Finding a brand name for your new business or an online store can be really hard. There are billions of businesses in existence with more startups being created every day.
So chances are that the catchy business name you want is already taken.
And just when you find the perfect brand name, you may run into issues like trademarks and copyrights.
If you want to come up with the right brand name, then you have to look past the obvious and think outside the box to find something brandable and marketable.
In this guide, we will give you the best tips that will help you pick out the perfect brand name available.
How to Choose a Good Brand Name?
Before we get started, there are a few things that you should know. Your brand is more than just a name. It consists of your idea, your values, and your identity.
That brings us to the question of what makes a good brand name. There may not be a magic formula, but there are some traits that make a brand easier for people to remember. Those traits are:
- Meaningful: Your brand name should be able to communicate its essence, paint an image, and create a positive connection with your customers.
- Reachable: A brandable business name will be easy to spell and easy to say. People should be able to easily find your brand name if they search it on Google or on any other search engine.
- Unique: A good business name should be distinctive. It should stand out from your competitors.
- Future-proof: It should be able to maintain relevance with the changing trends. It should also be able to grow as the company grows.
- Appealing: Your brand should be able to communicate clearly through its visuals and designs.
These traits can help you choose a unique business name.
Always remember, a successful brand name is one that is able to resonate with your target audience.
Our free business name generator tool is built on a smart AI algorithm that can help you by pre-screening and suggesting names, and by checking domain availability. It’s great for when you want to brainstorm ideas. It can help you generate hundreds of creative business name ideas in a matter of seconds.
But it’s also essential that you vet the brand name suggestions yourself by going through the traits above and the tips we have shared in this post.
If you are ready to choose a catchy brand name for your ecommerce business, then here are some steps to help you out.
1. Develop a Solid Strategy
The first and foremost step you need to take before you pick out the perfect name for your brand is to develop a solid strategy. You need to consider what your brand name needs to accomplish. Should it help in creating an identity and generating awareness? Should it guarantee high quality? Or should it help in the promotion of the product?
Once you have done that, you need to decide on how well it will work with the existing and upcoming products.
Then you need to decide on the kind of name you want for your brand. You can choose from the following categories.
- Founder’s name (e.g., Gucci and Armani)
- Descriptive name (e.g., Facebook and Groupon)
- Fabricated name (e.g., Kodak and Verizon)
- Metaphor (e.g., Nike is the metaphor for the Greek goddess of victory)
- Acronyms (e.g., IBM is the acronym of International Business Machines)
Founder names could work will in business like real estate, but a descriptive name may work better for household products like Scrub Daddy – a brand name for cleaning tools.
Once you have decided on which category to choose, spend a little time analyzing the big brands and work out how they went about naming their brand. Once you have figured that out, you can easily use the same process to find the perfect business name for your brand.
2. Generate a List of Ideas
When you set out on the quest to find the perfect brand name for your business, you will find that many of your potential names are already taken. You will have to generate a huge list of names so that you have a chance to pick out the best one.
Plan out a brainstorming session with your peers and list down all the ideas you have in your mind. The fastest way to generate a list of ideas is by using our YouTube name generator tool. Add your name ideas in the search bar, and it will start generating ideas based on what you entered.
Add all of these ideas in a spreadsheet and screen them through the traits we have discussed above.
3. Evaluate the Brand Name Ideas
It’s now time to shortlist the brand name ideas you have listed. Make sure that the name you choose:
- Sounds good
- Isn’t mispronounced often
- Isn’t confusing
- Communicates the brand personality and most importantly
- It should have an available domain.
You can easily check the domain name availability of your brand through our business name generator tool. All you have to do is add the domain name in the search bar, and it will let you know if there are any available domains or not.
4. Acquire the Rights to Your Brand Name
After you have decided on the name that you are going to use, you need to acquire its rights. Check for available trademarks and make sure that it’s available for purchase. Once you have done that, you will be able to prevent others from using it.
Next up is to get the domain name. In this day and age, your brand won’t be complete unless you have a website. It makes it easier for your customers to reach out to you, and it also helps in increasing your web presence.
There are many online business name generators but they aren’t all helpful. When you use our brand name generator tool, you can select the right name and register the domain right away with Bluehost or Domain.com.
1. Domain.com: You can register the domain in your own name on Domain.com. As a Nameboy user, you’ll get 25% off on your purchase on Domain.com.
2. Bluehost: Sign up for a web hosting plan with Bluehost and get the domain name for free. Bluehost is a top web host company with reliable hosting services at affordable rates. You can get started for as low as $2.75 per month and you’ll even get a free SSL certificate and CDN that will make your website more secure and faster.
Get The Exclusive Bluehost DealReady to set up your website? You can set it up on platforms like WordPress, Shopify, or SquareSpace. We recommend WordPress. You can follow our guide to set it up: How to Start a Small Business Website (Step by Step).
Once you have acquired the website name, go out there and register all your social media handles like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites.
Pro tip: check out our domain name generator; it will help you find a unique brand name with your desired domain extension hassle-free.
Build a logo that is relevant and true to the core values of your brand. According to branding experts, you should never rush into finalizing logo designs for your brand. Creating a visually appealing logo is just as important as finding a catchy name for your brand.
And now, there are lots of online logo makers you can use to design a beautiful logo.
Needless to say, your logo is an important part of your brand identity. So make sure that you take your time and come up with something amazing.
Final Thoughts
We shared a few ideas that will help you in your on-going branding journey. Always remember, a great brand name should resonate with your target audience. It should be unique and easy to remember.
But most importantly, your brand name should be able to communicate the idea behind your branding.
Take the example of a great business name out there – Apple; its name has nothing to do with what the company has to offer.
And yet, whenever you hear its name, you quickly think about the quality of the products it has on display.
It’s because there was a process behind the branding of Apple. It is the same process that we have discussed in this guide.
And once you have found a brandable business name, share it with the world and make it go viral.
FAQs
1. How do I make a catchy brand name?
The best way to come up with a catchy brand name is to brainstorm, shortlist the names you like, and then test it out on others like family, friends, and potential customers to get genuine feedback.
2. How do I create an online business name?
To get register a business name online, you need to buy the domain name. You can register your domain name with a domain registrar like Bluehost or Domain.com.
3. How do I create a startup name?
You can come up with a startup name for any type of business using our Nameboy name generator tool. Simply enter a few specific keywords and the tool will combine synonyms, prefixes, suffixes, and run a smart AI-based (artificial intelligence) algorithm to come up with great company name ideas.
4. What is the best free name generator?
Nameboy is the best and smartest free name generator to come up with naming options for your startup, small business, blog, website, and more.
5. Does Nameboy have a company name generator
Nameboy’s name generator tool can be used to come up with the best business name, company name, brand name, and any other kind of name you might need.
6. Which is the best extension for branded websites?
The .com domain is the most popular extension and is preferred around the world. You can also choose from other popular TLDs (extensions) like .net, .co, .edu, or .org. See more options: What Is a Top Level Domain? (TLDs Explained + Popular Extensions)
7. Does a brand name matter in SEO?
Yes, your brand name can impact SEO in the sense that your audience should be able to easily associate the name with your brand and what it does.
We hope that this guide helped you with choosing a great new business name for your brand and website.