Business naming

<p>I have recently decided to re-name my company. I have had it for almost a year and recently found several other companies with the same and similar names. I know the best bet to insure an original name is to use my own. My last name is difficult for some people to say/spell and my first and last name dont really go well together, is this something I should consider when naming my business or does this matter?</p>

<p>It sounds like using your own name might be more memorable than something else. In a business like photography, you want to be memorable and it is said that it takes 5 contacts before someone does remember a name. In your case, if the name is difficult, it will stick with people--even if they don't have it right at first as they try to get it right/figure it out. You might actually find quicker name recognition because the name gets more attention initially than a more common--and forgettable name.</p>

<p>Thanks! That makes so much sense I have never thoguht of it that way!</p>

<p>I have great difficulty remembering common names. However, I have an easier time remembering non-standard names. With Google search and the internet, remembering the spelling is not essential.</p>

<p>While I agree with the previous posters, I would point out that IF your name, however difficult, may sound like someone else's who's more likely to come higher up on a Google search, then you may have a problem. Plus, don't forget that - generally - a more complex-to-spell name might make spreading through word of mouth just that little bit more difficult.</p>

<p>However, you could see if you could also register a more easy-to-remember web address which may be a play with your name, initials or whatever...</p>

<p>I googled my name in various spellings (the was people mistakenly spell it sometimes) and the correct spelling and the only things that came up were the photo contests that I have entered in the past. My last name isnt impossible, its spanish and not a common spanish last name but it sounds exactly how its spelled. Like you said, I was thinking of using my intials in the website instead of my full name.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for the response they have been very helpful!</p>

<p>I recently renamed my own business, so this issue is still fresh in my mind. I started out with my name, "Ben Hollingsworth Photography." I changed it for a couple reasons. First, it's long, which causes problems when arranging business cards & the like. Second, there's a young, heartthrob, Hollywood actor with my name. When googling for "Ben Hollingsworth photo" (no quotes), there are 1.4M hits, and while my site ranked fairly high, it got lost amid all the fan sites. I thought about using my initials, but some fly-by-night place already took BHPhoto.com. :-) Seriously, when I looked at options using initials, I found that there were countless other photographers using those initials. I wanted something a bit more unique so that people could just type my business name into the address bar and be guaranteed of getting the correct web site.<br>

<br /> In my opinion, having a name that is easy to pronounce and type nearly correctly the first time is important if you're going to rely on word of mouth to get your business going. I ended up abandoning my own name entirely and went with a business name made from a few simple words: Prairie Rim Images (a home we just bought is on Prairie Rim Rd). I still make sure that my own name appears on many of my web pages so that a google search will be able to find me.<br>

<br /> You haven't told us what your name is, but if it really is unique and is fairly easy to spell phonetically, then that may well be a good one to stick with. If your first name doesn't match it, then drop it from the business name. If your name is a little unusual, it will stick with people and be easy to remember. If it's very unusual, that might go too far in the other direction and discourage people from even trying to remember it. I agree with Marios that you should find a web address that is very easy to spell and short to type, preferably by using initials or an obvious abbreviation of your company name.<br>

<br /> One more word of caution: when you rename your site, be sure to keep the old web address active for quite a while (at least a year) with a 301 redirect to your new address. Also, be sure that somewhere on your new address (perhaps your "about me" page) you have your old company name so that your new site will still show up in google searches for your old business name. You don't want to lose any name recognition that you've already earned in the past year.</p>

<p>How about use your name as the company name?</p>