Selecting A Name For Your Brand

You may or may not have already chosen a name for your business or brand, but even if you have it is still useful to go through some steps making sure you don’t need to start again.

Selecting a name isn’t just about finding a catchy phrase, or memorable name.  It is also about availability, and not just domain name availability.  It’s also important to consider if the name has been taken on the important social media websites.

This begs the question of how you will find these things out.  Using a domain reseller like GoDaddy is usually a mistake for a number of reasons.  When you search for a domain on GoDaddy and don’t immediately purchase, you may find they have grabbed it within the next 24 hours and that now instead of nine or eleven dollars, that it is now around sixty.  Avoiding competition with your own vendor is a good reason not to search there.  You could use another vendor like NameCheap, but there is a better way.

Using Namechk.com is a better solution for another reason.  While it checks for domain name availability, it also searches across 97 social media websites for available usernames.  This is some pretty useful information.

If you find the domain name you purchased doesn’t have corresponding availability on social media, you may want to change your mind.  You can also check to see if a hyphenated version is more widely available as a social media username, allowing you to retain your original idea.

Creating Your Social Media Footprint

Now comes the work.  Establishing a consistent footprint across social media websites isn’t difficult, but it is repetitive and time consuming.

There are so many sites out there it’s tough to know which are important.  Your social media efforts are likely going to involve only five or six of the most important social properties like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. That doesn’t mean there is no value to the rest.

Google will be the most important source of traffic for most brands, and to them, the 97 websites that NameChk.com scans for available usernames are SEO gold.

Starting on the search page used above, when you click on each of the social media icons you will be taken to the corresponding website where you can set up a profile, selecting your business or brand name as your username. Be sure to create a complete profile using the same profile image across all sites, as well as the cover or banner image.  If there is no place to put your website URL, then simply start off the About or About Me section of the profile with it.

While you do want these profiles to be consistent, you don’t want them to be identical.  There is some benefit to changing up your wording here and there.

Getting The Most From Social Media Websites

Each of these social media properties are unique in design and function.  There are several that allow you to upload videos, like YouTube and Vimeo.  Make a list for later use of the unique content formats each uses.

Many allow you to create blog posts right on their website.  LinkedIn allows this, as well as many other formats.  They also own Slideshare.net which allows for upload and embedding of video, PowerPoint presentations, and PDF documents.

Make a spreadsheet as you create these profiles listing what functionalities each social media property offers.  Taking the time to create even quite simple videos, PowerPoints, PDFs, blog posts, etc. will make each profile that much more valuable.

Why should you care about this?  These are great sources of targeted traffic for your website, attracting prospects and growing your reputation in the marketplace.  Wait…  What?!

Establishing Your Online Reputation

The consistency with which you set up your profiles will be the beginnings of what we refer to as your voice online.  A consistent, generous, open voice will allow you to establish yourself online in your marketplace as an expert or center of influence.

It is a well know axiom in marketing that people do business with those that they know, like, and trust.  Your voice is the envoy that allows others to feel that they can know like and trust you having never met in person.

This is the end goal of all SEO and social media marketing.  To extend your online reach, and establish a rapport with your community and market.

Your voice is the expression of the brand strategy written about in other articles here on the BOMC website.  Many readers like applying these principles themselves, and some simply don’t have the time to do so.  Either way, we are happy to help in whatever role we can with your efforts.  Please fill out the form below and get a no cost/no risk consultation.