Having the right ecommerce name sets you up for success. Here are tips in naming your shop!
The right name can be a brand’s most valuable asset.
Marty Neuman
You don’t want your new store to blend in with the crowd – and you certainly want it to be found when someone does an online search. So it’s important to give your store a memorable name that both brands it and stands out in a search engine.
- Keep it Short and Simple
Finding the best name for your business is difficult, but luckily there’s many options. With brands launching every day, many with great names that might appeal to you, it’s a given that someone else will find it equally appealing. But fortunately, there’s this thing called the internet and there are plenty of appealing names left out there.
- Be Unique
By taking the time to select a memorable name, you will be able to stand out from your competitors. By extension, should someone googling your store want what you’re selling and see two possibilities–even if they’re similar–they may pick yours at random because of a clever Google Adsense keyword every which way.
If you’re selling electronics and technology products, new competition will come with similar competitor names.
- Consider Online Presence
Choosing a name for your store, before registering the domain and website content, is essential. As .com is the most linked TLD, it might be difficult to find an available name.
Hiring a custom domain name is worth it to boost your online reputation and create the best first impression for your brand. However, there are many tradeoffs such as making an unwise decision, costing too much money, or simply needing time to be considered wisely.
Use all platforms to your advantage by searching for potential listings, in addition to creating your own. Even if you’re not on the bandwagon for these new platforms, make sure you check the availability of your business name to avoid confusing the customer.
- Be Creative with Your Domain Name
Recovering a .com domain name that is already in use is almost impossible, unless it expires and the owner fails to renew it. People should turn to other TLDs, such as .io or .me, when their coveted domain names are not available.
Early on, Shopify transactional seller Tattly decided to start with a .ly domain and now owns tattly.com which is currently where their store resides.
A domain ending in .com is a way to get high rankings on Google. Quality user experience is important for ranking well in search engine results. Unique domains are far more preferable than common ones ending in .com.
- Be Original
When starting a business, make sure it is legally allowed to use the store name. To determine whether you’re barred from trademarking your store’s name, go to the US Patent and Trademark Office and search their free database.
US trademark law lacks a centralized register, which lead to another problem: registering too many trademarks in a region due to the confusion. In Canada, registrations can be found more easily by searching on the Canadian Intellectual Property Office website.
Could you potentially make it to the top of the first page? Choosing a generic name will give you a tough time ranking.
It’s also important to check Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites you’ll want to use for name availability.
- Find an Inspiration
Giving yourself themes to think about can enrich your shop name with deep meaning. To come up with plenty of ideas, you could consider languages other than English.
