Have you ever wondered why so many businesses have peculiar – if unique – brand names?

Who comes up with Zappos, Yahoo, Google, Ikea, Yandex, Etsy, GoDaddy, Hulu, Zillow, just to name a few?  Why these absurd names that sound like candy from Willy Wonka?

Why do we call ourselves Marketing 360®?  Why not Small Business Online Marketing Specialists?

Why isn’t Zappos Quality shoes for less?  Or Amazon Online Store With Everything? 

It has to do with a major component of branding:  being memorable.

Everyone of these names is easy to remember.  And memorable brand names influence SEO more than you may realize.

It has to do with navigational searches.  To get right to the point, look at the Google Trends report on Zappos vs cheap shoes online vs buy shoes as keyword phrases.

In 2004, the search volume for Zappos and buy shoes as keywords was close to the same.  However, as the Zappos brand name grew, people just started to search for navigational purposes – to find the Zappos site. Those searches exploded over the next decade.

At Marketing 360®, there are many informational searches we rank for, and many others we work to rank higher for.

But one we now own is Marketing 360.  As more and more people discover our brand and learn what we do, they remember us when they realize it’s time to engage with an online marketing company.  They look us up as a navigational search.

We think this also happens a lot with retargeting ads.  Consumers see our ads as they surf the net, but many don’t click on them to return to the site.  It doesn’t matter.  The ads give us visibility and keeps our brand name in front of the prospect.  They remember that brand name, do a quick search when they want to return and we have another lead.

Of course a wonderful thing about your brand as a keyword is that it’s far easier to dominate on search results.  You can and must own it.

Your brand as a keyword only works when your brand is familiar to your target audience. In this way, it means any traffic you can drive to your website, exposing your audience to your information resources, social media, email lists, PR, and retargeting ads is of value.

With an easy to remember brand, in just a few repeat exposures you can have them.  Your site gets preferences in their search history, so you’re more likely to show for other informational or transactional searches.

Building brand recognition takes time, and for the smaller business you likely won’t use Super Bowl commercials to become known like GoDaddy.

That’s why there is great value in picking a brand name your buying leads can remember.

Picture them on their phone.  They checked you out six months ago and now they want to buy.  They’re sitting there thinking “What were those guys called?”….

If they remember your name they’ll search for you and find your site.

If not, they’ll do another informational search, where they may or may not ever find you again.

Choose a brand name your customers can remember, then work your SEO and online marketing to get initial exposure.  Provide some upfront value for free.

Later, when their need is immediate, they’ll remember you.  A quick search for your brand, and you’re right on top.