The Dos and Don'ts for Naming Your Business

What's in a name? For business owners today, the long-standing quote from Shakespeare is as relevant as ever. Your company name has to do a lot: roll off people's tongues, be web-friendly, and get potential customers to respond on an emotional level.

There's a certain art to choosing a name and often it can make or break your company. Here's how to get your business name just right (with the help of Fiverr) and make the type of first impression that your customers will never forget.

Ensure Online Relevance

In today's digital world, your company name has to be relevant online. In order to claim a website address, your name has to be available and unique, and it should be rich in keywords that truly reflect what your business is all about. You can start by doing the following:

• Put together a list of keywords that you think might be relevant to your company's market.
• Plug them into keyword generators like LeanDomainSearch or BustAName, to better understand the possibilities of branding your keywords into your company name.
• To really dig deep to learn how your name will do, take it a step further by testing out different names with landing pages for each, to see how much traffic each one brings.

Sassy But Simple

Your business name should not only sound good, it should be easy to pronounce, and have an intuitive, natural feel to it. Think about the name Coca-Cola – it rolls right off the tongue. It's a name that's easy to pronounce, and known the world over.

Try to find a name that's catchy, yet communicates what your business is all about. Your customers will associate your name with the value it offers them. And as with online relevance, testing your name can go a long way towards success. SurveyMonkey, for example, offers the ability to test your name with a target audience, and see if they react to it well.

Does Your Name Represent Who You Are?

One of the most important things to think about is making sure your name truly represents your business – both now and going forward. It should not only describe your company, but the idea behind it. Just think about how many companies have excelled based on brand recognition of their company name: Apple, Lego, and Disney, just to name a few.

Make sure you also do thorough research before you get started (our recent blog post on the importance of doing so will help get you going). And if all else fails, do some informal research as well. Ask your friends, family, coworkers, and whoever else you can think of – they're likely to give you the honest feedback you need to make sure you've made the right call.

‍Got any ideas on what it takes for a great company name? Let us know in the comments below!