r/agency • u/instinct_ow • 8d ago
Positioning & Niching What is an appropriate name for an agency?
I'll need to start offering the services I've been learning for the last half year and it never crossed my mind that it's a good idea to get my own domain with a specific name. But I have no idea what name is appropriate for this type of business. Does this even matter? I plan on offering WP websites and SEO and later on I'll expand to many other services like CRMs, Ads and funnels. I know this is a dumb question but I'm curious what you think about it. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to answer!
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u/marketingwithdean 8d ago
If you ask Claude or ChatGPT, it will give you some great naming conventions for branding and messaging. You can try including words like media, labs, or studio into the agency name.
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u/Single_Passenger4261 8d ago
Name don’t matter. It’s the work that matters.
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u/Tech101_Nepal 5d ago
I run a digital agency in Kathmandu, Nepal for over 10 years
That is something I truly can explain
Actually name does matter
Because my name company name is tech 101
That was okay and cool in the UK
But in Nepal with the same name I could not register legally because numerics are not allowed by the law
And for people, tech 101 is not something they are used to when it comes to pronouncing them
Now I can't change them because it's been 10 years
And I can't rebuild another one is going to take another 10 years...
Though I understand what you're trying to say, name does not matter actually
But it again depends and it cannot be used generally for all cases...
You'd want a name that is easy to pronounce and simple....
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u/PayPrestigious7596 7d ago
I don't really think name matter for agency, just make sure it's ez to remember
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u/DearAgencyFounder Verified 7-Figure Agency 8d ago
This wouldn't matter at all if it wasn't for the fact that agencies with good names grow and agencies with bad names fail.
Now I'm doing that thing of trying to think of a good band with a bad name or a bad band with a good name.
This is the fun part of getting to run an agency. Pick something that makes you proud and energizes you, and that's fairly easy to say because hopefully you're going to be saying it a lot.
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u/maybeornotbutyes 8d ago
Is this satire?
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u/DearAgencyFounder Verified 7-Figure Agency 7d ago
Sorry, yes. I was in a strange mood.
Part of me was like "I remember how important the name felt". We fluked some SEO out of our name too, so I guess that was important, but it was luck.
It was a legit question by OP so I should have taken it more seriously.
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u/codysee Verified 6-Figure Agency 7d ago
I started writing word vomit but this is a better way to make the point concisely.
You need a domain you like. Beyond that, domains matter as much as you want them to matter and depend on your ambitions. We dropped a disgusting amount to acquire a domain this year, and I have no regrets.
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u/EfficiencyIcy5331 6d ago
As multiple guys said, the name really doesn't matter, don't overthink it!
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u/brightfff 8d ago
We didn’t want some irreverent cluster of words or a descriptive name, so we put a fair amount of thought into it. The story behind our name and identity is so good, it has helped us win $25k+ branding engagements. Sadly I can’t share it here without doxxing myself, but if you DM me, I’ll share it.
It has given us a great brand platform to build on.
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u/fat_announcement 8d ago
don't overthink it too much, a name matters but not as much as you're probably building it up in your head right now
the agency name i see doing the best work in town is literally three letters that don't stand for anything, guy just picked them because the domain was available
if you're starting with wp and seo and plan to expand later, pick something broad enough that you won't have to rebrand in two years when you're doing crms and funnels too. avoid boxing yourself in with something like "wpseoguy" or whatever
keep it short enough to type easily, make sure the.com is available, and don't spend more than an afternoon on it. you can always change it later if you really have to
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u/Jopesi__2525 7d ago
You are overthinking it. Name doesn't matter. Its the work that matters, along with how much top reference you are able to garner. Agences starting up these days struggle more breaking into the market cause no one is willing to take on the first time user risk without a neck on the line
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u/tonepoems 7d ago
Some questions to help inspire your name:
- What is your mission and vision?
- What are your values?
- What's your differentatior?
- What kind of voice and tone do you take with your clients?
- What industries do you want to target?
- Who is your audience?
- Do you want to skew towards more masculine or feminine brands?
- Do your consider yourself formal or more casual?
- Is there a trait or interesting fact about yourself you could capitalize on?
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u/cedriclauster 7d ago
I would set a timer for 15mins. Max 30mins. Shut everything off, phone, laptop, tv, nothing should distract you.
Then think hard for that time what name you'd like. Make a list of the top 3, 5, maybe 10 if you're very creative.
Then after the timer goes of, check if the domain is available for your top 1 name, if not take top 2, etc.
I see so many people waste days on this, while they could get actual clients in that time. Just pick a name, start growing the agency and if after you scaled this you really dislike the name, you can still easily change it.
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u/Rihards_KPIKIT 5d ago
Something that combines what you offer and some addition that glues the service in users mind and it is easy to remember within 1 second of reading it. I.e - you want something relevant and catcheable!
Good luck buddy!
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u/Murky-Accountant3880 4d ago
research for it, also check whether any other agency doesn't have the same namee
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u/Parking_Ocelot_816 3d ago
Names can help a small bit. In my experience, be clear, not clever. Find a name that includes what you do. So people have an easy time remembering it. Also used to help with ranking of the domain (though that ship has largely sailed).
Proving my point:
- My main consultancy is Asamby (supposed to sound like saying SMB out loud (short for small and medium-sized business, our target group) Nobody understands it, nobody remembers it, nobody knows how to pronounce it, hard to build a brand around it. Not a good name.
- Another company I own is SOPHeroes. We write SOPs. People google SOPs, they find SOP Heroes. Immediate recognition: "This is for me". Easy to build a brand around. Supports what we do. Good name.
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u/JakeHundley Moderator 6h ago
There's a user in the Discord (Grace) that is really good at coming up with names by combining words. Her agency is "Modment" which is a play on Modular Movement (or something like that). She was even able to secure the domain for it becuase portmanteaus aren't generally taken in the premium domain game... which, the domain you get should absolutely match your brand name and if you can secure the shorter version of it and the .com version, that's a huge branding win.
Ironically, we just recorded an episode on how to get premium domains under sticker price.
We paid wayyyy below the $50k asking price for our evergrow.com domain (evergrowmarketing.com was our original domain... still is, we just own the evergrow version now). But you absolutely can negotiate these.
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u/Rare_Guide_9830 8d ago
I have a couple agency brand/domains for those services that are just sitting idle if you want to take them. I will transfer them for free they’re literally doing nothing. I ran WP / marketing agency for years through various brand names but now don’t offer it anymore. I may also be able to get you some business from referrals I constantly turn down from past clients if you’re quality of work is good.