Choosing the Right Brand Name is the First Step to Business Longevity

Naming a business may be a daunting task, but entrepreneurs, make no mistake—your brand name can be as important as the quality of the product you make and the price at which you sell them.

A study by CrowdSpring showed that eight in ten consumers make purchases based on a brand or trade name, as it is the first thing they see about a business. A good business name gets noticed by consumers and makes it top of mind if it makes a good enough impression. While a rather quirky business name may be memorable, it may not necessarily translate into sales.

Brand names dictate the identity of a business—a well-thought out name signals to the consumer that the product or service was developed with a lot of planning and care. A good name helps with perception—it can make your product command more premium compared to brands with weird-sounding names. A brand name can also hint at a positive company culture. Consumers tend to patronize businesses that not only fulfill their needs but also reflect their own values.

GoDaddy, a leading online tools provider empowering everyday entrepreneurs and small business owners, knows the importance of a good brand name. “Having a compelling brand name can naturally translate into a good domain name that’s not only unique but easy to find and memorable,” says Tina Shieh, Marketing Director for GoDaddy Asia.

Here are some tips for creating an effective brand name for online and offline use:

Keep it Short, Simple, and Easy to Remember. If your customers can’t remember your name, can’t spell it, or properly pronounce it for others, they won’t be able to help promote your business. Remember, word-of-mouth is often still the most successful and credible form of advertising. “Having a short brand name doesn’t mean a lack of creativity; rather, it shows that the essence of the brand can be condensed with a few letters,” says Shieh.

Test the Name. Once you’ve selected a few possible name choices, share them with a few trusted friends, family, and customers to get feedback. If you have budget to spare, assemble a focus group to get unbiased opinion. Be open to changing the brand name depending on the feedback you get.

Be Wary of Trends. Names that contain words like “dab” or “Xtreme” may be popular today, but such names may limit the business to a specific clientele. “Relatability is important in choosing the name for the business, but you have to consider how relatable the name is over time and across different demographics as you grow,” says Shieh.

Plan for the Future. Think big for your brand and what it can accomplish in the future. For instance, don’t name your business as a flower shop if it could grow to a floral enterprise. Some people use their city, state or region as part of their brand name, but think about the wisdom of using the name when you expand your business to other places in the future. A great example is U.S. multi-national company—Minnesota Manufacturing and Mining—when the company grew beyond the state and the industry, it changed its name to 3M.

Claim your Brand Name Online. When you have settled on a brand name, try to acquire other possible iterations of its domain, whether .com, .ph, or .net. This way, you protect not only the name, but also your brand identity and reputation. It only takes a single visit to the wrong website for a consumer to diminish their regard for your brand.

Support your Brand with Credible Content. A brand that has informative and credible content will be able to relay its messaging more effectively. “Such content can help build the brand’s reputation, allowing customers to identify with the brand and reward them with their business,” says Shieh.

Strong brand names can create a sense of reliability and a greater desire for purchase among its customers. As the company empowering everyday entrepreneurs around the world, GoDaddy has turned searching for domain name into a science with its easy-to-use domain name search tool for mobile and desktop users, as well as other options for choosing and registering the right domain name for your venture.

“GoDaddy provides the right tools and solutions that are easy-to-use and affordable, as well as providing helpful guidance from purchasing domain names to building websites and managing an online presence,” says Shieh.