No matter how great your business idea is, you’ll never connect with consumers if you don’t have a good brand name. Choosing your brand name is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your business, and it has a tremendous impact on how customers view you.
For instance, the original name for Amazon was actually Cadabra. Jeff Bezos meant the name to be a shortened version of the word “abracadabra” but people not only found it difficult to spell, but they also didn’t understand that it was part of “abracadabra”. Cadabra was not a brand name that stuck, for obvious reasons. And who knows if Amazon would have been as successful as it is today if they had stuck with the original name.
Choosing a brand name can be daunting, and it’s not something that should be taken lightly. But how do you choose a catchy business name that will work for you as well as attract customers?
Let’s get started, here’s how to come up with a brand name that sticks.
1. Choose a name that reflects your business
Your name should give consumers a clue about what you do. If someone quickly passes by an advertisement for your business, you want them to be able to easily determine what product or service you provide. If they have no idea what your business is, they probably won’t give it a second thought. But if they’re able to recognize what you do, they’re more likely to keep you in mind and remember you when they’re in need.
A name like Fresh Cut Lawns for example, immediately lets consumers know that you’re a landscaping business. On the other hand, if you choose a name like Cuts by Carl, you might confuse people. Do you cut grass? Do you cut hair? Do you sell cuts of beef? When your brand name reflects what you do, it will be instantly recognizable.
2. Pick a name that’s easy to remember
Another key tip to picking a brand name that sticks is to make sure it’s easy for consumers to remember. This includes choosing a name that is not too long, difficult to pronounce, or difficult to spell. It’s crucial to pick a name that’s easy for consumers to spell.and understand especially today when your potential customers will be searching for your business on Google.
Also avoid unusual spellings, made-up words or complicated acronyms – when consumers can’t make sense of your name it won’t stay in their mind, and they won’t be able to find you on the web.
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3. Make it unique
A brand name like Mary’s Accounting tells people what you do and is easy to remember, but it’s too plain to stand out from the competition and be memorable to consumers. You need to come up with a unique name that will set you apart from the crowd.
Finding a brand name that sticks and works for your business can be difficult. But try creating a mindmap of concepts related to your business and explore descriptive words, emotions, and experiences that you associate with your business. For example, if you have a cleaning company, some of your mindmap concepts could be sparkling, fresh, stress-free, shine, scrub, etc. Compiling a list of these words will help you easily come up with a name that sparks intrigue and is distinctly yours.
4. Think about your name’s connotations
It would be embarrassing to spend all your time coming up with what you think is the perfect name only to realize it has negative connotations in the eyes of consumers. Think about what emotions your brand name will provoke in people. You may think a name like Soup Fly would be a clever, funny name for your restaurant that specializes in soups but will people really want to eat at your restaurant if all they’re imagining is flies in their dish?
Also be sure to check international implications too, you don’t want to be surprised if your name is offensive or has vulgar implications in another language. For instance, Clairol launched a curling iron called “Mist Stick” in Germany, but “mist” is actually German slang for manure. Your brand name will never be a hit if inspires negative imagery in the minds of your audience.
5. Check domain availability with a domain name generator
If you’ve done some brainstorming and come up with a catchy brand name you love, don’t go printing it all over everything yet. First, you have to check the domain name availability to make sure your desired brand name’s domain name hasn’t already been taken by someone else. You can use a domain name generator to easily brainstorm names and find out if your domain name is available.
When choosing your domain name, consider adding keywords to improve your search engine ranking. For example, if you’re opening a nightclub called Tango, your domain name could be TangoNightclub.com, or TangoMiami.com to boost your local SEO. Always try to get the .com option, but if it’s not available many tech companies are going with .io, and if you’re in education, you could use .edu.
Another tip is to never put hyphens in your domain name; hyphens can be a sign of spam domains, and you definitely don’t want your business to be associated with that. Hyphens also make your domain difficult to type out, making users less likely to return to your site.
With one look at your brand name, people will decide who you are, what you’re about and how much expertise you have in your industry; so be sure to choose a name that you’ll not only be proud of but one that sings your praises to consumers. Now that you have these tips for how to come up with a brand name that sticks, your new business will be set up for success from the start.