5 tips to engineering an awesome business name

Long before the creation of a logo, any branding, a website or social media pages a business needs to start with a good solid name. The process of creating an identity for your business can be demanding on a soon-to-be business owner as they need to take their long term future into consideration. Should they stick with their own name to appear as a ‘sole trader’ or instead go searching for a quirky identity, such as ‘Argon’, and have a greater potential to expand with employees?

One of the first things we are recognised for is our name ‘Argon’ Design. It’s short, sweet, snappy, memorable and has an interesting and relevant story dating back to the formation of the business.

Here are our 5 tips on developing your own business name.

Start with a thought-bubbling session.

Source inspiration from around you and write it down. This could be in the form of your profession, the fact you always wear green shirts, the shape of the building you work from or your favourite season. It might seem ridiculous in the beginning but these initial stepping stones will help you formulate a name.

The ‘Argon’ business name was developed from the Greek story of ‘Jason and the Argonauts’. Our Studio Director Jason Lehman, who has Greek heritage, has since stuck with the name since the foundation of the business back in 2006.

Time to dig deeper.

Once you have collected this assortment of random words, it’s time to find their definitions, synonyms and any relatable imagery. Quite often you will discover links forming between the words, the business and yourself.

Google is a big player.

The biggest search engine in the world is an amazing tool for finding out what else there is in the world. The end goal, for every successful business, is the ability to be found on World Wide Web. So what if your name has already been taken or, even worse, is associated with something disconcerting. Make sure you check!

A prime example of search engine ‘name’ optimisation is the Scottish electronic band Chvrches (pronounced Churches). They were tired of competing with religious Google search discoveries, so instead of changing their name completely, they swapped out the ‘u’ for a ‘v’.

Keep it short and sweet.

A short business name is much easier for potential clients to remember. If the ‘type of business’ needs to be tacked on the end make sure it is only a ‘secondary’ function and that the ‘primary’ name can be used effectively in isolation eg. ‘Argon’ doesn’t need to be referenced as ‘Argon Design’.

Receive Feedback.

After a list of potential names has been developed ask for first impressions, suggestions or feedback from people who might fall in your target audience. This part of the process will help you narrow the list down to the final gems making it easier to settle on a name.

Once you’ve picked a winner be sure to register your business name and start the hunt for available domain names.