What is the best name for my online store? How did the biggest online stores come up with their names? Did the name of these stores influence their business growth rate?
Most probably, these, and many more, are the questions racing your brain when it’s the time to name your online store.
Just like baby names, you want it to be the best, bring out the best from your business, and represent your brand in the best way possible hence there is no chance to get it wrong.
Since it could be a once in your business lifetime chance, getting the perfect name for your online store can be overwhelming.
The answer to the biggest of all your questions is YES!
YES, your online business can be significantly impacted by your decision regarding the appropriate brand name. When opening an online store, having a catchy, memorable brand name gives you an advantage right away.
It can position you for long-term success by making it simple for potential buyers to recall both you and your product.
The basics of online store naming theory
Four distinct categories of names exist:
- Descriptive (literal) names – These names explain the brand’s activities or features. Acronyms, initials, founder names, and place names are also included in this. (Examples: Cartmax, AliExpress, etc.)
- Invented (made-up) names – There is no real significance to these names. They might originate from foreign languages or are entirely made up. (For instance, Vendira, Transacta)
- Experiential names – These names describe what it’s like to shop there. They essentially demonstrate what customers receive when they shop at your store. (Examples: Shop & Smile, Fuller Shelf)
- Evocative names – These names serve as a metaphor rather than a literal representation of the stores. Instead of representing what the store does, they stand for what it stands for. (Examples: Magnolia Market, RedFox Shop, etc.)
Here are reliable tips on how to go about choosing the most impactful name for your online store.
1. Come up with an online store name
2. Ensure your store name is future-proof (Catchy and unique)
3. Ensure your store name conveys meaning
4. Ensure your store name is available
5. Trademark your store name
How do you come up with an online store name?
1. Use online store name generators
If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, online store name generators are a terrific tool. It can be challenging to come up with ideas at times when you’re under pressure to come up with an impactful name. You can use an online business name generator to spark your imagination. The website will produce dozens of names for you to pick from after you enter the term you want the title to contain. Here are some of the best online store name generators:
a. Shopify
b. Oberlo
c. FreshBooks
d. Anadea
e. Hipster Business Names
f. Getsocio
g. Businessnamegenerator.com
h. Namesmith
i. Namelix
2. Brainstorm
Look into what is already available
You can mention the company names you prefer to see if that stimulates any of your ideas in addition to using this to understand what isn’t available. Examine your competitors and online markets.
Consider novel ideas
There are no poor ideas in brainstorming, which is one of the most crucial brainstorming laws. It’s acceptable to come up with some absurd e-commerce store names because you never know what workable concepts they may inspire. If you start broad, you’ll have more to deal with later, when narrowing your ideas.
Request assistance
The creative process of brainstorming can be carried out both alone and in collaboration with others. Perhaps you already have a group of workers you can draw upon for your next project, or you could ask friends and family to contribute their time and thoughts during an enjoyable brainstorming session.
Review and organize your thoughts
You’ll need to go back and filter through your list of ideas after you’ve generated them to identify the best candidates. Think about utilizing word banks to organize your list or classifying the items by theme. This could also help after brainstorming to generate some new thoughts.
Test your name
Use a focus group that’s typical of your target market, friends and relatives, preferably ones who weren’t involved in the brainstorming process, and a survey of nearby consumers to determine which name suggestions are most popular.
3. Consult
Finding a successful brand name requires more than simply a weekend of brainstorming. Testing creatives, interviewing prospective customers, examining competitors, and, most importantly, figuring out what makes brands valuable are all part of the process.
Having some advice from seasoned business owners who can accurately point you to the right choice you can make choosing a name for your company much simpler.
What makes a name catchy?
A name aiming to rule the market and establish ground, needs to be brief, peculiar, easily pronounced, memorable, simple to write, and as a bonus, it could also be used as a verb.
Finding the ideal name for your online store is crucial to making it stand out from the competition, both from a branding and search engine optimization perspective.
Keeping it short and straightforward is the secret to a catchy name. Also, simpler names are easier to translate between languages, which is essential for online businesses.
The benefits of having a short name include being memorable, simple to pronounce, and easily fitting in the header of your online store’s homepage.
Brands are launched every day, and while coming up with a decent name can be difficult, names that you find appealing will be liked by others as well.
Fortunately, there is lots of place for imaginative, intriguing brand names in our huge, wide globe.
To pick a memorable name for your online store follow these recommendations:
- Do not use more than 2-3 syllables per word.
- Use strong vowel sounds, such as “o,” in the name (eg: Google, Toyota)
- Keep the name brief, ideally one word or two at most.
- Use silent letters sparingly. Make as many phonetic word choices as you can. According to studies, this can also make it simpler to translate your brand name.
- Remove superfluous prefixes and suffixes like “the.”
How do I create a unique store name?
Perform market research to find the names that your direct competitors are using, then try to think of something radically distinct.
Finding a name that accurately describes your market and the kinds of goods you sell while avoiding copying the names of your competitors’ businesses is the difficult part of this. By necessity, you must “zig” when others “zag” if you want to stand out.
For instance, if you sell fitness and health-related products, your rivals may have names that contain words like “healthy,” “gym,” and “equipment.” Avoid using similar words. Think differently and be distinctive instead.
To establish a unique store, you could also pick your name or a mix of names.
Although unique names will stick out, you can still utilize more conventional titles for your store. Simply use your name, like in Townsend’s, or combine it with the product you sell, as in Kliff’s Books.
To create a store, you can also hyphenate names, but keep in mind that it should be simple for your customers to remember and search online. Use a name like Bennet-Patel, which combines your last name with that of a business partner.
You may also use your first name. Keep it simple and stick with only your name or include your industry. Use Katrina or Katrina’s Flowers as examples.
How to convey the valuable meaning of your business with your online store name?
Putting your consumers’ values into words can have a significant impact on your brand identity. These ideals are often intangible indications that your audience can relate to.
List the inherent quality indicators of your product so you can utilize them as inspiration for name suggestions.
List the values of your target client personas.
Find characteristics in the two lists above that are similar.
Put them in the name of your online store.
One of the words should be a brief description of the sector or goods you sell. The second word ought to be interesting or valuable. You may combine them to make a title that uses alliteration and is, therefore, simpler to recall.
Online store name availability
Verify that the online store name you’ve chosen can be used legally. It’s a good idea to have at least three excellent store names on hand at this point in case any of them are already taken.
You may check if your name is accessible in your country or state by performing a simple business name search online.
Additionally, it’s a good idea to confirm that the name is open for trademark registration at this time. Make sure you have permission to use the names you came up with legally. This can help you avoid a lot of future problems.
Make sure to look into your shop’s domain availability as well.
To build a website and an online store, you will need a URL address. Enter a name into a domain name search engine to see if it is accessible. If the name is accessible or if someone already has it, it will indicate that to you.
After confirming that your name is available, check Google or Bing to see if any of the names on your list appear. You won’t be able to rank highly if you select a generic name.
Additionally, it’s crucial to check the availability of names on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms you plan to use.
How to trademark your store name
To safeguard your brand, stop anyone from utilizing the name of your online store. This is crucial if you want to grow your company or consider selling it in the future.
To maintain administrative control over the name, check with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (or other local trademark offices in your country or state) to trademark it.
It is advised to make an effort to register the a.com domain name for your company, especially if you intend to market your goods to English-speaking consumers.
Why?
It’s easy; the average customer places significantly more trust in “.com” domains. This is due to the popularity of the “.com” domain. The majority of professional brands also utilize this kind of domain, which has been there since the dawn of the Internet.
Don’t worry if your desired name doesn’t have an a.com extension; you still have the choice of adopting an alternative top-level domain.
Everyone knows that.com is the gold standard, but it doesn’t mean that alternative TLDs can’t be used as there are fewer and fewer excellent.com options available.
If you have a high-quality site with a positive user experience, you should still be able to rank just as high as a.com, despite some search engine gurus’ claims to the contrary.
Additionally, choosing a cool domain is much more distinctive.
Modifiers to consider:
[YourBrand][Main Product].com (e.g., TerryTech.com)
Shop[YourBrand].com (e.g., shopfabrictoyshop.com
Get[YourProduct].com (e.g., getglammed.com)
[YourBrand]co.com (e.g., myskinco.com)
[YourBrand][Industry].com (e.g., lifeinspirithome.com)
[Verb][YourBrand].com (e.g., wearpepper.com)
[My/Your][YourBrand].com (e.g., mymadeup.com)
TLDs to consider:
.store
.shop
Based on the product you sell (.books, .gymware)
Continuation of your brand name
What are the 20 best names for an online store in 2022?
1. Ready online
2. Crafty commerce
3. Swap shop
4. Eshop spot
5. Tech shop
6. Get market
7. Excel commerce
8. Czar shop
9. Brick and cyber
10. Mouse muse
11. Online cleaner
12. Techtransaction
13. Wish bin
14. Better buys
15. Zap! Ecommerce
16. Branded kart
17. Her best side
18. Loving little loops
19. Leadcommerce
20. Craft plus
Conclusion
Finding the ideal e-commerce company name may seem like a difficult undertaking.
However, you must give your online store’s name careful consideration. Customers will learn your name this way, identify it, and talk about you; if it’s too hard to recall, you’re missing out on a ton of free word-of-mouth advertising.
On the other hand, if your online business is simple and easy to remember, your business is on the path to greatness and the sky is not the limit for your venture.
Go ahead and create an online store here.