Blog Branding Mistakes That Are Slowing You Down (And What to Do Instead)

We know the spiral. You find yourself 67 tabs deep into Pinterest, agonizing over whether lavender pairs better with a dusty rose or muted sage. You haven’t even written a blog post yet, but you’re on your third mood board. And the logo? You’ve redesigned it five times. We’ve been there. Here’s why those blog branding mistakes are holding you back and what to focus on instead.

When we started blogging, we thought our brand identity had to be airtight from day one. We thought fonts were make-or-break. We thought the right aesthetic would somehow give us the confidence to hit publish. But all it really did was slow us down.

The truth? You will rebrand. More than once.

Francesca’s first blog launched in 2011. It’s had more makeovers than she can count. Victoria is currently on version six of her own blog. Each time, the colors changed. The theme changed. The logo? Don’t even ask.

And that’s the point: your blog will evolve. So stop trying to make it perfect out the gate. Perfect is the enemy of progress.

The Name Dilemma: What Matters (And What Doesn’t)

Out of all the branding decisions you make, the name is the one you should spend a little time on. Not weeks, not months, but enough to feel good about it. Because while you can rebrand and change your domain, it’s a bit more work than swapping out colors.

That said, we’re in a new era. Your blog name doesn’t need to include keywords to rank. What matters is that it feels aligned with you, it’s easy to remember, and ideally, it’s not already taken.

Pro tip: You don’t have to use your full government name either. Nicknames, creative spins, your first name with your niche, all fair game.

Examples: Suzy Bakes. Suzy Journals. Suzy Cleans. You get the idea.

And if you can’t get the .com? That’s okay too. It’s 2025. Alternative domains are much more accepted now.

Worst Blog Branding Mistakes: Font & Color Obsession

Fonts and colors matter to an extent. But the perfect one that captures the brand isn’t essential on day one.

Listen, aesthetics are fun. We totally get it. We’re design lovers too. But if you’re just starting out and your blog isn’t even live yet, this is where most people lose momentum.

We’ve seen it (and done it) countless times:
→ Agonizing over brand palettes
→ Buying expensive premium themes (multiples) before publishing a single post
→ Getting lost in Canva logo land or buying elements on Creative Market
→ Spending hours trying to “find your aesthetic” instead of your voice

We see so many new bloggers waste days (weeks!) agonizing over picking the perfect aesthetic. But here’s the thing, your first site isn’t your final site. It’s the training wheels version. You’re going to evolve. That kind of tweaking is normal but not something to prioritize before your content even exists.

You’ll grow more confident in your voice. Your brand vibe will shift. Your audience might change. And your visuals will follow suit.

Instead of sweating it, grab one of our plug-and-play free 15 brand board templates. It gives you colors, fonts, logos, ready to go. Swap in your name, make one or two tweaks, and move on.

Why Simplicity Wins (Especially at the Start)

The more time you spend on polish, the more you delay progress. That’s the hard truth. We both fell into that trap. And it wasn’t until we stripped things back and focused on sharing stories, connecting with readers, publishing content, that things started to click.

Branding that Actually Helps You Grow

Here’s what we’ve learned works better than obsessing over colors and fonts:

Publishing personal, original content consistently
Using your own imperfect photos (we’ll talk about this in another post)
Keeping your site light and fast with minimal design clutter
Staying focused on your reader’s experience, not your favorite color hex codes

In the age of AI, your story, your voice, and your originality are what matter most, not whether you picked the exact right serif font.

The irony? The blog versions we loved the least visually often performed the best. Because they were light. They loaded fast. And we weren’t bogged down by plugins and fluff.

Let your content be the star. Your brand aesthetic can (and will) grow with you.

Bottom Line: Start Ugly. Start Anyway.

Blogging isn’t about getting it perfect. It’s about getting it going. If you’re spending hours on Canva and zero time writing, it’s time to flip the script.

If you’re ready to get started, check out the resources you will need to start a blog in less than 60 minutes. Share your story. Publish your first post.

And remember: we’ve been where you are. We’ve made the branding mistakes so you don’t have to.

Now it’s your turn to hit publish.

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