How Business Owners can Create More Unique Names for their Companies

A name and logo are often the first things we notice when experiencing a new company. Here it is all about first impressions, which we all know are very important. Choosing a name for your new company can be difficult and finding a good one is even harder. But if you approach the process in the right way, you'll end up with an appropriate — and memorable — company name that will serve your business well. Here's what you need to do.

Why Business Names Are Important

First of all, let's look at why the name of your company is so important. We already mentioned that this Is the first thing a new potential client sees, but there is also more to it than that. The name you choose should represent your company and stand out from the crowd. In today's world, you only have about a second and a half to capture people's attention, which is why your name and logo should stand out and be memorable. Furthermore, you cannot choose a company name that's already in use, and it is important that the name you choose works in all languages where your company will operate.

That said, there are some steps that will lead you to a name that meets all of those conditions. Here's what they are.

Begin Your Efforts with Research

Before deciding on a name, and perhaps before even starting to brainstorm, you must do your research. This includes talking to potential consumers, looking at what your competitors are doing, knowing the psychology that goes behind choosing a brand, and so on. The idea is to collect as much information as you can before you start to search for a name. Doing so will provide you with the context and data you need to make a smart choice.

But that's not where your research efforts should end. You'll need to do some additional research once you've settled on a handful of potential business names. But we'll get to that a little later on in this article.

Use Keyword-driven Business Name Generators

A great way to find a company name and to get inspiration is by using a business name generator like BusinessNameGenerator.com. Here you can use the data you've collected in the previous step to create a keyword list that will inform your naming options. And the aforementioned site will even provide name suggestions based on keywords you enter.

You can add keywords that you'd like to appear in the name suggestions, as well as any keywords related to the industry you're operating in. The site will generate unique names that both include and exclude the keywords. Critically, it will also produce names that are not already taken so that you can use them with confidence and also purchase the online domain needed for a website.

Conduct a Brainstorming Session

There are many ways to brainstorm. And after using the business name generator, you might need to brainstorm further to choose from your options. Many are familiar with the standard ways of brainstorming, such as writing things down on a board and paper, but your brainstorming session does not necessarily have to look like this.

You can also try reverse brainstorming, where you write down some names that you don't want to name your company. This might help you to isolate some of your choices that might bear too close a resemblance to names you've already decided against. It's a great way to narrow down a long list of naming options.

You can also do elimination rounds and get suggestions from more people on your team. However you choose to do it, the object is to settle on one or more names that most closely fit the selection criteria you identified in your research phase. If you've done your due diligence, there's a good chance that one of the names on your shortlist will be the one that you end up choosing.

Perform Market Testing

After finding a list of potential names, you'll want to go out to people and present it to them and get their feedback. The reason is that it's important to get as many perspectives on your potential choices as you can before you commit to any one of your options. Here you might realize that some people have other connotations to some of the names and that they might not work as well as you thought.

If you're having trouble lining up a large enough group to get meaningful feedback, you can opt to use a survey service instead. Some companies offer brand name testing services that are designed specifically for this task. The advantage they offer — besides ease of use — is that they'll allow you to reach a much wider testing audience than you'd ever be able to on your own. And when it comes to choosing the perfect business name, the more feedback you get the better the chances that you'll pick a winner.

Closing Considerations

Once you've narrowed down your name choices to a single option, there's just one more thing you'll need to do. You'll need to commission some sample logos to see if the name you've picked will yield enough graphical options to be viable. After all, your logo is almost as important as your name, and if you have a great name that doesn't translate well into a memorable logo, its market impact won't be as great as you'd like it to be.

If you're unable to come up with a viable logo based on the name you've chosen, you can always work backward through the steps above to identify second and third-choice names. What you're looking for is a name and logo combination that works well together. And once you've found that, your search will be over. Then, all that's left to do is to start your business and turn it into the success you know it can be!