Among the
How to Be Seen Online
In the past, business naming was a somewhat straightforward affair. You could simply pick any name you liked, and when you did so, you could ask the kind folks at the phone company to list your organization under a specific business heading in your community phone book. When people wanted a service, they’d flip through those pages, find the right heading and find your business. Your name had little to do with how customers found you.
Now, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 39.4 percent of homes have only wireless phone service. Homes like this don’t get printed phone books. Instead, it’s likely that the residents of homes like this use the internet to find the businesses they’d like to interact with. They tip tap phrases into their phones and tablets and computers, just hoping to find a business like yours.
Those phrases they type are made up of keywords, and regardless of recent Google updates that downplay the importance of keywords, these little terms are the bricks upon which the whole web is built. Without them, things might never be found. Without them, your company might as well be invisible.
Putting it to Work
You could always come up with a clever little name that has no keywords at all, and use other parts of your website as a beacon for search engines. Loading up your “About Us” page or your “FAQ” page with keywords might make you somewhat visible.
But putting your target keyword smack in the middle of your company name might also be a quick and efficient way to tell your consumers what it is you do, and how you intend to do it. Your potential clients will know an awful lot about you at a glance, when a keyword drives your name.
Unfortunately, keyword-only names tend to be a little dry. Innovative names like Nike, Amazon and even Google just have a snap and pop that names like Quick Car Repairs or Cheap Insurance just don’t.
Thankfully, there is a middle way, as Jeffrey Townsend, owner of Now What Creative, demonstrates quite nicely. As he pondered the name for his Walla Walla, Wash., creative services company, he looked for words that were both current and comprehensive, he says, but he also used the opportunity to get a little witty.
“I’ve always wanted an excuse to be that cranky guy who answers the phone, ‘Now what?'” he says. “This gives me that excuse.”
But additionally, the inclusion of the word “creative” is a hook and a keyword that can allow his business to be found on a targeted internet search. It’s functional, but it’s also crafty.
Finding the right keyword for your company name is a relatively straightforward affair. In fact, you probably already know what sorts of keywords might work well in the context of your small business. Why not incorporate that name into your business plan? The rewards could be well worth the effort.
Images: ”Brand Name / Shutterstock.com“
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