Getting Ready to Rename / Redesign Your Blog? Pick The Available URL, First

Renaming a blog - republishing it to a new URL - is simple enough. Pick an available URL. We all know how to identify an available URL - pick it now. Once you know that it's available, you have it - and it's not available, any more.

What if your renaming project also involves restyling the blog?

Do you really want to wait until the blog has been restyled, before picking your new URL?

On the other hand, you're surely not going to rename it, until it's been restyled. A new name, with the old style - how lame would that be?

Prevent stress - choose and publish to your preferred URL, now.

What if restyling the blog is a function of the new URL? Do you really want to restyle the blog first - then see if the new URL is available? What if somebody else picks your new URL, before you are ready? That's called stress.

Prevent stress - do the project in 6 steps. This is an expanded version of a properly planned blog renaming.

1. Pick a new URL - now - while it's available.
2. Setup a stub blog, published to the new URL.
3. Restyle the blog, to match the new URL.
4. Before making a change, plan the change.
5. Swap URLs between the current blog, and the stub blog.
6. Now, update the stub blog, redirecting your existing traffic to the new URL.

Much neater - not all that much more work - and way less stressful.