Naming an online business can be a challenge. If you choose wrong, it can make it difficult to get the traffic you need to thrive. No matter how much Internet marketing you utilize, you still need word-of-mouth marketing. Some of your best customers may come as a result of other customers talking about how great your online business is. However, if people cannot remember the name of the business or remember how to spell it, all of your hard work has been for nothing.
Learning how to name an online business is easier than you might think. There are a few tips to help you through the process so that you can find the name that represents your company, represents what you sell, and that you love through and through.
While there are a lot of tips that will help you with how to name an online business, the most important is to not limit yourself. You may specialize in one thing now, but how are you going to grow your business?
Think about choosing something that talks about the entire industry as opposed to one particular thing. For example, you may sell cookies now. But what if you start to sell cupcakes, muffins, and other baked goods later on? You don’t want to get so specific that it will lead to brand confusion when you start to expand a few years from now.
You have to do some market research in order to learn about your competition. The last thing you want to do is be accused of being a copycat. Just because another brand is doing well doesn’t mean that you should piggyback on all of their hard work. Be original.
If your competition is using a color within their name, don’t choose another color for your name. If they are using the word “berry” or “depot” or any other specific word to have some fun with what they do, don’t use that same word within your name. Additionally, you don’t want to simply change the spelling or change the online domain extension. Dare to be different so you can show that you’re unique, not just a knock off of an existing brand.
Your marketing budget has to be identified early on. If you are going to choose a nonsensical name like “Zillow” or “Zappos” it could work. However, you’re not going to get any search engine optimization help. This means that you will need to spend a lot more money to market your name.
There are millions of websites out there already. Just because you have a good business idea doesn’t mean you can have the website that you want. Additionally, some businesses grab multiple website domains just to prevent others from grabbing them. Selfish? Yes. Effective? Absolutely. If you depend on the .com extension, it may limit you to some really weird emails that don’t flow well. It’s why you need to consider expanding on your ideas – and choose a .ONLINE domain extension.
Plenty of free tools are out there to give you some help. A domain generator will give you ideas when you feel as though you simply can’t come up with anything new.
You don’t want to make the names hard for people to remember. If you use a number instead of the word “to” or “four,” it can be difficult to say out loud. Further, if you change the spelling, you may inadvertently send people to your competition’s website. There’s something to be said about maintaining a strong yet simple website name.
Trends come and go. You don’t want to accidentally date your website. It’s a short-term strategy that will only pay off for a limited time. It’s best to stick with a name that will stand on its own regardless of what the “in” thing is.
What you might think is a great name might not be too great once you put it out there. Talk to some of your customers about the names that you’re considering. Particularly if you have decided to use a foreign word or a phrase, find out if it resonates with people. Just as you would use a panel to get ideas on a new product, a panel can be used to help you decide if a name is all that you want it to be.
Remember, if how to name an online business was too easy, it wouldn’t allow you to maintain a competitive edge. It’s okay to spend a bit of time on this stage because it is going to stick with you for a very long time. You don’t want to choose a name only to find that it loses its luster after a few years. Rebranding can be expensive – and it can also cause you to lose loyal followers because they get confused.
By following a few tips and exploring what’s already out there, you can have an online business name and domain name that will resonate with your target audience.