One of the trickiest things to do when you are setting up an eCommerce store is to pick a memorable online store name. And while it might seem like a little thing, a domain name has a huge effect on spreading brand awareness.
A domain name could literally make or break your business. So, you need to pick an eCommerce store name that is brandable, short, and adds value to your brand aesthetics.
I won’t go into listing hundreds of online shop names, but I have some solid tips that you can use to choose an online store name that is remarkable.
Seven of the Powerful Tips to Find Online Store Names
1. Use a Powerful Business Name Generator
One of the best ways to find online store names is to look for some suggestions. In most cases, chances are that you already have a name for your store or at least the niche you are going to sell in.
If either of these are true, you can use a business name generator. All you have to do is type in a keyword for your eCommerce business and a list of possible names will appear.
A good option for getting great business name recommendations is the Wix business name generator tool. Unlike regular domain name generators that show random combinations, the Wix generator is tailored specifically towards unique and brandable store names. You can even check the name availability and start creating your store logo right away.
2. Keep it short and trustworthy
As a rule of thumb, longer domain names are less remarkable and get less SEO benefits. Most SEO experts recommend online store names to be limited to 2 to 3 words.
And while a shorter name is preferred, don’t mess with your TLD (top level domain; .net is the TLD for my blog) just to get a short name. For instance, if your store name is Wearable Hub, but it is only available as wearablehub.biz, then I recommend you choose Thewearablehub.com instead. The best top level domains are .com, .net, .org, or .store. Other TLDs look less trustworthy.
3. Get inspiration from existing stores
If you are starting an online store, there’s no better place to find a fantastic online store name than the names of existing stores in your niche.
Chances are someone somewhere already tried selling similar products that you are thinking to sell. To find the best online store names, head over to Google shopping and search for the products you’d want to sell. Let’s say I want to sell BBQ grills. I will enter the product BBQ grills in the Google shopping search bar to see what comes up.
As you can see, there are quite a few sellers in this particular niche. Some of them even dropship their products. Names like BBQGuys and BBQGrills are great and brandable, and you can use them for inspiration and name your online store something like the TheBBQHub.
Alternatively, use this exact Google search operator: “Online store selling barbecue”
You will need to check that the domain is available and that no other eCommerce store is already selling products under that brand name.
4. Use low-competition keywords for your brand
Another thing you might wanna do if your business plan is to rely on organic traffic is keyword research. You will have to find keywords that are less competitive in comparison to your current keyword. This doesn’t mean that you change the literal meaning of your brand.
Simply look for a brand name that is more likely to rank. For instance, if you are planning to start a clothing store, a good name would be Clothing Shop. But, you’ll want to check the competition.
Enter your online store name on a tool like KwFinder and look for the suggestions.
As you can see, in this case, Fashion Shop is a better name than Clothing Shop. It has a high search rate, low competition, and you are more likely to receive organic traffic for this keyword in little to no time.
5. Find a name that reflects your niche
While this goes without saying, it is important for any eCommerce store to have a name that reflects their store name. This is especially important for niche stores. You need to make sure that a user immediately knows what you’re selling just by reading the name of your online store.
Unless you want to have a store for selling multiple product categories, you should have a name that showcases intent. That said, if you find a brandable name like Home Depot which only gives a broad overview and has more room for scaling your product niches, you can go ahead with that name. The goal is to find a name that is optimized for both customers and search engines.
6. Check out online marketplaces like Flippa
You can browse through online marketplaces where successful eCommerce stores are sold. This will help you get an idea for the brand names that have succeeded, and you can tailor your online shop name accordingly.
7. Don’t forget geo-targeting
The last thing I’d like to suggest for selecting an online store name is to optimize your store for regions where you are planning to sell your products. Geo-targeting is a practice of delivering optimized experience to your customers based on their location.
A part of geo-targeting is choosing a localized domain name. Choose a brand name that connects with the local audience. If that’s not possible, at least add the local TLD at the end. For instance, T-Pop, a print on demand service from Europe, has .eu as the TLD. You will also notice that customers from outside Europe are redirected to the English version of their page.
How to choose the best online store name?
If you follow at least three of the above tips, chances are that you will find a perfect online store name in little to no time. To break it all down into quick pointers, here’s what to do:
- Find a short, brandable domain name
- Use a business name generator for suggestions
- Check out existing eCommerce stores
- Try to add keywords in your online store name
This will probably land you a great business name. But if you don’t find one, feel free to reach out to me via the About & Contact page.
