What's in a name (business), and how do you select one

[ateam]

I have a trouble with coming up with names, i find it very hard to come up with names for ideas, websites, companies etc, anybody have any tricks when it comes to finding a good name?

[MWpro]

This may be of help to you
[webmasterworld.com...]

The two pieces of advice that I took from that post were to think of the target audience and to think of the design first. Some people may disagree and say that you need the name to get a feel of how the design will look, but for me once I designed the page and gave it some "personality" it was much easier to think of the name.

Once you find the name you will know it... bells will go off in your head and you will slap yourself around wondering why you couldn't think of it earlier ;-)

[dmorison]

Something beginning with "A" will always see you at the top of lists.

[Chris_R]

I used to worry too much about names - I don't hink they are that important. I know this is heresy, but look at what companies are doing well on the net:

Google, Yahoo, eBay, AOL [not from a profit standpoint].

Most of them don't mean much - I know there is some history behind them.

Short is good - and if you are looking for names that are trademarkable and evoke emotion - look at the pharamcy industry - there are plenty of articles I have read about their naming conventions - even the color of the pill is studied.

Viagra
Provigil

[smh.com.au...]

[stanford.edu...]

I realize some of these are brands, but the same thing can be applied to company names as well.

[Chicago]

As I was taught and applied,

There are 3 types of names:

Descriptive: Describes your business explicitly via its name. Ex.Widget Supplies, Inc.

Associative: The name connotes, or associates itself to your business, but not explicitly. Ex.Widgetopia, Inc.

Free-Standing: The name has nothing to do with your business, often requiring stronger branding practices. Ex. Amazon

Deciding the name of your business often requires one to determine the advantages and disadvantages of these 3 types of names- relative to *your unique* business model, operating condition, and vision.

[typein]

If you dont worry about your name you either need a huge bankroll to brand whatever it is you come up with .. or you have little to no chance of success.
This is the realm of the 'Type-in' domain name .. where it comes into it's own .. example:

[webmasterworld.com...]

The money that is spent on branding soon vanishes useing PPC, Adwords, Sponsored listings, offline Advertising, ect.

Buy a type-in domain that suits your business profile .. short term .. it costs up front money .. long term .. you still retain a valuable asset at the end of the day .. and your not reliant on the fickle nature of the search engine for your business.