Business naming rules (inc. guide)

[debukur]

Hello warriors!

It's been a two week struggle for me since I decided add a brand new segment to my business - straggle to find a good name. Some of you might seen my "Name our site get $50" that is BTW is open. Where I asked warriors to give me a short, smooth and absolutely meaningless name. Even though I got bunch of submissions I got a lot of questions. Our SEO crowd was stunt by the fact that I'm not looking for keywords in the name. So I decided to have a conversation on that and share a great e-book (free, not a link bait).

Yes, we all know here about keywords and their importance for the ranking. But not always we make business for search engines and not always we wait for SE positioning based on keywords. There are many other ways to get traffic and people. Keywords a must for satellites and other mini-sites, but wight everything before you brand based on keywords.

Here are important rules about company website naming. I took them from e-boo by Steve Manning – Igor – cutting edge naming company based in San Francisco, CA. These people actually charge for names.

The name will always be seen in context, but it will be seen, so looks are
important.

• Distinctive – How differentiated is a given name from its competition. Being distinctive is only one element that goes into making a name memorable, but it is a required element, since if a name is not distinct from a sea of similar names it will not be memorable. It’s important, when judging distinctiveness, to always consider the name in the context of the product it will serve, and among the competition it will spar with for the consumer’s attention.

• Depth – Layer upon layer of meaning and association. Names with great depth never reveal all they have to offer all at once, but keep surprising you with new ideas.

• Energy – How vital and full of life is the name? Does it have buzz? Can it carry an ad campaign on its shoulders? Is it a force to be reckoned with? These are all aspects of a name’s energy level.

• Humanity – A measure of a name’s warmth, its "humanness," as opposed to names that are cold, clinical, unemotional. Another – though not foolproof – way to think about this category is to imagine each of the names as a nickname for one of your children.

• Positioning – How relevant the name is to the positioning of the product or company being named, the service offered, or to the industry served. Further, how many relevant messages does the name map to?

• Sound – Again, while always existing in a context of some sort or another, the name WILL be heard, in radio or television commercials, being presented at a trade show, or simply being discussed in a cocktail party conversation. Sound is twofold – not only how a name sounds, but how easily it is spoken by those who matter most: the potential customer. Word of mouth is a big part of the marketing of a company, product or service with a great name, but if people aren’t comfortable saying the name, the word won’t get out.

I found these valuable so I'm attaching the actual 26- page guide.

[beninewie]

Hi debukur,

So you're going for a brand name rather than a keyword name. That's a legitimate choice I would think. Of course it will most likely take more resources and probably more time to get that brand up and running and in the peoples thoughts. But if you can do that then sure it's great way to build your business, you just have to look at companies like Zappos to see that.

I guess the key is to associate your brand with value in your customers mind.

Cheers,
Ben

[debukur]

Originally Posted by beninewie

Hi debukur,

So you're going for a brand name rather than a keyword name. That's a legitimate choice I would think. Of course it will most likely take more resources and probably more time to get that brand up and running and in the peoples thoughts. But if you can do that then sure it's great way to build your business, you just have to look at companies like Zappos to see that.

I guess the key is to associate your brand with value in your customers mind.

Cheers,
Ben

Hi Ben,
You are correct, I'm willing to spend time and money to develop the brand. To aim keywords I would use satelites. Look even at the Warrior Forum - not exactly keyword-base name ether
Agnessa

[beninewie]

Yes the warrior forum is definitely a brand!

Hope you can do as well

Cheers,
Ben

[debukur]

Originally Posted by beninewie

Yes the warrior forum is definitely a brand!

Hope you can do as well

Cheers,
Ben

Thanks, will try to do just that. Top 1000 in Alexa, that's a nice goal . Best of luck to you too

[adamsplace]

i would agree and therefore highly recommended! and everyone must have this keywords!

[debukur]

Originally Posted by adamsplace

i would agree and therefore highly recommended! and everyone must have this keywords!

What would you agree with and what keywords are we talking about?

[debukur]

For those who are interested there is a full version of this guide. Here is a full 100+ pages version of the naming guide http://www.igorinternational.com/pro...ming-guide.pdf