My Top 10 Tips for Finding the Right Business or Product Name
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Having been the "namer" of many, many things (products, brands, courses, lead magnets, books, and even humans 😉), I can confidently say that we all spend a great deal of time getting the name right.
When something is named right, it will be more memorable, sell more and connect more with our ideal client than if it's not.
Getting it right the first time also reduces the likelihood that we’ll have to rename it again down the track.
Now, while I find the challenge and process of naming brands, businesses and products fun, I know this isn’t the case for everyone.
In this article, I share my top 10 tips to help you tackle the challenge of naming with more confidence.
Get out your thesaurus
Old school I know! But whether you use a physical copy or an online one, the thesaurus is a fundamental and highly underused tool when it comes to naming.
If you want to be more creative with a word, find alternatives to help you nail the right tone and give it a greater depth of meaning, get out your thesaurus.
Avoid naming for a location unless it’s absolutely necessary
MelbourneIT is a perfect example of a company that named themselves for location but now service the world. They’ve recently put the name under a subsidiary group – but the location-based name MelbourneIT is so familiar to people, they’ve had to hold onto it.
What happens if you service more than where you service now? What happens if you move your business location?
If you’re worried about SEO, remember that Google has become clever. Save location-based search for your website pages instead of your name.
Short is sweet
Short is memorable. Which means short is sweet.
Whichever name type you choose, the shorter you can make it, the more memorable it will be to your ideal client.
Don’t try to be too clever and let things get too wordy.
A shortlist is even sweeter
Before you get your heart set on one name, make sure you’ve got a shortlist of possible options that will work.
This is important because you should get feedback from people who matter (to make sure the name you’re choosing will resonate). And you also need to have a few choices up your sleeve in case one of them isn’t available (see the next tip!).
Make sure the name is available everywhere
If you’re creating a business name, then make sure it’s available everywhere.
Not just on the business register or company register for your state or country, but on social media platforms, as domain names and all the other places you’ll need the name to appear.
To have a truly powerful brand, you want to be consistent wherever your name appears, and not have to make slight variations across domains and socials because the domains and handles you want are already taken.
Checking for trademark is a good idea too.
For products, make sure you keep your eye on the bigger picture
It can be easy to get caught when naming products – because if the product is going to be a suite of products, you want them to be distinguishable from each other but ALSO related to each other in some way.
You need to think about the ways your products link together – getting this right could help boost sales and brand recognition.
It’s okay to get product specific – but make sure you keep your eye on the bigger picture too.
If you’re going with obscure spelling, be prepared to put in the work
Obscure spelling can seem like a good idea – but it can also cause problems when it comes to your ideal client finding you.
Adding a z in place of an s is an example I see all the time. And that’s fine – but you’ll need to work harder on your marketing to make sure your potential customers know that’s what they should type into Google to find you.
Don’t let your name die by committee
I’ve seen this happen many times and not just with brand names but with logos and branding as well.
Getting opinions is a critical part of the process in finding the right name, but make sure you dig deep to understand where the opinion is coming from and also that the person is either from your target audience or understands your target audience.
Your fifteen-year-old son, high school buddies or significant other are not good places to get aqualified opinion on your brand name (unless of course they are your target audience).
Give it the overnight test
This is my favourite piece of advice with any writing, strategy, idea or other creative endeavour.
If it still sounds good in the morning (or even stronger in the morning) then you’re probably onto a winner.
I do the overnight test with almost everything – copy that sounds tired almost always sounds better in the morning with fresh eyes.
Don’t get disheartened
It’s really easy to second guess yourself, compare your name to big brand names and lose heart that you’ll never find the right name.
But with anything that involves any shred of creativity, sometimes you need to let things sit.
Put your blinkers on a little. Run your own race. Make sure that the name you’re choosing is going to be appealing to your audience.
Things worth doing take time and effort and sometimes an expert to help you look at things from a different viewpoint.
If you’re in the process of naming something, then you’ll love this article on how to find a brilliant brand or product name in 6-steps.
