It’s an age-old question, but from a branding/marketing perspective what does your business name say about your business and how does it affect your online marketing and branding? Quite often we see businesses that come up with a name that we can have a real difficult time working with in terms of their marketing and brand.

We’ve put together a bit of a list of what we believe are do’s and don’ts for a business name.

Keep it Short

A short name is really important as far as logo design is concerned. Trying to get a long business name integrated into a clean and effective logo design can be a nightmare.

A start-up business, or a rebranded business isn’t going to have the consumer buy-in of an already established brand, so the use of the business name is going to be an important element of the logo design, as well as any marketing material.

People are not going to recognise or understand that ABSA is an acronym for Acme Brakes and Shock Absorbers. Not to mention the fact that a quick Google search for ABSA returns 6.7 million results! That’s going to be a hard search term to be competitive for.

It’s a business name, not a mission statement

Continuing on from the above point, it’s worth avoiding the temptation to explain your what your business is and does by using the name alone. Balloons, Streamers, Paper Cups and Plates isn’t a very effective name for your party supply business.

Using a shorter name is a much more effective means of communicating. If you feel that you need to expand on this for whatever reason, then the use of a tagline can be beneficial. Something like Lets Party! – for all your party needs conveys your message better, is more concise and leads us to our next point….

Make it Memorable

A memorable name is key in creating brand awareness and identity. What’s the point of having the greatest brand / website / advertising in the world if no one can remember the name of your company or how to find you again?

From a search engine marketing point of view, it is really important that a search of the business’s name comes up Number one in the search results. Even if people remember nothing else, if they can remember your business name, they will be able to find you again online even if they hit the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button on Google.

Avoid Ambiguity

Looking for a business online that has a name made up of words that can be misconstrued or return a variety of results from a search engine perspective means that people are less likely to find you through a web search. The search engines use intelligent algorithms to return their results, but at the end of the day, they’re still computers and don’t think like a human being will.

For example, a company called “Boat There” not only seems confusing as to what it is that they might do, but it also returns a wide variety of search results from Boat registration in North Korea, to Boat building in England.

Wrapping it up

In summary, a short, snappy name that has a bit of pizzazz and stick-ability is going to be a winner. If you business name can be worked into an effective logo and people can remember your business name, you’ve laid a platform for successful marketing.