv shows with you or go in as someone who can teach them about the new product or get them as excited about the new topics.  Letting your current audience grow with you and enjoy the new show or learn about the new products can build a bond and also attract other newbies within that niche.  You may also begin to attract some more advanced people who come in to help because they want to show off their expertise.  This is one of the first things you may want to think about when adding new topics to help rebrand your blog and keep your audience and site alive.

2.  The design.  This gets tricky.  You need to get your old readers to know that the site will be overhauled.  If your new brand also has a new design, try making a few posts about what it should or will look like, how you’re excited about it and also mention that you are re-designing the site through your social channels so your fans and followers don’t get confused when they find the new design and weren’t expecting it.  By doing this your readers will know what to expect when you launch the new site and you might be able to get more people back that only visited every once in a while because they will be excited to see the new look and topics.  You could also end up launching with a ton of comments and compliments or ideas on how to improve the design because your readers will hopefully be as excited about the new design.

3.  Modify your about us section.  One thing that you don’t want to forget to do is to edit and update your about us section.  When you rebrand your blog the topic and relevance may have changed.  You might want to scrap it and start over with your about us section, or you can do a timeline and history of the site.  You can say what the blog or website was about when you first started, then explain why and when you changed the topics around a certain time and why you have now decided to change again because of XYZ.  You can then talk about how the new topic is the next generation of your blog and the ways that you think it will benefit your readers.  This is important if you started doing reviews and giveaways, stopped doing reviews or giveaways, added in recipes and cooking, etc…  If it started out as a baby blog and your kids are now growing up, that could be the reason you are changing and now adding in the things you’ve learned, adding in recipes because you’ve found a love for cooking and a savings guide on clothing and other things that are now topics that are relevant in your life.  You could also mention that the past posts are still there to help new parents out and can also help them for the future as well as help your current readers whose kids are all around the same age as your own.  Make sure you always talk about the benefits and why you have decided to change or rebrand your blog or website and the content on it.

4.  Updating your social media channels.  One thing that you need to do with the launch, and sometimes before you relaunch with the new brand, is to prep your social media channels.  If you’re going to keep the same url or buy a new one and 301 redirect your old one over, you need to make sure your social media channels are prepared for it.  If your old blog or website was only a fit for Facebook and Twitter but the new one could work on Pinterest or Stumble Upon, you want to add those in and create accounts that match the new site or blog.  If you’re going to scrap your old profiles because you cannot change names on them, make sure to start sending out newsletters, tweets and shares letting people know to follow your new accounts.  If you’re newsletter is going to change and you cannot migrate it over with everyone still double opting in, you’ll want to make sure you send links for them to subscribe so they can rejoin and you don’t lose your list.  Updating your social media accounts and newsletter lists are a great way to help get the new site with the new brand off to a better start with a loyal user base instead of starting from scratch.

5.  Create enough content so that people will have enough to know they will love the new brand as much as you do.  This is one of the hardest things but probably most important things when you launch your blog with your new brand.  If you’re adding new products, tv shows or topics to your blog or website, don’t leave them blank.  You also don’t want only one or two posts in the new categories.  You have to show your old and new readers that you know the topic, love the topic and why they should love it as well.  By having enough content in the categories to get them excited and to understand why it is not only a good fit for your site, but for them as well, you can help to get them as excited about the rebranding of your blog and the new topics so they can understand why they may like them as well.  You may also want to work on having a few backlinks or guest posts go live for your new categories once you launch to help new people find your sections and build a following for them as well.

Rebranding your blog isn’t always the easiest thing.  Sometimes a TV show ends, a company no longer produces a product or something is no longer trendy and people stop caring about it.  When this happens you can either rebrand your site and make it relevant again or you can continue to watch it fall and die.  You can try launching a few contests to get people excited about the new topics or categories to get them involved and excited about it or you can ask your readers if they want to write guest posts to help them get excited as well.  If you have any other tips or thoughts on how to rebrand your blog please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.  Rebranding your blog can be a scary thing but it can also be a lot of fun because it gives you a ton of content that you can write about so you’re not bored with your site and also grow your audience and followers from new niches.