Last week, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, acquired the domain name “chat.com” for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition has fuelled speculation that OpenAI may rename ChatGPT “chat” – or, at the very least, refresh its branding.
While no rebrand has been confirmed, a name shift would make sense. After all, many people don’t know what the “GPT” in ChatGPT stands for (“Generative Pre-Trained Transformer), let alone find it a catchy or memorable name. The simpler “chat” could set ChatGPT up to capture a wider audience and stand out from similar tools. If OpenAI plans to rename the program, securing “chat.com” would be an important first step.
OpenAI’s early domain acquisition, and the new name it may have chosen, are a reminder of a name’s importance for companies big and small. With this in mind, we heard from eight small businesses about their experiences of naming and rebranding. From what we heard, we compiled seven key things to consider for when you’re choosing a name – or a domain – for your small business.
1. Choose a name that reflects your products and services
Many businesses that we heard from selected names that made it clear what products or services they offered.
Clare Jones, Outreach Manager, Custom Neon: “Our rebrand from Neon Collective to Custom Neon… aligned our brand identity with our core offering – custom LED neon signs – instantly clarifying what we do. This helped streamline our marketing and boosted our visibility in search results.”
David Walsh of Heart Digital: “We re-branded from SEO Web Logistics to Heart Digital…it needed to happen as we were not solely about “SEO” anymore.”
While choosing a brand name that describes what you do is a good rule of thumb, there’s an exception to every rule. We heard from a cosmetics business that increased walk-ins by 20 per cent after removing the word “injectables” from its name.
Tim Cochrane, Business Director, BYGOLDEN: “We have recently changed our trading name from “Golden Injectables” to “BYGOLDEN”. Our name change was pivotal, in order to break away from the stigma the industry faces. It has also removed us from a service niche, allowing us to grow other service areas within the business.”
2. Avoid generic phrases that make you unsearchable
Podcast host Bevan Jones changed his show’s name from Chewing the Fat to Legends with Bevo and noticed a difference immediately.
“When you googled Chewing the Fat, you’d have to scroll through for ages to find anything about my business,” said Jones. “But with Legends with Bevo, it pops up straight away!”
3. Help people remember you
A memorable name can help build brand awareness and attract attention.
Brett Connell of Cocktail Candy: “Alliteration has proven invaluable for brand awareness online, as it’s easy to remember and share.”
4. Claim your name early
Even if you don’t have the budget to buy a premium domain like OpenAI, reserving your domain name and social media handles early can help secure your brand.
Sharon Melamed, Founder, Matchboard: “When we started 12 years ago, I engaged a company to register Matchboard on every single social media channel and ‘claim the name’.”
5. Be consistent
Try to use the same title across platforms, where possible.
Deepak Shukla, CEO, Pearl Lemon: “After securing a unified brand handle across platforms, we saw an uptick in organic traffic and client inquiries.”
6. Consider a domain name with your location
For some businesses, a domain that includes a location can improve search rankings. Tristan Evert, Director of On the Move Marketing, told ISB that several of his clients ranked #1 on SERP simply by choosing domain names that combined their service with their location.
“When my client Grass That Lasts started their business…they bought the domain goldcoastsyntheticgrass,” said the marketing professional. “With little to no SEO work done to their website, they rank #1 on Google Maps for a range of competitive keywords like artificial grass gold coast, synthetic grass gold coast, fake grass gold coast and a few more. Their website also ranks in the top 3 on Google for the same keywords.”
7. Make a plan, and consider the risks, before renaming
If you decide to change your business’ name, make sure you know how you will transition from one brand identity to another.
David Walsh, Founder, Heart Digital: “There is a significant challenge in changing your domain – in the eyes of Google, you are pretty much losing your online reputation and starting from scratch.”
Clare Jones, Outreach Manager, Custom Neon: “We ran the old and new domains concurrently during the transition, ensuring a smooth changeover without sacrificing SEO.”
If OpenAI does rename ChatGPT, watching how they handle the transition could be insightful for small businesses considering a rebrand.
