How to Come Up With a Winning Name for Your Business?
What’s in a name, you may ask? Much more than you think! Choosing a business name can be a challenging process, but if you pick the right one, it can have a significant impact on its success.
So in order to avoid the naming labyrinth in picking the perfect name for your business here are 7 helpful tips:
Make sure the name relates to the business in some way.
Ideally, you want the business name to be informative so that customers instantly know what your business does. It should also be helpful from an SEO point of view.
While names like “Google,” “Yahoo,” or “Amazon” are catchy, they have no reference whatsoever to their respective business streams. These kinds of names will also cost a lot more to brand.
Use online resources for generating names.
A number of sites are available online to help you brainstorm names, including:
- com– gives you a visual around a keyword
- Shopify Business Name Generator– Generates business names and checks its domain availability as well
- com– Generates business names based on a theme
- BustAName.com– Generates business name ideas based on the keywords you’ve entered.
Avoid hard-to-say-or-spell names.
You don’t want potential customers getting confused about how to find your business online. For example, Flickr or Pexel are pretty confusing names to spell out. So, in order to avoid misspelled versions of your name, keep it simple.
Don’t pick a name that could be limiting as your business grows.
Picking a name that’s too narrow may become problematic down the road. So avoid names that limit your business to a specific product or city.
Conduct a thorough Internet search.
Once you have fixated on a name you like, you’ll want to check to make sure it’s not already being used by someone else. Also check the availability of a domain name, if you intend to have an online business.
Also try to secure a “.com” domain name for your business rather than .net, .org, .biz, etc. Customers tend to associate a .com name with a more established business. Undoubtedly, someone will already own your desired .com name, but many domain owners are willing to sell their name for the right price.
Sites such as GoDaddy.com or NetworkSolutions.com not only help you check the domain availability but also allows you to track down the owner of the domain name and see if they are willing to sell it.
Make sure you can trademark the name.
Not every business name needs to be trademarked, but you should consider this just to make sure you aren’t infringing on somebody else’s trade name.
Get feedback on the name.
You’ll probably end up with a list of names that align with all the above rules. So after you’ve narrowed your field, how do you make your final decision? Run these names by friends, family members, and colleagues and get a feedback from them.
