Startup Guides > 4 Ways To Come Up With A Memorable Business Name

Does your name matter? It might, in the case of your new business, if you want people to remember it. Judging from the long list of businesses a simple Google search yields when you query "naming your company," it matters a lot.

While there are several technical strategies that can be used when choosing a name for your new venture, you can just as easily flip through the business section of any newspaper to get an idea of how other entrepreneurs are doing it.

However, don't take this decision lightly. Not only is your company name a critical part of your overall identity, reflecting who you are, it will be used on all marketing collateral, PR, blogs, promotional materials, and websites.

Here are 4 easy strategies for naming your startup:


1) Use real words.

When you consider Apple, Indeed, and Amazon, they mean something but often have little immediate relation to your business. It's fun, easy and can be quite effective for generating buzz, but go too abstract and it can be confusing. It's also difficult to find a real word website URL that isn't already taken.

2) Use misspelled words.

Of course you know how to spell, but using phonetics rather than grammar may give your company a cool edge. Consider the following examples: Google, Tumblr, Digg, and Flickr. Not only does a misspelled word stand out in a crowd, but it can help you find a website URL that you don't have to pay a lot of money to own. However, using misspelled words could be confusing and is often hard to remember, which could cause difficulties for those trying to locate your business online.

3) Use two syllable, compound words.

A lot of companies haved moved in this direction. There's YouTube, BuzzFeed, Facebook, SlideShare, and more. There are seemingly limitless ways to get creative by putting two words together to represent your business. However, the compound approach can be overdone. Make sure you aren't just mashing words together for the fun of it.

4) Use initials and acronyms.

Thinking of going old school like WSJ (Wall Street Journal), IBM (International Business Machines), AOL (America Online) or TBS (Turner Broadcast System)? If a long, multiword phrase best describes your business, using an acronym can be a logical answer to help make it easier for business partners and potential clients to say and remember. However, most businesses identified by an acronym use three letters, and there are no three letter website URL's left available on the Internet. So you might have to pay a lot of money to buy one.

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