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Running a Site Design Business

A site design business is going to be judged by its own web site. After all, what better advertisement for a site design company that its own web site? One of the most important elements in site design that users rarely evaluate, but that is extremely important nonetheless is the site's name.

On the surface, naming a site design web site may seem to be less important than the design of the site itself, but site naming is an art in and of itself. The most impressively designed site is useless if visitors cannot remember the site's name when they want to return to the site. A well-thought out site name is short, easy to remember, and unique.

But That's My Name!
Chances are your site design business already has a business name. Unless the business name is extremely unusual, however, there's a good chance that someone else has already registered it as a domain name. Many generic names and phrases are already registered, and therefore cannot be used. So while sitedesign.com might sound like the ideal name for a site design business, it's almost certainly registered to someone.

Naming any site properly takes some thought, but this is especially true of a site design domain, where clients will judge what the business can offer based on the web site. Here's how to come up with a site name you can live with, and that prospective clients will remember.

Brainstorm the Possibilities
The first step in creating a memorable site name is to brainstorm out the possibilities. Sit down with a dictionary, thesaurus, and a big piece of paper. Site design books with glossaries are also helpful. Write down every word you can think of that people associate with site design. Hit the thesaurus for synonyms, and jot those down too. Don't immediately discount any words; right now you're just brainstorming, which involves increasing, not decreasing, the possibilities.

Once you have a nice, long list of site design terminology, words, and phrases, go through the list carefully. Rule out any terms or words that are too technical; if the general public doesn't associate the phrase with site design, it's not a good choice. Enter the words into one of the many free online keyword analyzers. Which terms are more popular than others? The most popular terms will be hotly sought after, and likely already taken, while words with low values are unlikely to attract much attention.

Online keyword generators are also useful if you can't think of related words or phrases. A list of generated keywords also reveals how people are searching for your services, which increases your chances of developing a well-designed site name.

Another strategy that helps is to write two or three sentences describing the web site. Now condense the description into several keywords, and work with them to create the site name.

After all this work, it can be frustrating to find that all of your carefully designed site names are already registered. If this is the case, here's some ways to modify your site name into something unique.

Spelling Solutions
Sometimes deliberately misspelling a name can make it more memorable, and may make the difference between a name that is already registered and one you can use. For instance, sitedesigns.com may be already registered, but sitedesignz.com may not be.

Absolutely Appropriate Alliteration
Alliteration is a common marketing tactic; just think of the success of Coca-Cola. Alliteration is a rhetorical device where every word in a phrase begins with the same sound. Supersites.com, graphicguru.com, or wowweb.com are easy to remember due to alliteration.

Get Descriptive
If your site name is already taken, consider adding a descriptive adjective to the name. If, say, sitedesign.com is taken, consider greatsitedesign.com, supersitedesign.com, outstandingdesigns.com, or some another adjective to make your site name stand out.

Rhyming
Rhymes are often used as memory aids, and can be used to create names that stick in the user's memory. For instance, finedesign.com or rightsite.com are easy-to-remember names for a site design web site.

Prefix Your Name
Another way to modify a site name is to prefix it. Commonly used prefixes include e (for electronic), my, store, and online. You can also use suffixes, either to create real words or design new ones. Some sites use -topia, which is based on utopia (designtopia.com), while others use places as suffixes (designworld.com, designtown.com, etc).

Awful But Memorable Puns
If all else fails, there's always puns or plays on words. Puns can be a double-edged sword; for every user who thinks sightdesign.com is a cute pun, there'll be one who thinks it's an awful name. Awful or not, a site design web site with a punning name is certainly memorable.

.com or .org?
Even if a web site name is registered as a .com, or commercial, web site, the name may still be available as a .net or other domain ending. It's not a bad idea to register your name's .net and .org versions of your site name anyway, to avoid other businesses using a name similar to your own.

Hyphens, Acronyms, and Other Mistakes
There are some site naming techniques that, while common, should really be avoided. In general, the shorter your site name, the better (although too short a name may make it difficult for users to determine that your web site is about site design.). Given the choice between typing greatdesign.com and great-site-content-and-web-design.com into an address bar, users will opt for the shorter name almost every time. If your site name is longer than 12-15 characters, it needs to be shortened.

The long site name above includes another element that a good site name avoids: hyphens. People used to use hyphens to separate words in site names. Today, Internet users have become accustomed to breaking site names into words, so hyphens, or worst, underscores, are no longer necessary to separate words. Besides, hyphens make web site names more difficult to type, and longer to say.

Acronyms either make wonderful site names or completely horrible ones, depending on the acronym. Short acronyms like NASA or SPCA are easy to remember, and thus make good site names. Longer acronyms are more difficult to remember, and the user is likely to mistype a long acronym.

When All Else Fails
If you truly cannot come up with a site design web site name, or if you have your heart set on one that is already registered, it may be possible to buy that domain name from its owner. Prices for registered names vary widely; a popular name may cost a few thousand dollars, with less popular site names running at much lower prices. With a little imagination, however, site design professionals should be more than able to come up with catchy, memorable site names.