"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes." – Oscar Wilde
Branding is nothing without a name. Your business will not be known if no one identifies who you are. What makes a memorable name? What is the best way to translate your business name to a domain name? Why is a domain name important?
To answer these questions, first let us understand why names exist in the first place. Names are needed to recognize a person, place or thing. Names allow the human brain to associate combinations of characters, letters and words to something.
To make it more memorable, the existence of names has a meaning. The meaning of names usually come from the experiences of the parents of the baby they are naming or owner of the business or owner of a thing. There is a reason for everything. What is the reason for your business?
Similarly, an unforgettable business name should translate well to its domain name. The following is recommendations to create a memorable name:
- Make it short, catchy and unique.
- Make it easy to spell, pronounce and type.
- Avoid using names like other companies that are similar to your business.
- Avoid using numbers and special characters.
- Choose only dot com (.com) domains. It frustrates visitors if they type your name correctly, but because the domain extension is wrong, they get taken to a page not found.
- If you are the only one that has that name, you will be easier to remember and find.
- If your name has multiple words, sometimes it is better to separate them out using hyphens. Try not to have a long name though.
- Be creative. Combine words together and make it one.
For example, my business name is Goldlilys Media. From my previous blog post, my name was inspired by Monet’s "Water Lilies" painting. I joined Gold with lilies and made it Goldlilys. A name does not have to be grammatically correct for it to be easy to spell. Why? Did Google or Yahoo exist before Google or Yahoo? Since there is no one else in the world that owns Goldlilys, if you search for it on search engines, the results are mostly related to my business.
In fact, the spelling mistake is an experience that made it perfect because it stood out, did it not? Another reason for combining Goldlilys Media is that the only way for people to know my business is those who I have met online (someone searching for something related to my business) or in person (through networking).
What you do and who you come in contact with all relates to the people you want to do business with. Therefore, who is your business for? Better question to ask when deciding a name is who do you want to attract?
