There is a term we used to throw around the publishing desks back in the day.  If we had a new branded product or publication we wanted to create, the first  bullet point on the ToDo list was to find out if the name it was ‘Google Safe’.     For us, ‘Google Safe’ meant the term or name or phrase or tagline was light on targeted search results in Google and was available for someone to make their own.  I use the quotes there because, unaware at the time, Google was branding its own line of services and calling them Google Safe Browsing (who knew).  The term stuck in my head since and I’m not sure what the the kids are calling it today but at least the concept is alive and well.  The CEO of a web startup that will intentionally mispell an english word as their brand to find a niche in a crowded search market, that’s a woman who enjoys the path less chosen.

Good online branding is getting difficult.  It has to be memorable, short, representative if possible, and it has to be somewhat available on Google.  I was sitting down just today thinking of a good product name when I came up with some guidelines that at least helped.

• Pick one word that speaks to your product, lets say Community, and another word that neither adds nor distracts from the first word.  CommunityOne, CommunityPrime, CommunityNow
• Prefix words like colors are easy to remember and can give your name a little separation from the pack.   Sure you could call your wireless mini networking technology ‘tooth’ but ‘Bluetooth’ is so much cooler and more unique.
• Locations make good Google Safe additions to names.   Your town, your county, your street, your state can all help you find a unique name for your business that is easy to remember and representative as well
• Numbers are popular with the online community.  37siganls, 43folders, 30helens.
• So are strange animal combinations.  RazorFrog, GlassFish, FireFox.  Entire product releases for Ubuntu are renamed with an allerating combination of Adjective and Animal name: Gutsy Gibbon, Intrepid Ibex, Hardy Heron.
• Of course, would be remise if I didn’t mention the trend Apple foisted upon us.  Take a word, slap on a lower case letter in front, surround with rounded corners.  iPod, iTouch, iMac, iGotNothing

I’m sure you can come up with better suggestions of how to pick the next great name.

Photo attributed to audreyjm529

Technorati tags: strategy, marketing, google, google safe, search engine optimization, seo, search engine marketing, sem