{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-articles-index-jsx","path":"/articles/the-name-game-strategies-for-naming-a-company-and-picking-a-website/","result":{"data":{"props":{"adsense":true,"adsenseMobile":null,"byLine":null,"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/articles/the-name-game-strategies-for-naming-a-company-and-picking-a-website/","content":"\n

Picking the name of a business and picking a website domain can have a huge impact on the success of a business. 

\r\n

While the quality of work and demand have much more to do with this success, naming and picking the correct website can help a company immensely during its infancy.Naming a business seems simple for some. However, there are plenty of companies who have named themselves something that has negatively impacted them.

\r\n

Having to rebrand or rename a business can be expensive and more than likely cause the company’s previous marketing spend to be a waste.

\r\n

The following are some tips for picking the right name for your website and company.

\r\n

Related Article: Who Are You? Powerful Brand Building Tips for New Businesses

\r\n

Draw Some Attention But Not Too Much

\r\n

There are many different schools of thought when it comes to naming businesses. While some prefer combining a few, the others stand alone. None of these are incorrect or correct, businesses have had success with all of these naming conventions.

\r\n

Make Them Remember

\r\n

An outrageous name will be remembered by many but it can also impact credibility. If a company has to shock you with their name, what do they have to offer as far as quality of work goes?

\r\n

The quality of the work could be high but having a shocking or strange name comes off to some like a shock jock does, they will do or say (in this case name) anything just for a small amount of attention. The perks are that people will remember the name but the cons can be not receiving respect and looking too desperate to get a name out there.

\r\n

Build a Brand Around The Name

\r\n

\"Zappos.com

\r\n

Some companies know that they have to build their brand rather than try some kind of hack to get attention in the infancy of a business. Quality work can help build a brand quickly and poor quality work can do just as much or more damage.

\r\n

Plenty of companies like Zappos have done this. Although Zappos is a derivative of the Spanish meaning for shoes, it can have a double meaning for customers like CEO of the company Tony Hsieh mentions, \"A lot of people actually think our name comes from the fact that we ship so fast - like we zap your order to you.\"

\r\n

This is a great example of customers deriving their own meaning out of a name which is one of the first steps to becoming a household brand.

\r\n

Keep Them Guessing

\r\n

\"GoDaddy

\r\n

 

\r\n

The best example of this is GoDaddy during its infancy while advertising during the Super Bowl. An attractive female was in a commercial with no clarifying information. In the last few seconds, GoDaddy.com came on the screen which made many people visit the site.

\r\n

While this is an extreme case, other companies do this when naming their company to attract attention by getting people interested in what a company actually does as their name doesn’t clarify anything. Although this is effective, the traffic to a website of a business using this tactic might not be hitting the demographic that the business wants.

\r\n

While this is an extreme case, other companies do this when naming their company to attract attention by getting people interested in what a company actually does as their name doesn’t clarify anything. Although this is effective, the traffic to a website of a business using this tactic might not be hitting the demographic that the business wants.

\r\n

Website

\r\n

There are some companies that have a website name that is similar to but not exactly what their brand name is. This can cause large amounts of confusion and can negatively impact the traffic the business would have gotten otherwise. An easy website to remember is the best tactic as it will stick in the minds of potential customers that you have met or who have an interest in purchasing a product or service.

\r\n

Make sure to pick a dot-com as this top-level domain previously had been restricted for commercial websites. Although this isn’t true anymore, most people trust dot-com sites more than a dot-info or even dot-net. Something that can be useful is looking into websites that have high SEO metrics but have since had their domains expire and go up for sale. 

\r\n

You want to have the website at least related in an industry to the already established domain. Buying a completely unrelated one could impact SEO scores negatively. This could occur when it is found that the backlinks are totally unrelated to the website because it is now tied to the company in a new industry or niche.

\r\n

Related Article: Critical Items Every Small Business Website Needs

\r\n

Consider Name Generators

\r\n

Most people want to put their own personal touch on naming a business but for some these naming ideas go from poor to downright terrible. In a blog post by Popcentric about name generators, they highlight that companies named with a letter later in the alphabet can impact SEO efforts as well as showing up later in directories. 

\r\n

Not all of these generators are created equal by any means as NameThingy.com just puts together seemingly unrelated words. So if you want a company name like, \"Liver Mayor\" then this might be an option.

\r\n

The better name generators include Businessnamegenerator.com which allows input by the user before it comes out with names. This allows a company to have some sort of input for the name and it will, at least, be loosely related to what they provide or produce.

\r\n

Make sure to do research and even send out surveys to the demographic the business is targeting before launching. There are plenty of market research companies who are very willing to help with this as well.

\r\n

Name a business something that makes it stand out from the crowd without going overboard. The real success comes from the quality of work and the reputation a business earns during its early years and beyond, but the right name can make a huge difference during these early years as well.

\r\n

 

\n","docType":"article","guid":"articles_9c1dad89e1f912531a3a9a9262cb15ac","lastModified":"2016-01-27T16:00:00.000Z","published":"2016-01-27T16:00:00.000Z","structuredData":null,"subtitle":null,"template":"legacy","title":"The Name Game: Strategies for Naming a Company and Picking a Website","type":"article","author":{"avatar":null,"bio":"Tommy is a writer who enjoys traveling quite frequently. 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Powerful Brand Building Tips for New Businesses"]}]},{"component":"h3","children":[{"component":"em","children":["Draw Some Attention But Not Too Much"]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["There are many different schools of thought when it comes to naming businesses. While some prefer combining a few, the others stand alone. None of these are incorrect or correct, businesses have had success with all of these naming conventions."]}]},{"component":"h3","children":[{"component":"em","children":["Make Them Remember"]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["An outrageous name will be remembered by many but it can also impact credibility. If a company has to shock you with their name, what do they have to offer as far as quality of work goes? "]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["The quality of the work could be high but having a shocking or strange name comes off to some like a shock jock does, they will do or say (in this case name) anything just for a small amount of attention. The perks are that people will remember the name but the cons can be not receiving respect and looking too desperate to get a name out there."]}]},{"component":"h3","children":[{"component":"em","children":["Build a Brand Around The Name"]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"picture","props":{"className":"aligncenter full"},"children":[{"component":"source","props":{"srcSet":"/images/content/56a/8efce3087b1eb1bde169f/zappos.1200by380.png 1200w, /images/content/56a/8efce3087b1eb1bde169f/zappos.668by212.png 668w, /images/content/56a/8efce3087b1eb1bde169f/zappos.320by101.png 320w","sizes":"668px, 100%"}},{"component":"img","props":{"src":"/images/content/56a/8efce3087b1eb1bde169f/zappos.320by101.png","alt":"Zappos.com logo","width":"320","height":"101","data-content-img-id":"56a8efce3087b1eb1bde169f"}}]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["Some companies know that they have to build their brand rather than try some kind of hack to get attention in the infancy of a business. 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Although Zappos is a derivative of the Spanish meaning for shoes, it can have a double meaning for customers like CEO of the company ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"http://about.zappos.com/press-center/media-coverage/zappos-milestone-focus-apparel","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["Tony Hsieh mentions"]},", \"A lot of people actually think our name comes from the fact that we ship so fast - like we zap your order to you.\""]},{"component":"p","children":["This is a great example of customers deriving their own meaning out of a name which is one of the first steps to becoming a household brand."]},{"component":"h3","children":[{"component":"em","children":["Keep Them Guessing"]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"picture","props":{"className":"aligncenter med"},"children":[{"component":"source","props":{"srcSet":"/images/content/56a/8ed383187b1ad150abc80/godaddy_nikki.742by551.png 742w, /images/content/56a/8ed383187b1ad150abc80/godaddy_nikki.412by306.png 412w, /images/content/56a/8ed383187b1ad150abc80/godaddy_nikki.206by153.png 206w","sizes":"(min-width: 870px) 412px, (min-width: 400px) 38vw, 62%"}},{"component":"img","props":{"src":"/images/content/56a/8ed383187b1ad150abc80/godaddy_nikki.206by153.png","alt":"GoDaddy Superbowl Commercial","width":"206","height":"153","data-content-img-id":"56a8ed383187b1ad150abc80"}}]}]},{"component":"h3","children":[" "]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["T"]},{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["he best example of this is "]},{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["GoDaddy"]},{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":[" during its infancy while ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9v5p4_go-daddy-2005-superbowl-commercial_sport","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["advertising during the Super Bowl"]},". An attractive female was in a commercial with no clarifying information. In the last few seconds, GoDaddy.com came on the screen which made many people visit the site. "]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["While this is an extreme case, other companies do this when naming their company to attract attention by getting people interested in what a company actually does as their name doesn’t clarify anything. Although this is effective, the traffic to a website of a business using this tactic might not be hitting the demographic that the business wants."]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["While this is an extreme case, other companies do this when naming their company to attract attention by getting people interested in what a company actually does as their name doesn’t clarify anything. 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Although this isn’t true anymore, most people trust dot-com sites more than a dot-info or even dot-net. "]}," ",{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["Something that can be useful is looking into websites that have high SEO metrics but have since had their domains expire and go up for sale. "]}]},{"component":"p","children":["You want to have the website at least related in an industry to the already established domain. Buying a completely unrelated one could impact SEO scores negatively. This could occur when it is found that the backlinks are totally unrelated to the website because it is now tied to the company in a new industry or niche."]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"em","children":["Related Article: "]},{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"http://www.business.com/web-design/critical-items-every-small-business-website-needs/"},"children":["Critical Items Every Small Business Website Needs"]}]},{"component":"h3","children":[{"component":"em","children":["Consider Name Generators"]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["Most people want to put their own personal touch on naming a business but for some these naming ideas go from poor to downright terrible. 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"]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["The better name generators include Businessnamegenerator.com which allows input by the user before it comes out with names. This allows a company to have some sort of input for the name and it will, at least, be loosely related to what they provide or produce."]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["Make sure to do research and even send out surveys to the demographic the business is targeting before launching. There are plenty of market research companies who are very willing to help with this as well. "]}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"style":{"fontWeight":"400"}},"children":["Name a business something that makes it stand out from the crowd without going overboard. 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