Comments on: What’s In a Name These Days?

By: Joel Kinzel

Joel Kinzel — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:06:42 +0000

Just wondering what people thought of a name I was thinking about with my partner.

L & J Creative Web Solutions

This is a design and hosting company which I would eventually like to include web programming (custom one-off web apps vs. standard websites).

Our domains is

landjcreative.com

What is your take?

By: Joel Kinzel

Joel Kinzel — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:06:42 +0000

By: grassrootsmarketing

grassrootsmarketing — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:50:22 +0000

Thank yor for this article, and all comments. I'm studying on SEO in marketing class, and yours information is so useful for me!

By: Martin Jelsema

Martin Jelsema — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:05:19 +0000

John: Yes, the Internet makes naming a little more complicated, particularly if you’re relying on it for leads and sells. But I must disagree with your “long tail” approach to naming a business. For any business, on-line or not, descriptive names are the most generic and therefore the least memorable and unique. It’s difficult enough to remember a three-word name in the first place, and people will assign your name to a competitor with a similar name just as often as they will assign your name to the competitor.

I suggest finding or inventing a name that evokes an “aha” reaction upon first contact for your business name. This will also translate to your web site. But if you’re looking for SEO traffic, I suggest two web sites, one with your company name (i.e. http://www.signaturestrategies.com) and one with your major keyword (i.e. http://www.businessnamingbasics.com) and link them together as I have.

Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

By: pays to live green

pays to live green — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:07:30 +0000

The name of an online business is a huge attractor to a site. It is like a first impression and can make a break a person even going to the site.

By: Jared Young

Jared Young — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:47:37 +0000

I can’t agree more about checking domain name availability before choosing a business name. However, having a name such as “Tucson Small Business Search Engine Specialist” may only be a good idea if you only plan on being a local company and don’t care about viral marketing. In my opinion, this is often small thinking for entrepreneurs who should be thinking big.

One thing your idea left out is the idea of “stickiness” in a business name. Yes, your business name should be descriptive. But it should also be easy to remember and something that people are likely to spread to their friends via viral marketing. “Tucson Small Business Search Engine Specialist” isn’t likely to be remembered or talked about much. A descriptive name with that as the tag line would be much more appropriate for most small businesses.

Best,
Jared

By: Corporate Jack

Corporate Jack — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 17:08:52 +0000

The right name is ever so important, especially when starting up. Incorporating keywords that will direct targeted traffic to your website into your trading name is key. Then the promotion of your keyword rich trading / domain name comes into play. Off line tactics like simple branded t-shirts, keyrings, lanyards, caps and other corporate and promo gift items handed out at the right events, to the right target audience will get your URL typed into web browsers, amongst other things. Both online and offline promotion should ideally be occurring.

By: R

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:57:04 +0000

Jonathan – at one time, you could have claimed land in the US for free (hundreds of years ago), but that doesn’t mean current landowners are “squatters”. Sounds like a bitter statement to stigmatize Web masters because they have cool names, and you don’t. And many have at least enough appreciation to spend a few hundred or thousand bucks on a name if it is worth it (I do). Get over it already – 1995 has come and gone, and there’s no use crying about it.