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Picking a good domain name
Why are so many Internet ventures doomed to mediocrity from the time
they register their domain name? Because many of them have the wrong idea about
what makes a good name. We're beginning to see the swing towards smarter thinking
in choosing a name for the dot-com world, but it wasn't so long ago that corporations
were snapping
up generic names like loans.com and buy.com for hefty sums.
What better way to burn through half your cash than pay through the nose for
a name that's just plain boring?
First of all, dot-com is like beach front property. There is only so much shoreline
out there. You want beach front property. People like to go to the beach.
If you get dot-net or dot-org or any of the other new top level domains, you're
relegated to the mid-West. Which is not to say you can't build something great
there, it's just a lot harder.
What makes a name work? Here's an example.
Amazon is a great name because:
- It is short. This makes it easy to remember and easy to type.
- It is a single, real, English word.
- It is almost amazing.
- It starts with an "A". Remember how in grade school, little Joey
Adams was always called first? When confronted with an unordered list, the
most common way to sort it is alphabetically. Amazon is less likely to be
placed at the bottom of any list. We are also trained to think alphabetically,
so most likely Amazon will top any list of online booksellers that we come
up with off the top of our heads, all names being equal otherwise.
- It has a "Z". "Z" is one of the ugly ducklings of the
alphabet family. It is neglected and rarely used in normal words, much like
"J", "K" and "X". It is overused in certain
circles and can be abused in names like Zaxxon (jeez, throw in two more Xs
for good measure!) which sounds cheesy by today's standards. But since the
"Z" is buried in the middle of Amazon, it lends just a touch of
the technological feel that "X" also imparts. While "X"
and "Z" grow up to be successful high-tech geeks (ugly ducklings
turn into uh, swans... eventually), "J" and "K" are born
artists who sell out and end up living in cool lofts in SOHO.
- There are strong connotations associated with it. Amazon describes a large
(you will most likely find what you're looking for) tropical (think
vacation in Fiji) rainforest (adventure, Indiana Jones style). Rainforest,
not jungle. A jungle (concrete or otherwise, is infested with predators) is
generally bad.
- It is the right blend of the familiar and the exotic, not too generic and
not a made-up word, making it most easily brand-able.
- Beautiful women rule in the Amazon. Groovy, baby, yeah!
- It is what books are made of - the Amazon rainforest being cut down to provide
the paper for those books. OK, this doesn't really count.
- Of course, now that Jeff Bezos has built up its brand identity, Amazon is
a doubly great name! OK, this doesn't count either.
Amazon is a single, short, real, English word which conjures positive images
that reinforce an intended company image.
Real quick, Yahoo is a great name partly
because:
- It is short.
- It sounds fun.
- There are fewer images associated with it, making it easily adaptable.
Even to the point of making Yahoo a verb. Do you Yahoo?
- The double "O". In my world, there is Yahoo but no Excite. CNN
but no MSNBC. Google but no Hotbot.
I love Yahoo. It's a great name. Of course, the name alone isn't able to keep
the company afloat - proper execution counts - but at least it creates a positive
association in the user's mind.
What's wrong with buy.com and loans.com?
They are easy to remember. This is a plus. But these names are so generic
that no meaning can attach to them.
How do you build up an identity with a word as utilitarian as buy?
I have to admit, this kind of naming strategy has worked on me. Once. Almost.
Looking to backup my data online, I didn't know where to start. So I typed
in www.backup.com. And lo and behold, the
answer to all my prayers! Except, was it? I thought to myself, if this company
isn't smart enough to choose a good brandable name, then will that incompetence
also be reflected in the quality of their service? Maybe.
So I search for online backup reviews on Google.
And the review I found rated Connected Online
Backup highest. Now, granted, Connected is also not a good name, arguably
worse, in fact, than Backup. But the point here is, Backup.com's naming strategy
backfired. I give Backup.com this much: at least I visited their site. At that
point, they had the chance to hook me. I went with Connected.
As I see it, the main difference between a good name and those more generic
names, other than the latter costing much more, is that while a generic
name is easy to remember, a good name is inevitably more memorable.
Before you start despairing about how almost
every word in the English language has been taken and how every
three letter combination is taken (who wants www.7-q.com anyway?),
remember there are plenty of good, short, two word combinations out there,
ripe for the picking. And these domains? Compared to the $3 million paid for
loans.com, they're practically free.
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