Choosing the right name for your business is crucial if you want to develop a successful brand. There are also certain rules which must be followed when incorporating at Companies House. Below, we will take a look at the different aspects to consider when choosing a company name.<\/p>\n
Coming up with the right name when starting a new business can have a significant effect on establishing a brand in the longer term, but it can also play an important factor in the early days when trying to draw in customers and secure investment. Consider some of the following elements for choosing a name:<\/p>\n
Do some research and find out what names are being used by competitors. This is crucial in terms of avoiding any names which are too similar (and which could result in an application for company registration being rejected). It will also help to provide some ideas and inspiration, as well as making sure that you choose a distinctive name which sets your business apart.<\/p>\n
As well as looking at your competitors, you should also search the register of companies to find out if the name you are considering has already been taken by a business in a different sector, or is very similar to another company name. This can be done easily by using our company namecheck tool<\/a> on our homepage.<\/p>\n It can also be worth asking potential customers, or even just friends and family, for help with deciding a name, especially if you are down to just a handful of final options.<\/p>\n Do you want to be known as a \u2018local\u2019 business or not? Many companies will benefit from being associated with a specific town, city or other location. Reflecting this element of localism in their choice of name (e.g. \u2018Bristol<\/strong> Gardening Experts Limited\u2019) may help to attract local customers. Furthermore, including the geographical location can help with SEO (see below).<\/p>\n But there is also a downside to emphasising the local credentials of a business. Namely, if you decide to expand to other locations, having a geographical element in the company name can be detrimental. And location is often irrelevant for many companies which can conduct their business online or remotely, and whose customer base is national or even international.<\/p>\n As discussed above, choosing an appropriate company name can help to drive traffic to your website, resulting in click-throughs, conversions and ultimately new customers.<\/p>\n Search engine optimisation will generally involve keywords and phrases – which often include descriptive words about the product or service and sometimes location (e.g. \u2018employment law solicitors in York\u2019). Bearing this in mind when choosing a company name can be helpful for SEO, especially when combined with the domain name (see below).<\/p>\n We have already discussed the importance of searching the register of companies to find out if the name you are considering has already been registered with Companies House by another business.<\/p>\n Equally as important is checking to see if a relevant domain name is available which can be used with your chosen company name. This can be checked using the various domain name registration websites. There is no point spending a lot of time coming up with a unique name, registering it with Companies House, only to find out that another company owns the domain name.<\/p>\n The most desirable domain names for international businesses end in ‘.com’, but ‘.co.uk’ is perfect for UK based companies. Often a name will be taken with one suffix but is available with another; in this case, do some research to find out which company is using the name which is not available.<\/p>\n Please note: <\/em>Quality Company Formations<\/em> offer free .com and .co.uk domain names with their company formation packages.<\/em><\/p>\n Some companies will register a trade mark as part of their branding efforts. Although not limited to names, a trade mark can serve to protect the brand name of a product or service.<\/p>\n It may be worth conducting some basic trade mark searches<\/a> to find out if a company name could potentially infringe a registered trade mark.<\/p>\n Trade marks are a complex area of law and it is recommended that you seek specialist legal advice for more information if this is a concern.<\/p>\n When it comes to registering a company, you need to follow certain\u00a0rules when choosing a company name<\/a>.\u00a0Failure to adhere to these rules can lead to the rejection of your company formation application The main rules are as follows:<\/p>\n An application for incorporation will be automatically rejected if the company name is identical to an existing company name on the register. But even if the name is not identical, it will still be rejected if it is too similar to another company name (e.g. if the only difference is due to certain punctuation or special characters, etc.).<\/p>\n Company names should not cause offence (e.g. it should not contain swear words or discriminatory connotations, etc.).<\/p>\n Words that are considered \u2018sensitive\u2019 will require supporting evidence if they are to be included in a company name. The\u00a0full list of sensitive words<\/a>\u00a0is maintained by Companies House. The Secretary of State must approve the use of any sensitive words in a company name. This rule is designed to ensure that a certain name does not mislead or harm the public, for example if it:<\/p>\nGeographical constraints<\/h3>\n
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)<\/h3>\n
Domain names<\/h3>\n
Trade marks<\/h3>\n
Rules for choosing a company name<\/h3>\n
Identical and similar names<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Problem words<\/strong><\/h5>\n