I know how it feels. You are excited about starting your online business, but don’t know what to call it. You have an idea, you have the vision, but you don’t have the right words. Don’t worry, you don’t have to go through this alone. In this article, I will brainstorm with you on how to come up with names for your business. It’s actually easier than you think.
#1 – Proprietor’s Name
This method goes all the way back to the traditional business set-up where people named their company after their own or family name. We see this a lot in the 60’s where people would call their shop as ‘The Nancy’s’ or ‘John’s Place’.
Having a name authenticates the business and gives more transparency on who the business proprietor is. However, it doesn’t suggest what the business is all about. You have to do a lot of marketing to show people what you do and if you do it well, the business name can then be very exclusive.
A few outstanding businesses that use their proprietor’s name are Oprah, Ford, and Zang Toi.
#2 – Product Name
You could add some description to the products or services that you are selling. The description could come in the form of again, the proprietor’s name, a different language, or any words that can enhance the presence of the business.
This will make the product more attractive and gives people some ideas as to what your business is all about. A few examples are Wong Fu Productions, Au Lit Linens, and The Food Network.
#3 – Product Concept
A product concept is a vision or impression you would like to portray to your customers. You can use your creativity to make it sound inviting or spark curiosity among potential customers. Some of the businesses that adopt this concept are New Zealand Natural, The Body Shop, and Victoria’s Secret.
My website TimeRichWorryFree for example uses this method. It’s a site that shares tools, ideas, and motivation to help people achieve time freedom by starting their own online business.
#4 – Branding Words
We commonly see a variety of business brands around us. They are usually short creative words that you probably can’t find in the dictionary (yet) and they can be used to label any products that you can think of.
This method can be pretty challenging because you are literary creating a new word that people have never heard of. Yet, it has to be unique enough to make your business look attractive.
Just like using a proprietor’s name, if you work hard enough on your marketing, brand names can sell on its own for a very long time. Such examples are LSTN, MOZ, and of course, our very own Google.
#5 – Intentional Words
These are your regular day to day words. In addition to having a direct representation of what your business does, it also communicates ‘intention’ with the readers, thus leading them to take action such as visiting or buying from you. Not many brick and mortar business carries such names, but you can find a lot of online businesses using it as their domain name.
This is because intentional words are also long-tail keywords that can help people discover your business on the internet. So while local businesses get local customers, intentional words can bring you tonnes of a global audience because your business can offer what they are searching for online.
Some examples of intentional words are Learn To Grow Wealth Online and Keep Calm And Travel.
To come up with good intentional words, you have to be descriptive and preferably, know how many people are searching for similar terms online. Using a keyword research tool like Jaaxy can certainly help you with this.
Break Some Rules
While there are a lot of suggestions about the do’s and don’ts of business names, I am in the opinion that it is okay to break some rules and sprinkle some creativity on your branding. Don’t stress out yourself in finding the perfect name. A business is only good if you put in the effort to building it, not naming it.
An Awesome Business Name…
It isn’t just about uniqueness. It begins with the passion and purpose that got you into this entrepreneurial journey. No one will know this better than you do. So, if you are still trying to figure things out, ask yourself these questions;
- What makes me create this online business?
- What can I offer to my readers?
- How will my business grow in 10 years’ time?
I hope these tips have helped you learn about how to come up with names for your business. If you still need any brainstorming, please get in touch with me and I am more than happy to help you out.
Do you have any thoughts or questions about finding the right business name? Just leave your comments below and I’ll get back to you.
Wow, great idea 🙂 I will try Jaaxy to find my keywords for my online business. Do you have to pay for using the tool? Is there a monthly fee or just once?
I really found your site very interesting and I will take some advice from your posts. Thanks for sharing. Very helpful.
Hi Christina,
Jaaxy is a paid keyword tool, but you are entitled to 30 free searches when you become a Starter member at Wealthy Affiliate University. If you want to subscribe, you can choose to pay monthly or yearly fees depending on what type of plan you choose.
You can find out more about this awesome tool in this review here.
I wouldn’t have thought of a business name this way. I would just have taken something that sounded good. But now thank you for your post, as I can actually choose an appropriate business name for what the business itself will be about.
Eye opener, or helpful, to say the least.
Glad it helped, Aless.
Cathy,
Very good examples of how to name your business. I started three years ago and did not have any idea what to call my business. I have incorporated two of your ideas years before I read this – Name and intentional words. I combined the two together to get my company name. I wish that I had Jaaxy Keyword Tool at that time to research it better.
I will refer to this post in future domain name research.
Hey, thanks John.
I think this is a great help to people starting out, and I wish I had seen this before I named some of my online businesses. you are right that it can be a sticking point for some people, but you’ve given some great suggestions for coming “unstuck” again.
I like you’ve pointed out the trade-off with something more abstract. It definitely will take more effort and creative marketing to get it off the ground, but in the long term can be very successful. I like the look of the Jaaxy Keyword Tool for checking the intentional phrases as well, so thanks for sharing this. I’m definitely going to use it in the future.
Hi Cathy,
Very interesting post on how to come up with a business name. I would have never thought of the various ways that people originate business names for themselves.
Thanks for adding my site’s name for your long tail/intentional category. When I originally was thinking of the name, Learn To Grow Wealth Online, I wanted to have something more geared towards making money online, but of course that was taken.
I also wanted to make my site an education site, so learning to grow wealth online fit better with my overall concept.
Great articles as well, we should do a post exchange sometime soon. Although at this point, I think I’m going to switch gears and start a therapy based site that will stem from my career as an Occupational Therapist.
Let me know if you’re interested and thanks again.
Todd
Hi Todd,
Educating readers on how to create wealth the right way is very important, especially on the internet where a lot of information can be very misleading. Without learning how to identify internet scams, people can lose a fortune with just a few clicks. I hope your site will continue to provide valuable information for those who wish to pursue in this path.
Meanwhile, seeing how modern people are constantly overwhelmed with hectic jobs, I think a therapy site can provide a lot of resources to improve our lifestyle. Considering that you have a professional background on this, I am sure you’ll be able to offer some really good information.
Hmm…I am not sure if time freedom has any suitable post for therapy, but I am more than happy to contribute if you need any help. Looking forward to your new site 🙂
Hey Cathy,
Very good and thorough article, as always!
I really never thought that choosing a business name would be hard for me. Until I started my own business, it took so much time – it was unbelievable!
Hi Pierre, it took me 3 days to come up with a domain name. I had an idea what to call it, but can’t really find one that’s available. You would be surprised how many ‘time freedom‘ related domain are out there 🙂
Hey Cathy,
I wish I had seen this post before I named my website. Now that I reflect on it I should have taken a little longer to make sure it is a name I love, but I’m going to stick with it because like you said, I believe I could build a good brand with it.
You really have some good points on naming a business and everyone that heeds to those 5 points should come away with a good business name. Although I don’t encourage anyone to take forever to choose a business website name, it does help to take some time and think it out.
Hi there Marlon,
Definitely spend some time to think about a good business name. Just don’t over analyze too many things. Creative entrepreneurs will make the business brand sell, no matter how dull it may sound 🙂
The information on this page is very enlightening. Coming up with a name for your site is vital to the audience that your are trying reach. I did not know about the actual meaning of a name for your site. I just thought it should be something catchy, but having one with meaning makes a lot more sense.
Hi Chad, a name for your site basically means a domain name and yes, if you want to start an online business, it’s better to use something meaningful and straight forward so that people remember it well on first impression. The internet is jam packed with information so you might want to keep your business name simple.
For me, I like #5 Intentional Words. Like you say, they are especially good for online businesses not only because they give an idea of what the business is about, but also for the keyword and traffic aspect. I also like to Break Some Rules, just because I can 🙂
A good thorough post Cathy, with some great tips on naming your business, great stuff.
Hi there Robert,
I personally prefer #5 for the same reason too. It’s clear with no hidden agenda, people can relate to your business without guessing and definitely an added advantage on ranking with keywords. I think all these come together to give your business a better online presence.
Hi Cathy, your site is very impressive!
You really have done a tremendous job with the wealth of info, the web layout, the ease of maneuverability and your links and advertising. Great job! I love the post with tips on naming your biz. Some very helpful info there. I’m in process of starting up another online business and it gave me some ideas, thank you!
Also I have a question, how did you go about placing your G+ page on your website page? This is first time I’ve seen that but it’s a great idea! Is it possible to do same with LI, FB pages etc?
Hi Angela,
Thank you for your kind comment. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog.
To answer your question, the G+ on the sidebar is actually called “Google+ Badge”. Sign into your Google+ account and in a different browser, search for “Google+ Badge”. It should be the first link on the page result. Click on it and it should generate a badge for you automatically.
Copy the HTML code provided and paste it on a widget text on the sidebar of your WordPress website. After refreshing your website, you should be able to see it.
Hope it helps. If you need anything else, just let me know 🙂
Hello Cathy,
This is a good site with really pertinent information regarding – what do you call your business. I, for one believe its always best to name after the product you’re selling or promoting. This way you are sure to get visitors looking for that product, to your site.
Once there, it will all depend on what you have to say about that product whether your potential customers will buy or not. This is only my personal opinion and I’m sure other people will have their own idea on what is a good name for a business.
Welcome to my blog, Robert.
Naming after the product is definitely a good idea. It’s just that it can be very generic (and competitive) as many key phrases would have been taken up by now. You just got to be a bit more creative in that aspect. Doing some proper keyword research would be helpful though. Hope you have found something useful in this article.