Choosing the right name for your small business or product is paramount to your brand development.
It needs to be more than “cool” and something that you connect with.
The name you choose, if you don’t want to get lost in the masses, should be recognizable, marketable, and make it clear how you benefit the consumer.
Here’s a few things to think about before you land on a name for your business or product.
Does the name sound like it will provide a benefit?
Some of the best brands out there chose names that show how their products or values aim to benefit the consumer.
Nike – named after the Greek goddess of victory.
Verizon – Verizon combines the Latin word veritas, meaning truth, with the word horizon.
Gatorade – originally designed to help the Florida Gators college football team play in the heat.
Pitch the name to someone and see if they connect the name to what you’re trying to convey.
Is your name unique?
If you go plug the name into Google and you see the same name being used for something else (or worse, the same type of business or product), you may have trouble differentiating yourself.
Also, use a domain checker to see if a URL with the name you want to use is available. Then, make sure there aren’t very similar URLs being used that could trip up people looking for you.
And if the .com for your URL isn’t available, ditch it. That’s the only domain that matters for businesses.
Consider the SEO
Speaking of using Google, does your name feature a keyword related to your industry?
This isn’t always necessary, but it can be useful for search engine optimization.
If you haven’t settled on a name yet, it may be helpful to go over to Google’s keyword planner and plug in some words surrounding your business and see what kind of search volume they’re getting.
Furthermore, including keywords in your name will help you stand out from competitors who don’t on search engine result pages.
By having the keyword in your name – and URL – it’ll help a little with SEO. But not enough that you have to force it in there.
Make it easy to say and spell
You want people to talk about your business and products, right?
Then make your name easy to remember, say, and spell.
When I ask you what are the most memorable brands out there, what names come to mind?
I guarantee the ones I’m thinking of are the ones you’re also thinking about. It’s no mistake they’re also among the most valuable brands.
Call in the experts to help name your small business or product
If you’re struggling to find a name for your small business or product, it’s worth it to call in reinforcements.
Brand development specialists like 2oddballs can set your name side-by-side with market data to see if it’s likely to perform well. We can also come up with a list of names we’ve vetted for you to choose from.
You’ve got a great business. We’ll make sure it gets found.
