Three Easy Steps for Naming an Online Business

There are many ways to name a new company.

• Use the founder or inventor’s name (Hewlett-Packard)
• Describe what you do (Southwest Airlines)
• Describe an experience or image (Sprint)
• Take a word out of context (Apple)
• Make up a word (Google)

But, what should you be thinking about when deciding on a name?  The name of the business is crucial to its success.  It is what your customers will search online to find the company.  All other forms of advertising will be wasted if customers can’t find your website on Google.  One key aspect of naming that entrepreneurs often overlook is how the customers will find the business.  Most business schools will teach entrepreneurs to focus on how the name will influence the thoughts of the target market.  The only problem with this method is that they have to find the company before their perceptions can be changed.

Let’s look at how to make a good searchable business name.

Step 1:  Eliminate names that have similar abbreviations to well-known companies or organizations

What will people find online if they search my business name or an abbreviation of it?  Indigo Business Management Co. sounds like a great business name, right?  What do you find when you Google its abbreviation?  The trick for this step is to have a business name that won’t have to compete against an SEO giant when shortened.

Step 2:  Use the Google Adwords Keyword Tool to find relevant words that have high search numbers with as little competition as possible.

The goal here is to find terms that people are searching but that few companies use.  Make a list of words that are relevant to your business.  Take out the ones that violate the first step.  Then use the Keyword Tool to narrow your list to the terms that are winnable.

Step 3:  Take your filtered & strained alphabet soup and brainstorm business names

After you have finished steps 1 and 2 you can continue with conventional business naming wisdom.  Your future SEO work will be much easier.  Now, people will be able to find your company website after they see your commercial on TV.  The IBM will have to do their own advertising.