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Chris at the NameInspector, has a good post on Web 2.0 names. It covers 10 categories that encompass nearly all Web 2.0 companies. He has some other interesting posts which you may want to check out including one on Guy Kawasaki’s blog, How to Change the World.
I am not a brand or naming guru, but when considering a name, here are a few things I take into consideration. Can you get a brandable name which is also descriptive of the company? “Angel Investment Journal” is descriptive, but is not a name I would consider to be a good brandable name, even though any name can be brandable. Companies that are focusing on building their brand, however generally try to get a name that is not too long and easy to understand, even if it is not descriptive. Amazon and Monster are the two prime examples of this and I would consider them to be great names, as would most people. The wildcard is the domain. Is it available?
One other thing comes into play when talking about a domain is that you can gain credibility by having a great, descriptive name, even if it is generic. It may be considered online branding, because you can get credibility just by having a certain domain. We found this out when we started a site that would help people find vacation properties at lakes. We were able to purchase the domain lakerentals.com for a reasonable price. Even though it may not be considered a brandable name in the offline world because it is so generic, it works very well online. It is descriptive and people would consider it more authoritative than a site like yourrentalplace.com or vacationrentals411.com (even though they are both fine sites).
A final thought on the name for your Web 2.0 company is that a descriptive domain can also help in terms of marketing, specifically search engine marketing. For example, when people link to LakeRentals.com they generally include the name of our company/domain, which is “Lake Rentals”. Those links will also help us rank for searches including “lake rentals” in them. So yourrentalplace.com and vacationrentals411.com may have an advantage over a brandable name such as going2travel.com in that respect.
Of course, you can always go with the route of naming your company like bands do. Just combine a bunch of random words such as Squirrel Nut Zippers.
on February 27th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I work for Guy Kawasaki, and I would like to thank you for your comments about Guy and his blog!
Mary-Louise
Online Assistant
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/
on March 13th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Good ideas. I think this depends on how much time and money you are going to invest in the branding of your name. Amazon and Monster have spent $$$ to build up their brand, which is why everyone knows what those sites do. If they hadn’t then those names aren’t so good.
If you aren’t willing, or it isn’t in your plan to spend lost of energy branding your name, I think a more descriptive name is better. A site that doesn’t spend energy branding, like the one you talk about, Harlem’s Heaven, makes it hard for people to know what the site does. But another site that isn’t branded, Your Rental Place, at least it is more clear what is going on with that site from the name alone.
Point being, any site name will work if you are willing to work to brand it correctly. If not, then you need a descriptive name. I love the Squirrel Nut Zippers. I’d love it if Big Band music were all the craze again someday…