Every business needs a great name. No matter your industry, you will need a good business name to let customers easily identify your brand.
Your business name is the first thing customers remember about you; it is how they refer to your company when speaking to their friends and colleagues.
According to these statistics, it takes 5 to 7 impressions for people to remember your brand. A good brand name can significantly affect your business as it helps to gain customer trust and stand out from the crowd.
Wonder how to come up with a compelling business name? Let’s look at some tips and ideas to get you through a profitable business naming brainstorm.
Table of Contents:
- Make it Easy to Spell and Pronounce
- Keep it Simple and Original
- Convey Something Meaningful
- Brainstorm Business Names
- Conduct a Thorough Business Name Search
- Test Your Business Name
Make it Easy to Spell and Pronounce
Your business could be great, but it doesn’t help your customers search for your brand if your brand name is unpronounceable or misspelled. Your name must roll right off the tongue.
In this case, less is more. Avoid unnecessarily complicated and foreign words if you don’t want the target audience scouring the internet to understand your brand name better. Removing vowels can also make it harder to pronounce and read your name.
For example, try to pronounce BHLDN, a famous wedding brand. To tell the truth, I feel confused, but in reality, you should spell it as “beholden.”
Compared to brand names like Apple and Meta, they are both simple, easy to say, and rewritten from memory. That helps customers worldwide remember them and their products and stand out from others.
Pro tip from the expert Cesar Ornelas: Take some time to jot down your personal attributes (passions, nicknames, core values, quotes, books, etc.) that can help you effectively incorporate into your business name.
Keep it Simple and Original
When thinking of your business name, the simpler, the better. It shouldn’t be a mishmash of words to accomplish too many things. Your name should evoke positive associations and emotions in your potential customers.
Just some businesses that come to mind when thinking of simplicity are Target and GoDaddy. Target has gone on to become a world leader in retail stores, while GoDaddy has begun to monopolize the space of domain names and internet services.
Keeping your business name simple and original can help your customers remember you easily and identify your brand in a sea of other businesses. The research shows that 61% of people are more likely to purchase from companies that publish unique content.
However, many business owners have struggled with originality and uniqueness. Here are some strategies to build a name that resonates with your future customers and stands out from the rest:
- Use tools like Twinword or Namify to find related ideas and words and start with your target keyword.
- Choose a name that lends itself to wordplay. People remember puns and catchy phrases. For example, Frying Nemo or Spoon Me.
- Research synonyms through online dictionaries like THESAURUS to find inspiration and similar words to create a good business name.
Pro tip from the expert Tom Blackburn, founder of Blackburn Romey: Choosing your brand name should define the objective of your business, bridge the gap between introduction to explanation, and build trust. If you have some local businesses in some particular places, it can be a good idea to add geography to your name for each place, for example, Arizona Tile or New York Life.
Convey Something Meaningful
Business names that hint at company stories make it easy for customers to memorize and connect your values to your brand. If you convey what you do in your business name without needing to explain yourself overly, you will get successful. Customers should easily understand your domain and remember it in the future.
Coming up with a business name deserves the right amount of thought and deliberation, and it must represent who you are and what you do. Your business name is an excellent opportunity to express something positive and meaningful about your company.
For example, Battle Born Injury Lawyers is a law firm that includes experienced “battle-born” injury lawyers. It intensely conveys the meaning of the business and helps search engine optimization purposes.
A big part of your success is how meaningful your brand name is. That’s why your business name should convey a strong message so your target audience can identify their values and beliefs and become a part of it.
Pro tip from the expert Mariano Rodriguez, founder of LawRank: Create a natural extension to tell something positive about your business without sacrificing meaning. Meaningless names are more attractive due to their catchiness and will be the best investment for high returns.
Brainstorm Business Names
Brainstorming is an excellent way to find new ideas to build your perfect business name. Put together your team for different views and approvals. Approach your business name from different perspectives to help you choose the right one.
Ensure your brand voice and personality align with your business name. Figure out what it should look like, words and adjectives that describe your brand, and what people should feel and think when they see your name.
Here are a few tips on how to fill up your board with new ideas:
- Use creative business name generators to find inspiration and get variations.
- Use real-life examples from your top competitors and make common types of business names that relate to your brand.
- Ask friends to get an unbiased opinion about your name idea.
Make sure to settle down on two to three final options for your business name that encompass the message you’re trying to send to your audience.
Pro tip from the expert Sagi Shaked: Do an emotional brainstorm to create an attractive business name that will market itself. Use a list of emotional words to get started.
Conduct a Thorough Business Name Search
Doing your research is key to finalizing a good business name for your company. Check for your business name availability to save you much time and money. Use online search to check out whether another company is using your brand name as a domain.
Business names of many companies don’t align with their domains, which can hurt their future marketing strategies. Make sure to check for business entities using your business name. If you run a corporation or an LLC, search your Secretary of State’s website to check for availability and the ability to register.
Make sure that many companies operate using fictional business names, known as “doing business as.” Many states require them to register a DBA with the city. So, you can check out for registered DBAs on the website.
Another way to check your business name is to search for trademarks. You can use the USPTO.gov database to look for names similar to yours. If your name isn’t taken as a DBA and trademarked, you must register a domain. GoDaddy sites like to figure out whether your domain name is available.
Pro tip from the expert Tom Siani, founder of Social Tradia: It is vital to check your business name for social media availability, especially if you plan to promote your brand. You can use Namechk to see if your name is already taken in different social media channels.
Test Your Business Name
Once you complete the research, you should test the name and share it with others. You can get feedback, opinions, and reactions from people and find out how well your name will survive in the real world. Here are some ways how to test your business name:
- Conduct A/B testing with friends, colleagues, family, or strangers. You can experiment with two or more versions of your name and define which version performs the best.
- Ask your potential audience to choose the best business name. You can create polls or surveys on Facebook, Twitter, or Linkedin.
- Use linguistic screening service providers with native speakers from each country to test your name. If you work globally, this step will be necessary for your brand. But if you run a business in your own country, skip this step.
Once you get reactions and opinions about your business name, consider making changes immediately while it is available.
Pro tip from the expert Damon Daugherty, founder of Spaulding Injury Law: Test your business name in different mediums. Say it aloud in a conversation and draft it in an email signature. You can put the name in your logo design to see what it will look like.
Conclusion
Coming up with good business name ideas can take some time, money, and effort. It can be daunting, but this first step is essential to build a good business. A compelling business name can have a significant impact on our success. Follow these tips to create a winning name.
