5 Elements of a Successful Business Name

Successful Business Name

Your successful business name is the first thing your customers see. Getting first impressions right ensures that your business name properly reflects your brand so that customers differentiate it from your competition. Over the years, scientists have studied how long people need to make judgments, which names win attention, and how important name familiarity is.

According to researchers, people need up to 3 seconds to make a snap judgment on meeting someone. Therefore, the same applies to how they identify and connect to your business.

In another study done on behalf of the Society of Personal and Social Psychology, researchers concluded that uncomplicated names had increased their chance of success by 33%. Finally, the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan found that the more familiar a brand name is to its targeted audience, the better the product will sell.

Getting the Best Results From Your Business Name

Despite it being a fun part of starting a new business, choosing a name for your business requires you to include these 5 elements that will help make it successful.

Copyright: TRUiC

1.      Brand Name is Memorable and Pronounceable

You need your potential customers to be able to recall your business name when they are searching online or want to tell their friends about you. The easier your business name is to pronounce, and the more memorable it is, the better its impact on the decision-making of your prospective customers. Therefore make it unique, but easy to spell.

2.      The Shorter the Name the Better

Spelling a business name and remembering it is easier when it is short. This was proved in a study that showed shorter domain names yield higher traffic, and they also showed that the moment a numeral is included, a website’s rank improves by 8.19%.

3.      Include a Visual Element

Generally, when people read or listen, mental imagery plays a vital role. Therefore, incorporating visual elements like a logo and colors into your business name helps them to memorize it, making it a fundamental tool for you. These elements are also invaluable for incorporating into your website and other promotional materials later.

4.      Specific Names with Positive Connotations

Generic names that don’t mean anything are not helpful, and the same applies to boring initials. Look for words with positive connotations to the area or product, describing your business in a way that conveys reliability, strength, and a strong visual element.

5.      Describe Your Business But Ensure to Differentiate It

The more unique a business name is, the more it will stand out on the internet. If you are starting a courier company, the name General Couriers Direct just won’t stand out at all anymore. The only time that might work is if you are the first business in that niche, but the chances are most likely that you are not. Also, imagine customers typing out “generalcouriersdirect.com” when they are looking for you online.

Look for a catchy business name that is unique, easy to remember, and will differentiate, making it easier for your potential customers to find your business. Besides brainstorming name ideas through word associations, adjective-noun combinations, mind maps, and freewriting, a business name generator is a great source of potential startup names.

TRUiC’s advanced Business Name Generator uses AI tools to help you find the best business name for your startup. Besides being free to use, the names provided are checked to ensure the .com domain is also available.

Registering Your Business Name

Whether you have used TRUiC’s Business Name Generator or manually combined all the above elements to get the perfect business name, there are still a few things you need to do to name your startup. The first is to make sure it’s available in your state and then to register it.

You also need to decide if your legal business name will be used as your brand name or if you want to also file a separate Doing Business As (DBA) name.

Before registering your business name, do a business name search in your state. This will show you if the name you choose is unique with a domain name availability. Finally, a check with the US Federal Trademark Search will ensure no other brand online is using the same business name as yours. If you apply under the same name, you’ll get a letter from the United States Patent and Trademark Office called Office action. You should carefully write the Office action response with the help of your lawyer so you can avoid any further complications.

Final Thoughts

A unique, likable, and easy-to-use business name is the first step you need to take in ensuring a successful business venture. You can name the company after yourself, but if you look at the success of companies like Apple, Google, Yahoo, Uber, and Airbnb, use the elements above to create a name that is distinctive and exceptional.