[Courage Reborn]

In trying to put a name on, and purchase the domain for my new venture, I have reached the limit of my creativity.

I'm trying to balance between something:
Says what the business does
Will generate search engine traffic organically
Memorable
Available as a .com domain

What's a good way to think of the perfect name?

[A New Man]

My advice: keep it short and catchy. Maximum 8 characters. Avoid annoying names like "X Solutions".

For the evoking aspect of the name, you can look at the roots of words that represent your business or your values. Then look at the latin forms they come from. Or their translation in other languages (good if you have origins from abroad). Can be a good base.

Your domain must be available also in .net and .org for redirections.

[A New Man]

Finally: make it yours. You'll see it all day long so you better love it.

[Sawyer]

What other common and similar things relate to the service you seek to provide at its most basic and fundamental level?

Choose a synonym or something of like quality that you might think of when thinking of your service.

What are people going to be thinking just before they will be looking for your service? What's a catchy term for that?

Think of the maze of ideas and services within which your business will exist. Think of the all the ways those ideas can be expressed in a single word.

Sweat about it for a few days, then forget it. It will come to you in the shower a day or so later.

[Drazen]

Really think about what your company does. Then come up with a long list of descriptive terms to summarize what you do or the industry you are in.

Say you sell cellular phone accessories. Words:Communications, Cellular, Talk, Mobile, etc. Write them all down in a vertical list.

Then think of a more specific word of what your company does. In this example, phone cases. Words: Protection, Shell, Case, Holder, etc.

Look at both lists then try to come up with related terms to THOSE terms. Let's choose the word "mobile". "Mobile" by itself sounds kind of lame, so expand it. _______ Mobile ______. Use 3 words (not a hardfast rule) with mobile as an anchor so people will know what it is. Ok, when I think of protection, shell, case, etc, in my mind I'm thinking of a Turtle.

So "Turtle Mobile...something". Then figure out what that something is. Turtle Mobile Protection. Turtle Mobile Cases. etc. The most important thing is to have multiple columns written down describing a specific part of what your business does. From there, its a matter of coming up with related words, merging words together, etc. Then break out the thesaurus to those words if you need to.

[jtbabycarrots]

1. One approach is called 'service dominant logic'. This is where you look at the underlining issue you are trying to solve and address it.

So if you are trying to help someone with their confidence when approaching a girl you could name the business something like; NoMoreApproachAnxiety.com

I did this with a service based business (which I ended up putting on the back burner).

2. Another approach is to 'brand' your product/service.

With my business I took an ancient story as a metaphor and branded around it. This is what I am working on now.

It's a bit harder I think because it is more conceptual. But it gives you flexibility. For example; once you develop your minimally viable product and get customer feedback you'll inevitably need to tweak your product. So if we take the above example; you're service/product might change from helping guys with self confidence issues around women to helping guys with self confidence issues in general.

Note: self confidence is a bad example b/c it's already over-killed in the market.

It's hard to give you better advice without knowing what business you're in.

[germanico]

Get the one whose Twitter handle is available.

Use the bumper sticker test. If you saw that name on a bumper sticker in the car in front of you while driving home, would you remember it by the time you got to your house?

[AntiTrace]

your business name doesnt matter.

twitter
facebook
target
costco
bjs
wal mart

etc, etc, etc.

none of those names say a damn thing about the company. deliver quality products/service and your customers wont give a fuck what your name is

as long as its not killrapemolest. inc. your good.

[Courage Reborn]

Wow. Thanks all!

Trying all these approaches should keep me busy for a while.

[jtbabycarrots]

(01-31-2014 10:01 PM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

your business name doesnt matter.

twitter
facebook
target
costco
bjs
wal mart

etc, etc, etc.

none of those names say a damn thing about the company. deliver quality products/service and your customers wont give a fuck what your name is

as long as its not killrapemolest. inc. your good.

This is so true! At a certain point it's just mental masturbation.

Also, do not have any of those words mentioned above in your business name. I was banned from Adwords for a while. I meant it in a tongue and cheek way. Google did not find it funny.

[paninaro]

The most difficult part may be finding one where the .com is available. It seems like every possible letter combination has been bought up. However, if it's owned by a squatter, maybe they'll sell it for relatively cheap.

[Pinocchio]

(01-31-2014 10:01 PM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

your business name doesnt matter.

twitter
facebook
target
costco
bjs
wal mart

etc, etc, etc.

none of those names say a damn thing about the company. deliver quality products/service and your customers wont give a fuck what your name is

as long as its not killrapemolest. inc. your good.

two syllables seems to be the trend...

[Ardbeg]

I would disagree that names don't matter. Both the name and company logo can have an impact. Have you ever opened a phone book to look for a plumber? How do you decide? Ideally you want your business name/logo to evoke an emotional response from a potential client/customer, some response that relates to the product/service you are selling. For example, Land O'Lakes carton image evokes the nostalgia of family-owned farms, making fresh butter. But the company is just another industrial farming giant, churning out the same butter as everyone else. And how about Haagen Dazs? With the name like that you'd bet it's a German brand that brought it's old-world recipes (developed back when ice-cream was fresh and tasted like how ice-cream is supposed to taste like)? Well, you'd be wrong. It's a company started in NJ in the 1960s.

Going back to finding a plumber, years ago (when people still used yellow pages) I remember trying to choose someone to fix a clog. I forgot the name of the company, but I remember I chose it because it had an American flag on its advertisement.

[eastwest]

Don't think about domain names when choosing a business name. The bonus from having keywords in domains is almost entirely gone. Another problem is that you can't branch out as easily if you pick a typical 'joe the plumber' name. On the other hand, unless you've got a huge marketing campaign behind you or plans on world domination, nonsense name branding isn't going to help much in my opinion. People won't remember a random combinaton of letters.

I like business names which have some kind of wordplay based on inside slang or a semi-satirical name. Example is 23andme.com which does genetic testing, named after the 23 pairs of chromosomes. I'd also avoid the typical Super Mega Globa Corp names.

It all depends on your business though. Have you done your market research? What kind of demographic are your potential customers. Young people vs older people. Women vs men.

Short, memorable, inside joke and aimed at your audience.

[Courage Reborn]

(02-01-2014 12:01 PM)eastwest Wrote:  

The bonus from having keywords in domains is almost entirely gone.

Anyone know if this comment is true?

Looks like the guy got banned before I could ask for a source.

[jtbabycarrots]

(02-02-2014 11:38 PM)Courage Reborn Wrote:  

(02-01-2014 12:01 PM)eastwest Wrote:  

The bonus from having keywords in domains is almost entirely gone.

Anyone know if this comment is true?

Looks like the guy got banned before I could ask for a source.

Yes, it's true for the following reasons;

The Google algorithm changed. It no longer rewards what was called keyword stuffing. The algorithm is now geared in a way that other, more quality based indicators of the validity of a page, are calculated.

Secondly, the wordpress themes are now optimized for SEO so you don't need it to the same degree in your name.

What's more important is the name of your blog post;

www . XYZ . com / how-to-make-your-penis-grow

It gets a little more complicated than that, but that's 80% of everything you'll need to know about SEO.

[ASOT]

(01-31-2014 10:01 PM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

your business name doesnt matter.

twitter
facebook
target
costco
bjs
wal mart

etc, etc, etc.

none of those names say a damn thing about the company. deliver quality products/service and your customers wont give a fuck what your name is

as long as its not killrapemolest. inc. your good.

I'd disagree 100%. Facebook and Twitter are actually English words that used as brand names communicate the sites purposes well. A name like Costco instantly tells you it's a price focussed retailer. Brands and slogans like GoPro (Be a Hero), Red Bull (Gives You Wings), Nike (Just Do It) etc. do a great job to set them apart from the myriad of imitations that all three face, and will continue to do so for many years. If Return of Kings had a beta sounding name would you look at it in the same way? Probably not.

[Courage Reborn]

(02-04-2014 01:17 AM)jtbabycarrots Wrote:  

(02-02-2014 11:38 PM)Courage Reborn Wrote:  

(02-01-2014 12:01 PM)eastwest Wrote:  

The bonus from having keywords in domains is almost entirely gone.

Anyone know if this comment is true?

Looks like the guy got banned before I could ask for a source.

Yes, it's true for the following reasons;

The Google algorithm changed. It no longer rewards what was called keyword stuffing. The algorithm is now geared in a way that other, more quality based indicators of the validity of a page, are calculated.

Secondly, the wordpress themes are now optimized for SEO so you don't need it to the same degree in your name.

What's more important is the name of your blog post;

www . XYZ . com / how-to-make-your-penis-grow

It gets a little more complicated than that, but that's 80% of everything you'll need to know about SEO.

Thanks babycarrot.

Do you have a source on this? I searched Google's SEO .pdf, but it doesn't mention anything about domain keywords.

[paninaro]

(02-04-2014 10:04 AM)ASOT Wrote:  

(01-31-2014 10:01 PM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

your business name doesnt matter.

twitter
facebook
target
costco
bjs
wal mart

etc, etc, etc.

none of those names say a damn thing about the company. deliver quality products/service and your customers wont give a fuck what your name is

as long as its not killrapemolest. inc. your good.

I'd disagree 100%. Facebook and Twitter are actually English words that used as brand names communicate the sites purposes well. A name like Costco instantly tells you it's a price focussed retailer. Brands and slogans like GoPro (Be a Hero), Red Bull (Gives You Wings), Nike (Just Do It) etc. do a great job to set them apart from the myriad of imitations that all three face, and will continue to do so for many years. If Return of Kings had a beta sounding name would you look at it in the same way? Probably not.

I'd say you both are right to some extent. You can find examples of descriptive and non-descriptive brand names. For a consumer brand, it ultimately comes down to how much you plan to spend to build brand awareness.

[w00t]

(01-31-2014 10:01 PM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

your business name doesnt matter.

twitter
facebook
target
costco
bjs
wal mart

etc, etc, etc.

none of those names say a damn thing about the company. deliver quality products/service and your customers wont give a fuck what your name is

as long as its not killrapemolest. inc. your good.

all those names are short, snappy and have a nice phonetic ring to it.
costco is also using an alliteration which sounds nice.

A name doesnt have to say anything about the company (though its good) but it has to sound nice.

theres a video by eben pagan on naming businesses Ill it up later if I can find it.

[jtbabycarrots]

(02-04-2014 03:17 PM)Courage Reborn Wrote:  

(02-04-2014 01:17 AM)jtbabycarrots Wrote:  

(02-02-2014 11:38 PM)Courage Reborn Wrote:  

(02-01-2014 12:01 PM)eastwest Wrote:  

The bonus from having keywords in domains is almost entirely gone.

Anyone know if this comment is true?

Looks like the guy got banned before I could ask for a source.

Yes, it's true for the following reasons;

The Google algorithm changed. It no longer rewards what was called keyword stuffing. The algorithm is now geared in a way that other, more quality based indicators of the validity of a page, are calculated.

Secondly, the wordpress themes are now optimized for SEO so you don't need it to the same degree in your name.

What's more important is the name of your blog post;

www . XYZ . com / how-to-make-your-penis-grow

It gets a little more complicated than that, but that's 80% of everything you'll need to know about SEO.

Thanks babycarrot.

Do you have a source on this? I searched Google's SEO .pdf, but it doesn't mention anything about domain keywords.

Sorry about the late reply. Basically I was referencing a lot of reading I've done the on topic over the past year. The algorithm changed with the Google Penguin Update. You can search that and find out a lot. BUT you could spend hour on that topic just to come to the conclusion that SEO in your .com doesn't matter.

[Bad Hussar]

I read an interesting book on naming your business some years ago. Unfortunately can't remember its name, but it basically came to the conclusion that you should NOT name it after it's function. So if your business is selling cars, don't mention cars anywhere in the title. No, I'm not joking, that really was the thrust of the book. It was especially for web based businesses, and the author's logic would be weaker for predominantly bricks and mortar companies.

Their suggestion was to name your business on something seemingly random, and unconnected to it's function (Amazon, Starbucks Google, IKEA etc.), or after, essentially, yourself (E.g. Ford).

Look this was some years ago, and things may have changed, but the author(s) made the point that all the people expecting big bucks buying industry specific domain names such as http://www.cars.com where profoundly dissapointed in the actual results. They were saying that both your domain, and company name should be unrelated to your function. Counterintuative, but consider so many of the big internet companies. How many can you think of that used an existing word that denotes the function of the business in their title or website name?

[AntiTrace]

(02-04-2014 10:04 AM)ASOT Wrote:  

(01-31-2014 10:01 PM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

your business name doesnt matter.

twitter
facebook
target
costco
bjs
wal mart

etc, etc, etc.

none of those names say a damn thing about the company. deliver quality products/service and your customers wont give a fuck what your name is

as long as its not killrapemolest. inc. your good.

I'd disagree 100%. Facebook and Twitter are actually English words that used as brand names communicate the sites purposes well. A name like Costco instantly tells you it's a price focussed retailer. Brands and slogans like GoPro (Be a Hero), Red Bull (Gives You Wings), Nike (Just Do It) etc. do a great job to set them apart from the myriad of imitations that all three face, and will continue to do so for many years. If Return of Kings had a beta sounding name would you look at it in the same way? Probably not.

Facebook makes you think of a social network platform where people post cat pics all day?

Twitter makes you think of a social network platform where people post meaningless 120 or whatever character posts?

BJs makes you think of price focused bulk discount retailer?

Amazon makes you think of ecommerce website?

Red Bull makes you think of an energy drink?

Nike makes you think of a sports apparel company?

Ford makes you think of car company?

Maybe now they do. That's called branding. Your talking branding, not naming. Your name doesnt matter. Your products and marketing matter.