Miriam Ellis is a local SEO columnist and consultant. She has been cited as one of the top five most prolific women writers in the SEO industry. Miriam is also an award-winning fine artist and her work can be seen at MiriamEllis.com.

What you name your local business will play a bigger role in its overall success than you might at first think.

If you’re in the planning stages of launching a new brick-and-mortar or service area business (SAB), you’re reading this column at just the right time – it will help you avoid common naming mistakes. Or, if you’re already marketing a business and are beginning to realize that its original name might be holding you back in Google’s local search engine results, don’t worry – I’ve got actionable steps to help you evaluate your options for improvement.

Let’s dive right in!

Pitch or mystery: Why your local business name is such a big deal

The best way to quickly grasp the considerable power of your business title is to think of these three groups:

1. Your offline community – Whether it’s pedestrians or drivers passing by your storefront for the first time, the business name on your signage can either make a pitch or a mystery out of what your company offers. 

The same applies to people seeing your service vehicles on the road. Can a neighbor who has never heard of you before understand what your business is and does just by looking at its name? Or, would they come away with a vague or vacant impression that will quickly be forgotten?

2. Your online community – When searchers or browsers come across your business name on a local business listing, in an organic search engine result, on a social media profile or discussion, or a reference to you on a third-party online publication, or any place else around the web, does your name make a pitch or mystery?

3. Search engine algorithms – Google, in particular, has an observable bias towards Google Business Profile (GBP) business names that match the phrases people type into their search engine. If the words in the business title field of the Google listing match the searcher’s query more closely, Google will often rank that business higher in their local results than its competitors whose names are missing the “magic” words. 

Local SEOs consider this a weakness in Google’s local algorithm, because what a business is called doesn’t necessarily equate with the quality of its operations, but having keywords in the GBP business name field is a significant local search ranking factor you need to know about. 

Multiple studies, like this one from Sterling Sky, have demonstrated that the name of your business can have an astonishing impact on how it ranks in Google’s local interfaces. In fact, this impact is so obvious that spammers and scammers exploit Google’s algorithm by stuffing business titles full of keywords, hoping to enjoy ranking boosts and not get caught! More on this to come.

What are the worst things that can happen if you pick a problematic business name?

The very worst thing that might happen would be being sued for copyright infringement of a major company’s branding, and I’ll address that in this column, but more typically, the worst things are having your name end up being a waste of a potential asset and regretting your choice. 

You could experience years of frustration seeing competitors outrank you in Google’s local results simply because they’ve done a better job of intent-matching their titles to popular search phrases (or because they are spamming the heck out of their listing names)! 

You could struggle with organic rankings because what’s showing up in your title tags in Google’s organic search engine results pages (SERPs) isn’t as click-worthy a name as that of a competitor. As a user behavior signal, this lack of clicks could make Google believe you aren’t as relevant an answer as your competitor who may move up in the rankings while your site stagnates or moves down. 

And, more holistically, there are the thousands or millions of lost opportunities both on and off the web in which a neighbor came across your name but it failed to convey what you do, meaning that when they need what you offer, they won’t remember that your company exists. Those little impressions can really add up to whether you’re getting plenty of leads and sales or always struggling. So often, your brand has a single moment to make a memorable impact on a potential customer, and this means that your business name is actually central to your business pitch.

Recognizing pitch vs. mystery business names, at a glance

As you’re brainstorming potential business names for a new business or a possible rebrand of an existing company, take a look at these 5 fictitious names for a wedding dress alteration business in Marin, California. Which of these make it clear to you, at first glance, what the business does, and which leave you feeling rather cloudy:

1. Weddings by Julie
2. Julie’s Dream Day Dress
3. Marin Wedding Dress Alterations
4. Alter My Wedding Dress Marin 
5. Dress of My Dreams

You’re right if you noticed that options 3 and 4 make it the most obvious what the business is and where it serves. These might not be the most beautiful names, but option 3 contains both location and service keywords, and option 4 contains some variants that might be acceptable, as well as a location keyword. Meanwhile, options 1, 2, and 5 leave the viewer guessing as to whether this is a wedding planner, a bridal shop, a clothing boutique, or some other business model. 

But before Julie, the wedding dress alterations expert, settles on an ideal business name, there is more for her (and you!) to consider.

How to avoid the most common local business naming mistakes

Before you fall in love with a business name, go through this checklist of 5 common mistakes so that you don’t have to cope with regret at a later stage in your company’s development:

1. A name that is too similar to another business‘s name

This is the most straightforward warning of the bunch: if there is already a business in your town named Bob’s BBQ Pit, do not name your business Bob’s BBQ Spot. It will result in endless confusion for your community and could even lead to litigation on the part of the original Bob. 

Before you choose any business name, search for it in Google. If you see a local, national, or international competitor whose branding is too close to your naming idea, it’s best to abandon your first idea and think of a different title. I speak from experience on this one, having once owned a US-based business in the early days of the web that regularly received useless leads intended for a similarly-named business in Ireland. It was no fun, and you should avoid this hassle.

2. A name that is too vague/generic

As with the previous example of “Weddings By Julie”, don’t leave the potential customer guessing because of your name. Julie does not have time to answer 30 phone calls a day asking if she is a wedding officiant, a wedding planner, a wedding makeup artist, or a wedding photographer. Don’t just be “Bob’s” if you’re Bob’s BBQ Joint.

Generic names fall under this heading as well. If you are opening a juice bar, don’t make the mistake of naming your business “Orange Juice” or any other common noun, because Google will almost certainly struggle to figure out that people searching for “orange juice” are searching for your business instead of a bottle of Tropicana. 

I see businesses opening with names like  “Pencil” or,  “Black Socks”, or “Can Opener” and I feel sad knowing they will quickly regret their selection as they struggle to be found amid a sea of writing implements, garments, and household tools. Unless you have a very large budget to make Can Opener synonymous with your national chain of diners, be careful of any phrase that could be confused with a different search term.

3. A name that is too specific

This warning comes in two flavors: operational and locational. In the first instance, I bet you can think of a company near you that is named “Something Specific Etc.” Not infrequently, this awkward naming convention either stems from the founder failing to hit upon a good term to encompass all the company offers, or because the business grew beyond its original scope and the “etc.” had to be tacked on to try to convey this.

I once lived near a shop called “Pins, Etc.” and never solved the mystery. Did they sell safety pins? Campaign buttons? Some kind of machinery pins? What did the “etc.” cover? Did they sell thumbtacks, sewing supplies, stationery, mechanical devices? Had they started out selling push pins and then branched out into metal brads and grommets? I’ll never know. With that concerning object lesson in mind, the question to ask yourself is this: 

Is what I am doing at the launch of my business exactly what I’ll be doing 20 years from now or is the scope of my products/services going to grow?

Don’t name yourself Bob’s Pizza Place if you think you might also become a doughnut shop within the next few years. Pick a name that will allow you to expand.

The second flavor of this proviso is to be very careful about including any kind of geographic modifier in your business name. If you are certain that your company will always remain in the same location and never move to a new building or open additional branches in other regions, then having a city name in your business title can be a great thing ranking-wise.

All too often, though, businesses that began with a name like Edmonton Carpet Cleaning run into the problem of wanting their name to reflect either a wider service radius or additional offices in other places. It adds needless struggle when you are trying to get Edmonton Carpet Cleaning to rank well for searchers in Westlock, Bonnyville, or Saskatoon. If there is a wide area to be served or the possibility of expansion in time, you are likely to be better off with a non-geo-modified brand. There’s nothing in a name like Spotless Carpet Cleaning to hold you back (unless you run back into the first scenario and want to start doing pressure washing, too!). 

4. A name that is too long

Because of the way that Google favors names that match search terms, you’d be right to wonder whether you ought to try to come up with a brand that includes as much of what you do as possible. For example, if you own a beauty salon, you might wonder if you should name it Mary’s Manicures, Pedicures, Nail Art and Foot Massages of Winnipeg. Though there is a persistent conversation about the character limits of Google Business Profile business titles, with some people saying the limit is 40-50 characters, I have never seen an authoritative source for this figure, and I have seen tons of listings with nearly-endless names. So, technically, you could have a run-on business name like this, but you can’t reasonably expect your community to remember it.

The most memorable business names are typically on the short side, or at least have a strong enough main handle so that repeat customers can remember you the next time they need to find you, provided that your branding isn’t too similar to that of another local business. Mary might be better off calling her business “Nails and Massages by Mary” and use other fields of her listing to more fully detail her whole menu of services. Hopefully, the customer will at least remember “Nails by Mary” or “Massages by Mary” the next time they want to book an appointment.

5. A name that is too weird

While the trend of picking an oddball brand name that doesn’t actually mean anything to its intended audience is still going strong, it’s important to remember that it takes a big marketing budget to make a word like “Google” famous. If you were to name your deli or your attorney firm “Google”, no one could be expected to understand what you do. I’ve noticed that restaurants seem to have a penchant for strange names, and while I’m not here to say that you can’t name your dream business something like Fuddruckers, please at least remember to have its full title be Fuddruckers Restaurant so that your audience isn’t mystified. 

On that same note, be wary of being too punny. A hair salon named Curl Up and Dye, might be deemed witty in some communities or by some potential customers, but others could find it unappealing. Run your branding idea past people in your life who will give you honest feedback before you buy your domain name or print signage.

How to pick a great local business name

Here’s a useful set of steps you can follow to find a local business name that will help, rather than hinder, you:

1. Make your best guess at whether your business model and location will remain the same or grow and change over the next few decades.

2. Jot down 4-5 of your own ideas for a name that is as explicit as possible about what you do if your business model and location will remain the same. If expansion is in your hoped-for future, be a little less explicit.
   
   An example of the former might be a restaurant called Beckett’s Burlingame Brunch Cafe. An example of the latter for the same business might be Beckett’s Cafe, because it will not tie the owner down to a location or a specific mealtime if they later open a second location or want to start serving lunch and dinner.

3. Next, make use of a free keyword research tool to see if you’ve overlooked a popular search phrase that might improve your business name.
   
   For example, if Beckett’s Cafe specializes in vegan cuisine and always will, a keyword research tool might show that more people are searching for “vegan restaurant” than “vegan cafe” and the business owner might want to consider “Beckett’s Vegan Restaurant” as an option.

4. Use a Chrome extension like GMB Everywhere to see the categories your top competitors are using on their Google Business Profiles. If there is a chance to include a primary category in your name, that can be a smart move.

5. Some business owners may like to toss a query into an AI tool like ChatGPT to see what names it comes up with. Go ahead if you’d like to, or skip if this doesn’t appeal to you.

6. With your list of names in hand, do a lookup of each to see if any other business is already using an identical name or one that is too similar. Cross off any that might be confused with another brand.

7. Now, go to a site that sells domain names with your current list and see if a domain is available that is a close match for anything on your list.
   
   Your domain name does not need to be identical to your branding (though this can be ideal). For example, Beckett’s Vegan Cafe could potentially be fine with bvegancafe.com. But be wary if no domain is available that is remotely like your branding as this will confuse customers and could confuse search engine bots.

8. Having now made use of tools, step away from your refined list and come back to it a little later. Look at it with fresh eyes and with these questions in mind:

• Is there an option here that reflects my research?
• Is there an option here that makes my business name distinctive on the local scene and memorable?
• Is the name I’m leaning towards too long or too weird, or could it limit me in the future?
• Will it be clear to my neighbors what I offer when they see this name? Is it a pitch or a mystery?
• Do my friends and family think it will be clear to my neighbors what I offer when they see this name?
• Finally, have I bent my creativity too out of shape by trying to please search engines, leading to a robotic-sounding brand of which I’m not really proud?

I bring up this final point because the SEO industry can sometimes tend to treat Google’s algorithmic foibles as the last word in all decision-making processes. You should definitely learn all you can about local SEO to make informed decisions, but there is also an artistic side to  marketing that is frequently undervalued. 

There are running memes in the local search industry about brands naming themselves things like “Cafe Near Me” in the hope that this will boost their local rankings, but if this kind of conformity irks the creative in you and you strongly feel that a more artistic name will help you stand out in your community, don’t ignore this intuition.

From a humanistic viewpoint “Cafe Near Me” may be clear, but it does nothing to inspire me or whet my appetite as a potential customer. I’d be more intrigued to eat at a place called “Beckett’s Cozy Vegan Cafe”, “Beckett’s Scrumptious Cafe”, or “Beckett’s Blackberry Patch Cafe”. In other words, you need to strike a good balance between what research tells you and what your heart tells you will help your business become a local household word.

What to do if your existing brand name has become a hindrance to your success

If you’ve been running Beckett’s Brunch Cafe for 2 years and are now going to start serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, there’s a right way and a wrong way to solve the dilemma of your name no longer representing your complete business.

The Wrong Way

No article on local business names would be complete without confronting the very real problem of GBP spam. Google’s local index is riddled with keyword-stuffed business titles along the lines of “Beckett’s Breakfast Brunch Lunch Dinner Supper Cafe Best Place to Eat in Burlingame Vegan Restaurant”.

This not only looks ridiculous to the public but is a violation of The guidelines for representing your business on Google which state:

“To help customers find your business online, accurately represent your business name. Your name should reflect your business’s real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers…Including unnecessary information in your business name isn’t permitted, and could result in the suspension of your Business Profile.”

Fortunately, there’s a better option than spamming Google.

The Right Way

Follow the requirements in your state, region, or country for getting a DBA (doing business as) to reflect your modified business. If you need to be Beckett’s Cozy Vegan Restaurant going forward, a DBA is the above-board way to make this change. Once it’s official, update:

• Storefront, street, and company vehicle signage
• The way you answer your phone and your after hours phone message
• All parts of your website (logo, links, text, images); it’s a very good idea to put something on your homepage explaining your name change, as well as on your contact page and about page
• Your local business listings/citations on the major directories (Whitespark can make this large step a lot easier with our Listings Service) 
• Your social media profiles; it’s a good idea to post across social media regarding your name change, as well as updating banners, avatars, bio, etc.
• Your Google Business Profile (update this last)

A good additional step would be to do a bit of off-site marketing about the expansion of your business. See if you can catch the interest of local reporters, bloggers, podcasters, and other influencers to help you get the word out about how your business success has led to growth. Make your DBA into a positive news story that interests neighbors.

Summing Up

If you take a thoughtful approach to researching the best possible name for your business, you can strike a balance between being creative and enjoying the ranking boost of having keywords in your name that match Google’s idea of searcher intent. If you rush through the naming process, you may end up with a brand that holds you back, but if you invest time into the process, your business name will be a core part of your marketing.

However, even a great brand name can become outdated if your business is successful enough to grow. Fortunately, DBAs can rescue you in this scenario and are a much more rational path than trying to spam your way to success. Make the time to get it right when picking a clear and catchy name for your business and you’ll make the right impression on both your community and the bots.