Many companies consider the process of naming their product or company in one of two ways: a minor exercise that can be done quickly or a major effort that is frustrating and costly. In reality, naming does take some effort and can be frustrating, but it does not have to be costly. And, once you have a name that you like, you can exploit it in your branding activity, making it one of your most valuable assets.

Naming is an important piece of your brand and critical to its success. Not getting it right the first time can cost your company a lot of money and effort later if you have to change the name because it is not appropriate or in violation of someone else’s trademark. Plus, you probably wasted a lot of effort and time branding and building awareness around the original name. Now that entire effort is for naught.

If you are not certain that you really like your name, or you don’t think it will work for your product or company, get help from an objective third party. Assemble a group of business colleagues or friends for a naming party. Have a thesaurus, dictionary, and access to WHOIS for domain name searching handy. Set the ground rules of what image you want to project or other criteria for the name you want to try to achieve, then brainstorm for a couple of hours, keeping the following in mind:

• Stay away from names that combine terms that are overused such that it makes it hard to differentiate you. Also, try not to use terms that limit your name’s longevity. Some names can really date your company or product. Any name ending in “Link” is early 90s. Cyber, net, or .com is the mid- to late 90s.
• For a company name, try not to pick a name that limits your ability to expand in the future. But on the other hand, try not to pick a name that is so generic that you cannot be easily found. For example, go to Google and search for “Computer Services, Inc.”. Stop when you get tired of paging through the list.
• Combine real words in a way that is catchy and can be easily branded. If descriptive as well, you’ve hit the jackpot. Besides making the name memorable, the combined words may make it easier to trademark and get the domain name. “FogDog® Sports” is good, but Turtlewax® is better.
• Make sure the name is easy to pronounce, pleasing to the ear and memorable. Also, make sure the name you choose is not offensive to any culture, or translates into a negative word or slang in another language.
• Keep the name as simple as possible – one-word names are the best, two word names are fine. Three short words if you must. Keep the syllables to a minimum. Use the technique described above to arrive at a memorable name.

Coming up with an appropriate name and getting the domain name to match is a challenge, but with some thought, brainstorming, and creative thinking, you can create a short, catchy name and a domain name that works and can be trademarked. Getting it right from the beginning makes building awareness and brand recognition more effective. Don’t get discouraged. You will arrive at a name that can become a great brand.

This tip is just the beginning of our coverage of naming. Stay tuned for more.