By Business & Finance 
By Cathy Habas, freelance writer and content marketer at SEO Service Crew
What’s in a name? Often it’s a first impression. What does your brand name say about your company? What does your domain name say about your website? And what does your blog title say about the content that can be found within?
Let’s take a look at these three different naming scenarios to see what you need to consider for each one:
Guidelines for developing a brand name
Business or company names should ideally be brandable, and that’s why we’re referring to them as a brand name. What does that mean? A brandable name is often a single word (or two) that is easy to remember, to say and to spell. It should suggest what the company provides or sells, and should have an overall positive spin.
The cardinal sins of developing a brand name are actually very simple, and yet businesses make these mistakes time and time again in hopes of being trendy or memorable:
- Do not make the brand name difficult to spell
- Do not make the brand name difficult to say
In fact, dropping letters or spelling a common word in a roundabout way is more likely to work against your brand. If no one is sure how to say the name, you can forget about it being memorable. And if no one knows how to spell it, you’ll be setting yourself up for failure in the early days when it’s crucial for your business to be easy to find with a quick Google search.
Special considerations for domain names
Contrary to popular belief, the domain name of your company doesn’t have to be the company name verbatim. You get a chance to be creative again when it comes to domain names.
It’s worth repeating again that domain names should be easy to say and to spell. Imagine you want to buy a 30-second radio ad for your company. At the end, surely you’ll want to say the name of your website so people can find you online. And in radio, every second counts!
So, how easy will it be for you to convey your business’s domain name during this hypothetical radio advertisement? Will you have to repeat it several times, or explain that the number two is numerically written, as in ‘2’, instead of being spelled two or being confused with to or too?
The cardinal sins of developing a brand name are actually very simple, and yet businesses make these mistakes time and time again in hopes of being trendy or memorable
Simplicity is key when it comes to domain names. If you need some help generating ideas, you can use a domain name generator tool, which will show you available domain names based on the keywords you input. It can be a great way to jumpstart your creativity.
You also have a chance to choose from hundreds of generic top-level domains (gTLDs), above and beyond .com. Now, you need to factor in the possibility of using a gTLD (also called a domain extension) such as .books, .music, .world, .play or an entire assortment of other choices.
Most people will automatically expect your website to end in .com. It is, after all, the most common gTLD. If you can afford it, go ahead and register the .com version of your domain name, as well as a less common gTLD that you’d like to experiment with. Have the .com version reroute to the other site, and it will catch anyone who gets a little confused along the way.
Popular types of blog titles
Blog titles are quite different from brand names, primarily due to the longer length of blog titles and an increased importance of search engine optimisation. But some things remain the same: blog titles should clearly convey the topic covered within, just like brand names should ideally make the nature of the company quite obvious.
And in a sea of many blog titles, all competing for the attention of the reader, having a snappy blog title that is eye-catching and piques the audience’s curiosity is very important.
Note that it’s important to avoid clickbait, or titles that oversell the mediocre content within
Note that it’s important to avoid clickbait, or titles that oversell the mediocre content within. These titles are tantalising and result in many clicks or visitors, but when the content does not deliver or was clearly overhyped, visitors will leave the site with a feeling of mistrust. If you care about the reputation of your brand, make sure to always provide something of value to the reader.
On that note, here are some popular types of blog titles that may make it easier for you to brainstorm some catchy ideas.
- Lists: ‘8 Delicious Fall Smoothies’
- How to: ‘How to Give a Cat a Bath’
- Questions: ‘Can You Go to College Without a Student Loan?’
These three types of titles have been noted to get the most clicks and social shares, with list headlines leading the way. Most blog headlines can be reconstructed into one of these three types.
And there you have it. For most companies, this quick guide will help solve most of your naming dilemmas.
Special thanks for Web24, hosting company based in Australia for a few inputs.
About the blogger
Cathy Habas is a freelance writer who focuses on the marketing and business development niches.
She works with clients around the globe and has helped nurture several start-ups into flourishing businesses.
Cathy is currently working as one of the top content marketers for SEO Service Crew.
