Wednesday, October 28, 2009

What is in a name? Just plenty.

Many years ago I started playing around building and maintaining a variety of websites. I enjoyed what I was doing and slowly it became my favorite hobby.  Wanting more "action" but lacking "proper credentials", I was able to create a contractual situation to build a company website, subject to approval.  Yes, approval came quickly.

My client had a stipulation - which I resolved without proper future forethought - the client would only pay a legal entity, not an individual.  Because a big check was waiting to be cashed, I rushed to the Secretary of State and registered an assumed name on 05/13/2005.

Almost immediately I began regretting my choice of business/assumed name: dcphosting services.

The purpose of this gabbage is to solict assistance with the creation of a business/assumed name for my commercial website activities.  I have learning many things about company/assumed names and probably the most important is that I know jack-shit.

The original name, dcphosting services (dcp hosting services), has several problems.
    1: Unprofessional show of ownership - "dcp".
    2: The word "services", besides being indescriptive, often conflicted with sales copy because of the repeated, close appearance of the word.
    3: The reference to services performed, "hosting", is too narrow.
It would be a tremendous bonus is the new business/assumed name was also available as and made a great domain name.  Possibly more important though is that it is a smooth, easy, friendly name.

What I do with a quick description.
Website Design: Site planning from features, seo, security, as well as "style and layout".
Features / Functions: E-Commerce (Shopping Cart), Help Desk, Newsletters, Spam Free Info Forms
That SEO stuff: There are no secrets or special voo-doo in getting good search results, just appling what is known.
Cyber Renewal: Correcting problems or otherwise making a site new again.
  Bot Problems: Many can be made to go away easily, others with some will power.
  File Modifications: We can modify your current software (where TOS allows) to suite your needs.
Website Hosting: This is not our most promoted service.  Most clients receive hosting as part of the package.
Data Manipulation: Taking the output from one program and making it import into another.
Ongoing Services: Security monitoring, SEO, product, or content updates

I've thought of a few locally based names, each with its one set of problems. "Princeton Small Business Websites", "Websites for Small Business", "Rum River WebDesign" are three.

What type of thoughts do you have on the subject?

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