A catchy (and often times, quirky) copywriting name can be the key to brand recognition and organic traffic growth. But as with any other element of your SEO strategy, picking the right name for your business can be difficult. Here we’re going to delve into some of the most popular methods for coming up with a unique and memorable name…
Keep It Simple
If you’re new to the game, it’s highly advisable to keep things simple and to the point when choosing a copywriting name. After all, you only have so much room for branding and your name will be appearing on all of your marketing material (including spam). Keep your new copywriting name short and sweet – maybe even a single word or phrase – and you’ll find that everything from your headlines to your slugs and body copy flows much more naturally. Simple and easy to remember names are always preferable; they’ll save you countless headache moments down the line. On the other hand, simple names can sometimes be a little bland. Having a longer name gives you more room for creativity and allows you to incorporate different wordplays and alliterations that can make your name unique and memorable. As an example, take a look at our own SEO company’s copywriting name: Rocket Science SEO.
Rocket Science SEO’s name is short, easy to remember, and filled with wordplay. It’s also very different from any other SEO company out there, which gives it a nice little “brand identity” all its own. If we didn’t already have a business, we would have named ourselves “RocketiSEO” or some other wordplay variation. While we love the name Rocket Science SEO, we’ve had to shorten it simply because we already “owned” the domain (www.RocketiSEO.com) and didn’t want to wind up with any conflicts if we became busier than expected. Even now, as we’re winding down our company, we still have to use a brief version of our old name (www.RSEO.com) when we want to reference ourselves or our work.
Inspiration
When brainstorming your new copywriting name, it’s often helpful to look to the big picture rather than the details. This could mean going outside your marketing sphere and getting an idea of what kinds of names other people are using in similar industries. You can also ask other marketers for their opinions or look at name popularity studies to get some idea of how many people are using certain words and how they’re being used in name selection.
Some of the most popular copywriting names out there are:
- SEMrush: This one came about as a combination of the search engine marketing and tech stocks that were doing well at the time. (This is one of the few examples where a stock symbol forms an actual part of the name.)
- White Shark SEO: Not technically a name, but a common misspelling of the actual name (and it’s a web host!).
- Scratch Sales: A search engine optimization firm specializing in local businesses.
- Vanguard SEOMOZ: A marketing agency providing SEO, social media, and content creation services.
- Manitou Wildebeest: An SEO company that focuses on small businesses.
- Manitou Mozzarella: A marketing agency that provides search engine optimization services.
- Wondering Whale SEO: A full service digital marketing agency dedicated to helping small businesses thrive online.
All of these companies offer something a little different, which is what makes them great inspiration for coming up with a unique brand. Hopefully, these examples will help get your creative juices flowing and jumpstart the brainstorming process for you and your team.
Use A Domain Name That Means Something To You
One of the first things you should do when choosing a copywriting name is to register your domain name. This is going to be the address of your website, so you want to make sure that it’s tied to a meaningful concept or name. This is where you come up with the short name that you’ll use throughout your content strategy. As we mentioned above, short and sweet is always a good idea. In terms of keeping your content fresh and interesting, using a subdomain (like a.blogger domain) rather than your main one (like.com or.co.uk) is a perfect way to go. This will make your content look like it’s “related” to your main domain, which could potentially attract more organic traffic and lead to higher conversion rates. In addition, starting a blog or website with a.com domain is a lot easier than dealing with the redirects that come with a.blog domain. Once you have your blog set up with a professionally designed theme (like WordPress), all you have to do is populate it with content.
For example, if you’re using a.com domain, you could potentially end up with a situation where the redirects are eating into your profit margins. A Better Way To Go, a leading SEO company, states that “the vast majority of domain name redirects never reach the top…even when they have high search volume.” While this may be true, the lack of top-level domain names may make your website look less relevant to a potential customer, which could potentially be damaging to your bottom line. Having a.blog domain doesn’t have the same perks as a.com domain – you won’t have to worry about the redirects destroying your profit margins, but it still means that whoever you are, you are responsible for creating content and growing a community around it. This can be both a challenge and an opportunity depending on your experience and comfort in the role – sometimes having a clear direction and having someone to blame if things go wrong can be a good thing. If you’re looking for a one-stop shop for all your blog needs, a.blog domain may not be for you. However, if you’re looking to create a space for yourself to write about what you know and love, a.blog domain may be the perfect fit. In the end, it depends on you and what you want for your blog.
Avoid Conflicting Domain Names
Just because you have a great name doesn’t mean that someone else already owns it. Just because someone else doesn’t own it doesn’t mean that you can steal it. This is why it’s important to do some research before you start using the name of any company or product that you enjoy (or, at least, don’t hate). You don’t want to accidentally use the wrong spelling or come up with a different meaning for the word (like “sales” instead of “sell”).
This is also why you want to make sure that the name you come up with is both unique and memorable. If there’s already a company or product with the same spelling and meaning, you’re in for a world of hurt, because now you’ve got competition. You can always take a different approach and come up with your own name for the product or company – but, again, you don’t want to do this randomly or by mistake.
Pick A Nickname For Your Product Or Service
Creating a product or service that people know and understand is vital to its success in the marketplace. This is especially important when marketing a new or untested product or service. If you’re worried that your customers won’t understand what you’re referring to, you can use a nickname for your product or service. For example, instead of calling your software product “ERP Suite,” you could call it “ERP System” or “ERP Solutions.” This is much more accessible to your audience, which could potentially lead to more conversions. When you’re using a nickname for your product or service, you’re effectively “borrowing” it from the English language. While this may seem like a trivial detail, it can be the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful brand or product. If you’re wondering why this is important, it’s because your future customers may not understand what you’re referring to if you didn’t explain it to them before hand. If you did explain it, however, you risk coming off as “too much information” and appearing less professional.
To pick a successful nickname for your product or service, first determine its genre. This will help you figure out how to position it in the marketplace. If you’re picking a humorous or sarcastic nickname, make sure that your target audience understands your brand’s “joke.” The bottom line is, whatever you call your product or service, your customers need to be able to understand and associate the name with what you’re selling. In most cases, picking a distinctive and easy-to-remember nickname is the best way to go. This will greatly reduce the chances of people confusing your product or service with others in a similar niche.