(Re)Name your Substack Publication to Gain More Subscribers
not to sound clever, but to be found by more people and thus to grow faster.
Hi Friends,
A few months ago, I changed the name of this newsletter from âMe Time: Pause-Decide-Doâ to âMe Time: Learn Substack Fast.â
Result? More newbies found me. Not because Iâm special, but because I accidentally tapped into how search and discovery actually work. And you can do the same for your Substack, soâŚ
If you are ready to baptise your publication, this article is for you.
If you have a publication name, maybe a name that you do not particularly love, then you may be interested to read below.
What I will share is not a recipe and is not the absolute truth. It is a way to think about naming based on algorithm and SEO principles. This is not intuitive, but tried and tested.
Substackâs algorithm, external search engines favor names that align with user queries (e.g., âLegal Tips for Startupsâ vs. âNoemiâs Thoughtsâ âLearn Substack Fastâ vs. âMe Timeâ). The more you can signal in your name the easier for algo to send you to the right people.
As always, I will share what I think works, you decide what to pick from it.
Rooting for your success,
Noemi
âLennyâs Newsletterâ is not going to work today
Lennyâs Newsletter is one of the top grossing newsletters on Substack. It reportedly earns 1,5 million dollars a year. MILLION. Yepps. The name, though, says nothing about what the newsletter is about, just the author. So many people started their newsletters with just their names thinking I will be the next Lenny. Substack was even recommending this as a good option! But no more!
Nowadays, there are so many platforms making newsletters possible, it is much more difficult to stand out with an ambiguous newsletter name or one with your name.
Being bold here to speak for Lenny, but my guess is if Lenny was starting his newsletter today, he probably would not name it the same⌠or if he did, his growth trajectory would not be the same! The key and luck for âLennyâs newsletterâ was Timing.
So what shall we do now? In a crowded newsletter spaceâŚ
I will talk more at length about naming and also about some of the other âBasicâ settings of your Publication. (This is Me Time, so we shoot 7 birds with one article, if possible. )
For my newbies! The basic publication settings can be found, starting from your Substack feed, clicking âDashboardâ and then clicking âSettingsâ like so:
Now in âSettingsâ the first menu is Basics and this is where you make your most important publication decisions lie. And before you feel anxious, do know that you can change all of them infinite amounts of times, so do not stress, experiment try things out!
Substack Publication Basics
Step 1 - Find a Publication Name
The title is an interesting beast because when most humans read a web page, they do not ever look at the title; therefore, many marketing people do not pay any attention to it. However, when you do a search (see second picture below), the organic results you are looking at and potentially clicking on is the page title you used on your site.1 This is not me telling you this. It is how SEO works according to Hubspot a professional newsletter platforms.
What you want is to have the words in your newsletter name to match what the people are looking for.
You may not like this part, but the more creative your publication name is⌠metaphorical, cool, witty etc⌠the harder it will be for the Substack algorithm and us, mere mortals, to understand what the heck you write about.
Recently, I did a consultation with a Substack writer, their publicationâs goal was the exact opposite of the name of the publication? How did this happen? My guess is: trying to be clever⌠And I love clever! I love subtle, I love hints, easter eggs, but your publication name is not the place to be mystical, ironic because in this way you are excluding many from finding your corner of the internet.
So your name is better off being boring, but 100% descriptive of what you write (maybe with a clever twist if you must) than a total metaphor wrapped in a riddle.
How to find a publication name that helps people find you?
The easiest method⌠is to simply ask yourself âWhat do I write about?â and answer in just a few short words.
Example: Do you write about Stocks and how to not be caught in the hype of certain trades: Name you could give:
Unhype your portfolio: For investors that want long term profits (see how that subtitle really helps?)
Cautious investing: The safer way to go about investing.
Look at the names you came up with. Ask yourself and others to guess what the publication called âfill in nameâ would be about.
Yes, I want you to talk to people! I know! Scary, but important. Donât ask AI-AI is not people I am talking about the flesh, bone and blood people⌠those with a beating heartbeat, those that can start reading your newsletter.
To conclude, your name should be a mix of what you write, and maybe, for whom you write.
Think âAlgebra for dummiesâ. It is a simple name, but that book series became famous for a reason. In 3 words it explained exactly what you will find in its books. Algebra explained in a simple manner so that even dummies understand. And maybe donât insult your readers in the title⌠it was just an example of the most famous descriptive title, probably the entire world knows.
Descriptive titles outperform vague or creative ones in organic search.2
MORE TIPS for NAMING your publication
TALK IN CODES
If you write in Catalan a guide, all about local finds like shops, beaches in Catalonia⌠your publication title should be in Catalan. Make it super specific, so that all catalans would recognise it even if all others would not. This way you signal who the publication is for without using any words in your title to depict your audience.
So you write about italian cooking:
Pasta della nonna
Cucina Italiana
Mamma mia pizzeria
Spaghetti e vongole
Spaghetti e favole (travel + food blog)
Finding a good Name takes time
Keep that question âWhat do I write about?â at the back of your head. Ask it to yourself often. The answer will come. Involve people.
SHORT is great, CLEAR and descriptive is better
Short names are awesome and we all want a short one. Problem is that the shorter your name the more unclear this is. If you write poetry⌠maybe that is fine. If you are building a business⌠not so much.
Second (NAME) Chances
For the ones who already have a name, but you are not getting discovered and want to try somethingâŚ.while still keeping your existing name, think of adding a subtitle.
Why do I mention this? Because my publication was initially called Me Time, then Me Time: pause-decide-do. Great name maybe, but what is it? What does it speak about? Not clear at all⌠So, then I added the subtitle: Learn Substack Fast. Suddenly the algo is sending me to lots of Substack newbies, those with 50 and under subscribers. That is the magic of a CLARIFYING Subtitle.
Your subtitle is like a neon sign for search engines (and Substackâs internal search). If someone types âhow to learn Substack fast,â a publication with those exact words in the title? Thatâs what theyâll see first.
While short keywords (e.g., "SEO") get more individual searches, long-tail queries collectively account for ~70% of all search traffic because there are so many of them. Your subtitle can match that long-tail queries and this way, you will get recommended more!
ADVANTAGE of this approach is that, my brand, my logo, colors etc stay the same, but the niche of my publication can pivot little by little- together with the subtitle. I wrote about coaching first, then business coaching, then niced down to running a business starting from your Substack, then learning Substack as your business growth engine.
Renaming your Substack Publication
If you want to do a total rename you can do it. It is your publication, you decide. Do not be scared, just make a plan and implement.
The newer you are or the fewer subscribers you have, the easier it will be to rename your publication. And to rename, all you need to do is type a new name in Basics.
Use the same principles to find the name and then, just communicate to your subscribers that you are changing the name of the publication.
How? Announce it in your publications chat; in an email or several. You can create hype around it, you can get them to vote on top contenders⌠but ultimately, you decide.
Have fun with it! You will survive a rebrand without a meticulously planned rebrand strategy when you are small.
Step 2- Publication Short Description
This is where you have about 150 characters to say what your publication is all about. this will go on your welcome page and if important to get right.
FUN FACT!
I always am unhappy with my publication short description. I update it all the time. So donât stress, try to chizel it little by little. Save the ones you like in an archive! Again, do not let AI name itâŚ. your short description will be a LinkedIn description and itâs guaranteed to end up BORING. If boring is on brand for you⌠then by all means.
Things to mention in your short description:
your topic/niche
who you write for (men/women/ what time in line/ what geography/what interest)
what you offer: articles, podcast, guides, literature⌠spell it out as concreatly as you can
If there is room mention who the author is. (Talking about you)
The point of this description is not to be super precise but more to show a glimpse of your personality, your style, and mood. If you write comedy- make it funny. If you write about stocks, make it precise and add stats or precise investing style or type.
Step 3- LOGO
OK! your logo can be static or a GIF. It is always a square. Have Fun with it. Make it you.
Whatever design you make, donât make it so small that people cannot see. Especially if it is writing.
If you want a step by step instructions to make your own logo in Canva. I have a Guide you can get here. The below is an example logo to get an idea.
FUN FACT: Premium Me Time Subscribers get my full stack of templates to update the look of your newsletter, including a LOGO template, wordmark and more!
Step 4: Publication Categories
You get to pick 2 categories that best fit with what you write about. The first one is the most important. It is the one that will be used to show you in the rankings and it will also help the algo recommend new readers to you.
You can also change this as you like. I really donât spend this much time thinking about the category I am in and it has been just fine.
Read Next:
Substack Wordmark - Super Simple Guide
This is how you make a custom title for your publication's wensite.
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https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/1513/does-your-website-pass-the-7-second-test.aspx
https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/1513/does-your-website-pass-the-7-second-test