Naming Side Projects

Naming things on the internet has always been very hard.

You come up with a great name for your side project, only to find the dot com domain has been taken, and let's not talk about social media handles.

Let's discuss the name then we will discuss domains and social media.

Searched Names

Increasingly, I rely on search engines for free traffic to my projects. Naming projects with this in mind makes it much easier to get the desired traffic.

Keywords are the most important consideration when using this approach.

This approach has worked well for "will robots take my job" and "monday mystery movie". There was already existing search engine traffic for these terms before I used the names for my projects. Matching the keywords makes it easier to rank towards the top of the results, even with just a few back links.

I've used tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs and Semrush to get estimates on the number of searches for keywords.

Combinations of words like this make it more likely the domain will be available as well.

One drawback of this approach is that it can limit future changes/additions to the project. If you wanted to add a new feature not directly related to the original name, it may not make sense, with the chosen name. For smaller targeted projects that should not be a problem.

Brandable names

A brandable name is distinctive, memorable, and easy to pronounce. It doesn't necessarily describe the business directly but instead evokes a positive feeling, image, or association.

These names are typically unique, they stand out and aren't easily confused with other projects.

These names are memorable, and easy to recall after you hear them even after the first time.

Typically, but not always, they are easy to say and spell.

With a name that doesn't describe what the project does, you may need to spend more time educating visitors

This approach doesn't stop you from getting search engine traffic, but without the keywords in the name it requires more work.

The dream is that your brand becomes synonymous with the use of your product. You don't search on the internet, you Google it. Unfortunately this often takes year and millions of marketing dollars.

Domains

Everyone wants a dot com!

Verisign reports (as of Jan 2024) over 150M dot com registrations with over 350M across all the top-level domains.

This makes it very likely that the name you've chosen for your project will already be registered.

You could consider an alternative TLD if the dot com is taken:

• Artificial intelligence-related applications are opting for dot ai
• Podcasters are using dot fm.
• Business owners are using dot co.
• Web3 maker are using dot xyz.

If you're building a consumer product, sticking with a dot com is still best, but for other audiences using an alternative TLD is a good option.

If you're preferred name is taken or just too generic you can try adding prefix or a suffix to the name. Animals have become popular additions to names: MailChimp, FeedbackPanda, BannerBear, SendFox to name just a few. You can also try Join, HQ, Kit, Get, Lets or Path.

Although it's not preferable, starting with an alternative name, and moving to the preferred name later has worked for many projects.

I try to stay away from buying domains that are already registered, until I'm sure about the long term viability to my project. Why sink funds into a project that may not succeed. Yes, if the project is successful, the price to purchase will undoubtedly will go up, but hopefully you'll have the funds for this "business expense".

Social Media Handles

Social media handles can just as difficult to grab as domains. Since they are typically free to register its even more likely that your preferred name it taken, and even more agonizingly often no longer being used.

Prefixes are common here, something that makes it read better in posts when mentioned is good, just adding an "_" is common. Another pattern is to use the full domain name, eg: @fdotinc (f.inc)

Another consideration is the name you use across platforms, ideally you want the same handle on Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube, etc. I would however prioritize one platform when you start, where you'll send most of your time promoting the project. This is especially important where the product is tied to that platform (social media scheduling for example.)

Some people had good luck reaching out to the current holder to see if they are will to transfer/sell the handle especially if not being actively used, but as with domain names I'd hold off doing this until you get traction for your project.

I was fortunate after coming up with the name SideprojectMVP for this newsletter, finding the domain, and Twitter handle available. That is definitely not the norm, and you can expect to struggle with this, as I have for many of my projects.

In the next post I'll dig into the naming my project for Nights and Weekend S5, what factors I considered and where I finally landed.

Cheers,
Mubs