Ever looked at your blog and felt it’s time for a change? You created the blog years ago. Now, you’re considering rebranding your blog without losing traffic or sales.
The reasons can be plenty:
- You’ve outgrown your blog’s scope
- You’ve added more categories than you’d planned
- Your audience isn’t engaging as much, and now you want to pivot
- You’re partnering with another brand
Whatever the reason, making your blog rebranding a success is important, as the action can result in either success or failure.
For example: Tropicana hit a massive loss in sales (a 20% drop in 2 months) after rebranding their packaging. But Dunkin’ Donuts enjoys the same audience engagement after rebranding into Dunkin’.
Why did one brand fail while the other succeeded, and how can you also have a successful blog rebranding?
You’ll get all the answers in this article. You’ll learn:
- Steps to Rebranding Your Blog
- SEO considerations for rebranding
- Examples of successful and failed rebrandings
Let’s get that blog rebranding right, shall we?
Why Are You Rebranding Your Blog?
Answering this question gets half the job done. When you have the right reason and work at the right time, your chances of making the blog successful increase.
Knowing the “WHY” behind your rebranding and taking the proper steps ensures you don’t end up in loss.
So, what could be your WHY?
- Have you outgrown your blog’s name?
- Have you moved from a niche topic to a broader topic?
- Does your existing content not appeal to the current audience?
- Has your blog growth become stagnant?
If you’ve simply changed interests over time and your blog’s topics are moons apart from your current blog, starting a new blog is better.
Blog Rebrand Guide: Examples of Rebranding Success and Failure
Examples: Tropicana and Dunkin’
Let’s continue with the example of Tropicana and Dunkin’. In 2009, Tropicana changed its orange juice packaging from organic-looking (one that gave a feel of drinking from a fresh orange) to a factory-made preservative drink.
If you’re a Tropicana drinker, you’d know they appealed to the audience for their fresh orange juice. The packaging was a reflection of the product’s offering. The new design failed miserably in the logo and visuals department. The design was clever but failed to show people what the product was. Clever trumped clear. And the results were evidence of Tropicana’s mistakes.
On the other hand, Dunkin’ Donuts dropped the Donuts from their name. They still had the donuts line, but people in North America hardly used the complete name. So, when the company rebranded, it complemented its customer behavior.
The contrast is clear. One went down the smart lane while the other listened to the audience.
All because one brand nailed the goal setting and their WHY, while the other didn’t.
Here’s how you set the goals for your blog’s new direction.
How to Rebrand Your Blog For Success
Before starting the rebranding process, clearly define your goals and objectives. Ask yourself questions like:
- What do I want to achieve with this rebrand?
Increased traffic, more sales, a new audience?
Example: “A blog on wellness can rebrand to attract more female entrepreneurs in the wellness space. The aim can be to get 10x organic traffic and email list signups from this new target audience.”
- How will I measure success?
Pageviews, revenue, email list growth?
Setting the right KPIs is crucial as it lets you focus on maximizing success for those metrics only.
| Suggested reading: Benefits of blogging for business
Timeframe for Rebranding Blog
Rebranding spread over a few weeks or months helps with planning, testing and feedback, marketing, and SEO considerations.
SEO is a critical factor. An abrupt makeover can momentarily impact your rankings while Google and other search engines adapt to the changes.
A gradual blog rebrand allows for the careful migration of content, updating of SEO strategies, and monitoring of the impact on traffic and rankings, minimizing potential adverse effects.
Let’s consider the following example:
Rebranding of Demandware into Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Salesforce acquired Demandware in June 2016. The rebranding took place gradually over a few months. It gave customers time to adjust and allowed Salesforce to integrate the technology.
In September 2016, Demandware became “Demandware, a Salesforce Company.” The branding referenced both names.
By October 2016, the rebranding to Salesforce Commerce Cloud was complete.
Demandware/Salesforce Commerce Cloud kept its blog updated with new branding and content during the transition. It provided an ongoing source of information for customers on the changes.
The gradual rebranding helped smooth the transition while keeping customers informed. Aligning the blog content to the branding changes was an important part of the strategy.
Conducting In-Depth Audience Research
If poor audience engagement is the reason for rebranding, dig deep into your audience’s needs and desires through surveys, interviews, focus groups, and analytics reviews before making significant changes.
Survey your email list, asking about their challenges and ideal solutions. Talk to existing clients about why they hired you. Identify potential new audience groups and text messaging.
Let qualitative and quantitative data guide your content strategy and design choices. A successful blog rebrand meets the evolving needs of your community.
Let’s discuss ConvertKit’s rebranding to Kit. I loved how they focused on researching their existing audience to devise a successful rebranding plan.
ConvertKit’s rebranding to Kit
The rebranding started when Nathan Barry, the founder of ConvertKit (now Kit), felt the need to expand the tool’s features to make it a full-fledged operating system for email marketing.
They announced the rebranding publicly and regularly posted YouTube videos and articles, walking the audience through the process. So, it was not a typical case of people finding out after the rebranding was done; the audience walked with the team while they were rebranding.
Nathan and the team discussed multiple ways to improve the tool with the users. They explained their vision and allowed the users to share their input, which is one reason the rebranding was received so well.
Since ConvertKit became Kit in public, we now have a resource full of learning how rebranding works and what goes into the process in the form of Kit’s videos and article resources.
| Suggested reading: How to do content research?
Steps To Rebranding Your Blog
1. Selecting a New Name and Domain
If your blog has outgrown its name or niche, brainstorm fresh names that describe your new focus.
Remember, don’t rush it. The new name and domain are going to be your identity going forward. Select a name that will stay relevant in the coming years.
- Check domain availability to find a perfect .com, .xyz, .org match.
- Ensure the new name is brandable, memorable, and communicates your value proposition.
- Don’t complicate it. Make it easy to remember and something related to your niche.
- If you’re buying expired domains, check if they’re marked for spam actions.
A new domain signals change and a new chapter.
2. Creating New Property In Google Search Console
If you changed your domain, create a new property in Google Search Console. It’s important because your property is based on the domain and URL of your website.
Each property in GSC needs a verification of your ownership, which is tied to the domain name. If you change the domain name, the verification is no longer valid.
But a new property doesn’t mean you lose your old data.
Google provides a Change of Address tool within GSC for a smooth transition. Use this tool after you’ve added the new domain as a property. It notifies Google of your move, helping to transfer the search equity from the old domain to the new one. This step is crucial for maintaining as much of your SEO value as possible.
Note: Don’t remove the old property right away. Keep both for a while to monitor the traffic changes and other issues for both domains during the transition.
3. Redesigning Your Blog’s Visual Identity
With a new name often comes a new logo and visual aesthetics. Work with a designer to create branding assets that communicate your blog’s purpose aesthetically.
But the visual identity doesn’t end with a logo change. Visual identity is as much a part of your brand’s identity as is your content.
Remember the rebranding failure of Tropicana. One of the reasons it failed was making the branding clever, not clear. The same applies to blog visual rebranding.
Let’s hear from designer Aryn Kumar on how a blog should approach visual rebranding.
Expert Opinion
When conducting a visual brand audit, it’s crucial to delve deeper than just surface-level changes. Here’s a more detailed guide:
- Color Psychology: Colors evoke specific emotions and perceptions. For instance, blue signifies trust and reliability, while red can evoke urgency or excitement.
“Understanding color psychology is key in creating a visual brand that resonates with your audience and communicates the right message.” - Typography Matters: The fonts you choose convey personality and affect readability. “Typography plays a crucial role not just in aesthetics but also in how your brand is perceived. It can impact rankings indirectly by influencing user experience.”
- Consistency is Key: Ensure consistency across all platforms and materials.
“Consistency builds trust and recognition. Your visual brand should be cohesive across every touchpoint.” - User Experience: Consider how visuals impact user experience.
“Visual elements should enhance usability and guide users seamlessly through your brand experience.” - Competitor Analysis: Compare your visual identity with competitors.
“Understanding where you stand in relation to your competitors helps identify opportunities for differentiation and improvement.”
Use colors, fonts, and visuals that align with your brand’s purpose and niche. If needed, buy a new theme. Envato and Themeforest are some of the best WordPress theme providers. They have affordable themes for almost all categories of blogs.
4. Revamping Your Content Strategy
While other fixes are complex, they’re a one-time fix. Content continues impacting your blog.
It’s difficult to suddenly stop writing what you’re used to and move on with new content. The first problem that occurs is a poor content strategy.
Posting blog posts as the topics come to your mind is a no-go way to build a blog. You need a content strategy in place.
The best way to start? Use your time researching the audience to understand what questions bother them. Write about that.
Another way is to use the Custom GPT Whimsical Diagrams to build topic clusters so you never run out of content ideas. Here’s a LinkedIn Post by Anna York explaining how she uses the custom GPT.
Also, stay active on social media, online discussion forums, and groups. The best way to find what your audience loves reading is by hanging out with them.
Take time to develop a content strategy that aligns with your business goals before you get into the writing mode.
| Also read: Key SEO Mistakes to avoid for a healthy site
5. Rebranding Your Social Media Accounts
Your social media handles will be key for teasing and launching the rebranded blog. Don’t forget to update these accounts. Change your profile names, bios, banner images, and other branding elements.
You’ll also need to rework the social media content strategy. Let your followers know the transition and acquire a new audience that aligns with your new goals.
6. Updating Affiliates
If you have affiliate partnerships, inform your partners about the rebrand and provide new branded assets or links. Ensure their web pages, product listings, and promotions are updated with your new brand name, logo, and URLs. Provide any new affiliate links or discounts. Maintain good relationships, so affiliates eagerly promote your rebranded business.
Expert Opinion
Before diving head-first, be clear about why you’re rebranding.
Are you targeting a new audience?
Expanding into new topics?
Enhancing brand image?
This will drive your content strategy.
Most importantly, assess your existing content. See what can be retained, updated, or removed. Eliminate outdated or irrelevant content for your new brand image or target audience. Plus, update any non-working links.
Then, focus on creating high-quality, valuable content that addresses all the data you’ve gathered from above. For this, you can use clear headings, bullet points, visuals, videos, GIFs, and tables to improve readability.
Create links to your tool, product, or service in the right places.
Reach your audience where they are: Repurpose the blog into different bits or formats of content for different platforms and attract the audience to the fully revamped blog. Then, get feedback from them to understand what they like and how you can improve.
SEO Considerations for Rebranding
Buying a new domain implies pointing your existing WordPress website to a new domain in your hosting. You need website migration, redirects, and more for a smooth transition.
If you want to retain your old blog’s content, one thing you must not forget is to retain your backlinks and organic traffic. If you don’t, your traffic can drop to 0.
Expert Opinion
Try to add as few redirects as possible and prioritize permanent redirects. Check URLs of the media, internal links, and links pointing to your website for 404 errors.
Go for 301 redirects rather than the temporary 302 ones. When you implement a 301 redirect, it automatically retains all your earlier backlinks as it redirects them to the new URLs.
That’s a lot to cover in this article. And honestly, I’m no WordPress expert. Just outsource the work to someone who can get it all done without technical issues.
Even the web hosting providers have guides for URL redirects and C-Panel settings. You can ask their experts to help you with the technical stuff so you don’t lose on anything valuable.
Expert Opinion
- Run your website through Screaming Frog to check everything in terms of website structure.
- Don’t fix things that are not broken.
- Keep user experience in mind before making any decision.
Launching Your Rebranded Blog
Since the traffic fluctuates after rebranding, plan and promote the relaunch to your existing audience.
Pick a target launch date and work backward to create a promotional checklist. Use email marketing and social posting to hint at the launch. Engage your audience with interactive content and build their anticipation. Share teasers and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks.
After the blog is launched, promote it using promotional channels to bring traffic to the blog.
Final Thoughts: Sustaining Your Rebranded Blog
Launching the rebranded blog is just the beginning. You need ongoing strategies to sustain growth under the new brand.
Continue optimizing content for SEO and sharing it on social media to promote the launch. Analyze performance to make data-driven improvements.
Listen to audience feedback and fine-tune the rebrand over time. Stay focused on delivering value, not just on the initial relaunch.
Consistent effort will build familiarity and loyalty to the new brand.
Note: Continuing the example of Demandware – It still receives more organic search traffic than Salesforce Commerce Cloud, even several years after the rebranding. Demandware still ranks for product names, features, and other brand terms.
Salesforce is increasing its domain authority and redirecting legacy traffic from Demandware. But SEO takes time to change. That doesn’t mean their rebranding failed.
Being patient and persistently building SEO for the new brand can help the new brand surpass the older ones, even if it takes a few years.
Expert Opinion
Mostly conversions improve after rebranding as the website’s visuals improve. Traffic decreases initially, but websites recover if user experience is not hampered.
People should not be afraid of rebranding if they have a strategy to map every existing page with a new one.
Got any questions about blogging? Book a consultation call with me!
| Suggested reading: Best blogging tools
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How long does a successful blog rebranding take?
It usually takes 2-6 months to rebrand your blog with proper planning, marketing, and monitoring.
2. Should I delete old content when rebranding my blog?
Only delete outdated or irrelevant posts. But good evergreen content can often be updated and retained to preserve SEO value. Use redirects to retain backlinks when changing URLs.
3. How do I know if my blog rebranding is successful?
Track metrics like organic traffic, conversions, email list growth, and social media engagement to gauge success. Compare to pre-rebranding numbers. Also monitor rankings in SERPs and Google Search Console data.
4. How do I promote my rebranded blog?
Promote a relaunch to your email list and social followers. Share teasers leading up to the reveal. Do influencer outreach and PR around the rebranding. Run contests, giveaways, or limited-time offers to create buzz.