A Refresher on Naming Your Business, Product or Brand

The right name can mean the difference between success and obscurity.

I’ve written in both my books about the importance of naming your business, but in my experience, it’s still overlooked as a critical component of a business’s overall brand image. What you call your business, product or brand can quite literally make you a household name, or an also-ran.

Let’s start with a few simple rules for naming.

Rule 1: Avoid generic sounding names

This seems obvious enough – if your name is too generic, or even cliché, what are the odds prospective customers will remember it?

Most often, companies make this mistake because they want to be viewed as large, established players in their industries. So they incorporate words like Universal, Consolidated or General. (Does a word get more generic than General?) Words like this are the equivalent of elevator music, blending into the background while a more interesting brand is giving a compelling elevator pitch.

Smaller companies do it, too. Which is more likely to catch my attention – another Discount Tire Center, or Road Ready Tires?

Today’s startups and app developers have figured this out. They’re probably the best at creating memorable names for their ventures and products. Take, for example, Evernote, Snapchat, Spotify, or everyone’s favorite photo tool, Instagram. Instantly memorable, they paint a picture (even when the words are made-up or nonsensical).

Rule 2: Avoid initials or acronyms

A couple of years ago, I needed to replace a router for my computer network. A colleague suggested I go with a company called SMC Corporation. In the end, I bought a router from a company called NetGear instead. Why? Well, when the time came to conduct research, companies like NetGear and Cisco sprang to mind, while SMC left no impression.

(A quick Google search shows they’re still in business, but I had the name wrong – it’s SMC Networks. No wonder, when you consider that the name manages to violate both rules 1 and 2!)

By now the reason for this rule should be clear: Acronyms and initials communicate nothing of value or interest to the consumer. They leave no trace in the consumer’s mind.

Rule 3: Avoid names with too many words

Long names might be the least problematic of the three naming mistakes, at least if they’re somewhat memorable or descriptive. However, it still makes the customer do too much work. Whenever possible, shorten a long, rambling name into something concise and evocative.

A company with a name like Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company hardly sounds like a leader in innovation. Yet that’s exactly what this particular company wanted to relay. Which is why the company smartly shortened its name to the now-familiar 3M.

The Art of Renaming

From time to time, you might discover there’s a solid reason to rename your business, product or brand. Perhaps it violates one of the rules above. Or maybe there are specific business advantages to making the change.

Here are three such examples.

Tap into brand equity. 37Signals produced simple, user-friendly project management software. The name had cachet in tech circles, but customers often referred to the company by its most popular product: Basecamp. So this year, in order to capitalize on that brand’s popularity, the company officially changed its name to Basecamp.

Reform a negative brand image. Most of us know Philip Morris as a producer of tobacco products – an unpopular industry in today’s health-conscious culture. After being targeted in high-profile lawsuits and demonized in the press, the multinational corporation decided it needed to shed those negative associations. As a result, Philip Morris became Altria, a new name that carried no baggage and, the company hoped, would allow it to reshape its brand image with a clean slate.

Address new capabilities. CallCopy originally chose its name to reflect its core product: call-recording software. Unfortunately, when the time came to expand its capabilities, it was difficult to shake the public perception that call-recording software was all it had to offer. So CallCopy changed its name to Uptivity, which speaks to its new wider focus on “work-force optimization tools.”

Is your business, product or brand name interesting, memorable and concise? Does it distinguish you from the competition? If not, use these three rules to make a name for yourself.

How does Google’s latest search algorithms affect  your SEO strategies?

Keeping up with SEO trends is vital for any business website.

Each year, search engine giants Google and Bing roll out new algorithms (they control the answers we get to our search queries) that impact the way businesses approach search engine optimization (SEO). Sometimes the changes represent a major sea change in SEO thinking. Others are quiet rollouts that cause few waves.

Google’s recent update, called Hummingbird, is its biggest change in over a decade. Hummingbird looks more closely at the intent behind search queries—what users really want when they type in words or phrases—and less at the individual words. In part, this is a response to the increased use of mobile search, where people use spoken queries and more natural language. For its part, Bing lags behind Google on innovative changes, and commands a much smaller share of the market. But Bing is partnered with Facebook, so it shouldn’t be discounted.

So, what do these changes mean for your SEO strategies? Let’s take a look at the six areas that demand the most attention.

1. Keywords & Key Phrases

Keywords are still important. However, because of Hummingbird, expect a resurgence in the popularity of long-tail keyword phrases: groups of search terms that are more detailed than a two- or three-word query. (Think red snakeskin stilettos on sale as opposed to shoes.)

Searchers who enter longer key phrases are usually farther along in the sales process, which is a plus for you. Someone looking for “southern Italian restaurant in Mamaroneck” is more likely ready to go out for dinner, versus someone looking for “restaurants in Westchester.” However, this means it’s no longer useful to shoehorn keywords into your pages for the sake of attracting search engines. If your pages are truly valuable to your ideal customers, they’ll naturally incorporate those keyword phrases people are searching for. Use tools like AdWords and Wordtracker to see what phrases people are using and make sure your pages address those phrases.

2. Great Content

Google has never been shy about pointing out that its primary goal is to serve the user. It does that by finding the most relevant content online. Think of your content as the answer to a user’s search query—not just search engine bait—and craft content around topics and questions your key audience is interested in. More content (text, images, video, graphics)—that is useful and engaging content—consistently ranks higher on both Google and Bing. More pages also mean more entry points where search engines can find your site.

3. Inbound Links

In the past, SEO experts spent a lot of time and energy on link building: getting links to your site from other sites is one way Google judges its relevance and authority. Hummingbird doesn’t eliminate the need for link building, but over time search engines have narrowed what they consider important.

Google looks at the reputation of the referring site and the quality of the content on the other end of the link. And that’s the key. This is about quality, not just quantity. They’re looking for natural connections that make sense, not artificial link building for the sake of SEO.

4. Social Media

Both Google and Bing pay attention to social signals and use them to rank your site. (Especially Google, where its Google Plus social platform is directly connected to the rest of its products. A poor Google Plus review may have more impact than you realize.) If you haven’t already, begin to monitor your social media accounts closely. Be aware of what customers are saying so you can better manage the conversation and your reputation online.

5. Site Architecture

Your website architecture has always been a critical component of search, and that isn’t likely to change. The reason is simple: a poorly structured site results in a poor user experience, and that’s what Google wants to avoid. Make sure your website is well-organized and easy to navigate. Add an XML sitemap to make it easy to crawl. And, as with links, keywords in domain names and page URLs simply don’t matter much anymore.

6. On-Page Elements

On-page elements refer to the structure of an individual page. Like your site structure, the right page formatting creates a better experience for readers and also makes it easier for search engines to understand your content. Make sure you have descriptive title tags for your page titles, proper HTML headings (H1, H2, etc.) and image ALT text (which describes the content of an image). Pay attention to factors such as page load speed, which can be slowed by design, large images or video files.

There are hundreds of variables that go into any search engine algorithm, and we’ll never know them all. But by optimizing these six areas, your SEO strategy will be in great shape.

photo: bloomua | shutterstock

It used to be that the sole way for busy professionals to connect involved hustling at networking events – donning nametags and making forced introductions over brunch buffets and stale coffee. Anyone who’s attended these events, often hosted by local business associations, can tell you that many eat up valuable time while producing few valuable connections.

This all changed with the advent of social media. Today, it’s as likely you’ll meet a prospective partner, vendor or client for the first time through posts, likes and comments. All from the comfort of your office chair. And a vast majority of this virtual schmoozing happens on a single site: LinkedIn.

But LinkedIn is a job-seeking site, right? Not anymore. With 259 million members, LinkedIn is has evolved into an indispensable networking tool for business professionals in every industry.

LinkedIn membership is significantly higher than competing sites like Viadeo (55 million) and XING (10 million). And LinkedIn understood the value of this massive database early on. Besides its traditional job-seeking function, it’s branched out to become a central hub where professionals can trade insights, plan meetings and plant the seeds for real-world business relationships.

If you haven’t begun to leverage this powerful network already, here are four steps to get started.

Step 1: Conduct Searches & Research Profiles

On LinkedIn, there are several marketing tools to take advantage of that can help build a business. To get started, use the Advance LinkedIn Search Function and filters. A search for related industry players and prospects can quickly yield a list of people and businesses worth connecting with.

But you’ll still have to do a bit of digging. Browse through the profiles to learn more in-depth information about a company’s niche and needs, or a person’s area of focus. Follow those that most closely align with your business goals, and it could lead to invitations to connect offline.

Step 2: Join Group Discussions and the Influencer Publishing Platform

Join one of the thousands of groups to engage in discussions with business leaders and thinkers. These groups are typically arranged around a particular industry or profession, and members flock there to both dispense and soak up practical business advice. Asking thoughtful questions and or supplying helpful content in specific discussions establishes your authority while creating familiarity with new contacts.

Just recently, LinkedIn opened up its Influencers Publishing Platform to 25,000 members and will roll it out to the entire membership over the next several months. In the past, this platform only allowed a handful of influencers selected by LinkedIn to contribute blogs. Now it allows all of its members to blog on important topics to the whole network – original content that’s also added to their professional profiles. Any LinkedIn professional can share expertise with the entire LinkedIn network and develop a following across the entire site.

According to LinkedIn: “The average Influencer post drives more than 31,000 views and receives more than 250 likes and 80 comments. By any measure, this is a remarkably high level of engagement for digital content.”

Step 3: Brand Your LinkedIn Profile

Obviously, the posts and the name you make in group discussions can lead considerable traffic to your LinkedIn Profile page. So your profile should illustrate a clear brand message, as well as information on the people who run the business. Include all links to your business website here, plus a header image that mirrors your wider branding. (Note: This is strictly a professional site and content and photography should reflect this as well.)

Step 4: Track the Competition

While you’re busy making allies, don’t forget to keep an eye on your competitors. They’re active in this space, too, searching for the same valuable connections and intel. Use LinkedIn as a way to check in on them: their blog posts, their new hires, the new initiatives they’re touting and their opinions on industry trends. It’s a simple way to learn more about the people, direction and branding strategies of your competitors.

You can spend vast amounts of time researching companies and contacts on LinkedIn to better understand your industry. Use it to lob questions, build leads or get a look-see on the competition – but remember, all social media can become a time suck if you let it. Schedule this virtual networking the same way you would any other marketing activity, and follow up with real-world action and face-to-face meetings.

Maybe even a brunch buffet and a cup of coffee or two.