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“Anytime you have to make excuses for your name, you're apologizing for it. And when you apologize for your name, your brand is devalued.”
So what?
For a name to be awesome, it must embody a tricky trifecta. It must (1) feel like a real word, (2) be intuitive to pronounce, and (3) be intuitive to spell.
The SMILE Acronym
- Suggestive
- Memorable
- Imagery
- Legs
- Emotional
The SCRATCH Acronym
- Spelling challenged – looks like a typo
- Copycat – resembles competitors' names
- Restrictive – limits future growth - 99¢ store
- Annoying – seems forced, frustrates customers
- Tame – feels flat, descriptive, uninspired
- Curse of knowledge – speaks only to insiders
- Hard to pronounce – confuses and distances customers
Domain Name Secrets
- Not owning the exact name match. Okay – facebook.com started as thefacebook.com
- Google eliminates the guesswork
- Settle on your brand name, then get a domain name
- Offer 30% less to make a buy offer
- Short isn't necessarily better
Domain Name Strategies
- Add a modifier – worldofXXX.com, XXXXlife.com, buy, enjoy, hello, shop...
- Use Domain Name Suggestion Tool: NameStudio.com
- Try a memorable phrase - GreenbergSmokedTurkey.com vs. GobbleGobble.com
- Make your domain name a call to action - just do it - Nike
- Consider a .net or .biz extension
Steer Clear of
- names that you have to spell out
- an obscure extension
- .org for a for-profit business
- belief domain gives you a trademark
- SLURL (slur and URL) - PenIsland.net (PenisLand.net)
Research Resources
- Urban Dictionary - urbandictionary.com
- Web Dictionary - thefreedictionary.com
- Song Titles - ranker.com
- Rhyming Dictionary - rhymeZone.com
- Phrase Thesaurus - Phrases.org.uk/phrase-thesaurus
3Brainstorming sources
- FantasyNameGenerators.com
- IdiomConnection.com
- NameBerry.com
- PowerThesaurus.com
- Synonyms.com
- VisualThesaurus.com
- Visuwords.com
- WordAssociations.net
- Wordfind.com
- WordGameDictionary.com
- https://99designs.com/blog/tips/brand-identity/
- https://creativemarket.com/blog/designing-a-brand-identity
- https://www.trademarkia.com/
