Selling on Etsy is a fantastic method to start your online business or expand an already successful one. The online market has assisted artists, curators, manufacturers, and craftspeople from all around the world in starting and expanding their enterprises since its establishment in 2005. And Etsy has had some incredible growth due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. It boasts 90 million active buyers and over 5 million active sellers, a 50% growth from 2020.

But how do YOU want to be known there?

What’s In a Name? Everything.

Keep in mind that the “big” players focus on branding constantly. There is an entire industry around aiding business owners in choosing the ideal name for their organization.

It’s challenging to name a company and not just because there are so many options. The fact that so much can depend on a name — 77% of consumers base their purchases on the brand name according to some studies — makes it difficult.

But you do not need to go to such an extreme, you can do this on your own if you follow a realistic method.

Finding the ideal name is the first step in opening an Etsy business and maximizing its potential. And when there are more sellers, it’s harder to stand out. It is absolutely vital to pick the right company name, especially for emerging firms.

You want to capture the core of your brand identity while striking the ideal balance between memorable, distinctive, and descriptive words. Remember that people will use your Etsy store name as one of their search terms to find your brand on the marketplace, so choose a name that is distinctive enough to appear at the top of searches while also being easily recognizable.

Start With the Requirements and Make It Simple Within Them

Perhaps it’s easiest to begin with what the requirements the platform has for Etsy shop names.

First, you can use a maximum of twenty characters with no spaces nor punctuation.

Also consider how it will look in the standard URL style that Etsy employs: https://www.etsy.com/shop/shopname and “shopname.etsy.com”. Whatever name you choose, it will be put into these strict patterns, so you have to really be happy with how it looks to your eye as well as how good you think it’ll be in the eyes of your potential customers.

Therefore, it’s crucial to pick a name that is simple to say, spell, and remember in each of these situations.

To make it easier for customers to distinguish between the words in the name of your Etsy business, it’s also a good idea to capitalize the initial letter of each word. This strategy also improves accessibility.

Tell Shoppers What You Sell

You should also pick a name that accurately describes your goods.

You can be clever with it, but don’t be misleading. This will only confuse people doing searches for the goods you offer and might cause them to look elsewhere.

You COULD couple a product name (or the name of the product you want to highlight) with an adjective that describes the tone or feel of your company. These kinds of names have the potential to be evocative, descriptive, or emotional. However, there are some inherent drawbacks to using this naming technique. The name might no longer accurately describe your company if you later decide to grow or alter the range of products you sell. Which again ties into what kinds of items do you manufacture and market?

Consider including terms that perfectly illustrate what you sell. For example, it you only do custom t-shirts that should be very clear in the name of your store. Also, make a name for your business that will stick in your clients’ thoughts. This will make it simple for them to remember it after viewing your marketing materials or internet advertisements and visit your website.

Make It Memorable

Create a catchy name that people will remember.

This keeps your company in customers’ minds for a longer period of time and may even result in some word-of-mouth advertising as clients recommend the business they recently did business with to their friends and relatives.

Really try to make it distinctive: find a name for your Etsy store that nobody else has thought of. This ensures that customers don’t confuse your company name with another one and also guarantees that the domain names for your website and social media accounts are still available.

Don’t make it difficult for people to say your company name; doing so would limit the effectiveness of word-of-mouth advertising. Make sure your Etsy store name is incredibly simple to pronounce instead.

Make It Unique – How to Make Sure No-One Else Already Has It

Just remember you wish to be unique and stand out from the crowd. You can accomplish this with simple searches.

Look up the name you’re considering in Google’s general search results to see what information is returned.

Then use Google to conduct a site search; enter “[your name idea] site:etsy.com” to limit your search to the Etsy website.

Then, perform a Google search for “[your name idea] etsy,” and finally, use the on-site search tool on the Etsy website.

Look for other companies using the name of your Etsy store; if there are any, you need to start coming up with new names. You might be able to coexist if your suggested name is being used differently, such as by a band or an occasion.

If you are determined to use a name that’s already in use, try to find out more about their online presence, including SEO, social media, and brand awareness, to know what you’re up against.

Whatever You Call Your Shop, Don’t Forget the Letters S, E and O

And speaking of the all-important Search Engine Optimization, whether you choose an abstract name or include the main objective of your company, SEO should be a breeze to arrange if you stick to the prior best practices for naming your Etsy shop.

The ultimate objective is for your company to show up as the top search result for both your brand name and your products and services.

However, it’s important to avoid keyword stuffing (where some people try to cram a bunch of keywords into their company name). While it could seem like a good idea to include numerous keywords in the name of your shop, doing so could lead to your domain getting blacklisted. Your company name’s originality will suffer if you fill it with keywords and you will therefore find it difficult to compete in search results.

What If Someone Already Has Your Name?

But what do you do if the name of your Etsy shop is already taken and it’s already what you are known by? You might discover that someone else has already taken your preferred name or existing brand name. If you own the intellectual property rights to your shop name, you can contest this, according to Etsy. They advise contacting the store owner personally and asking them to change their name. If it doesn’t work, you can notify Etsy of an intellectual property violation. Waiting for Etsy to examine the notice is still required. Therefore, if your name is already taken by someone else, you will need to find another one regardless of whether you have any legal claims or rights.

Your Options If Your Business Evolves

Keep in mind that the Etsy shop name you choose when you first open might change at any time.

Five name changes are permitted after a shop is made public on Etsy, with an infinite number of name changes permitted prior to debut. You must contact the Etsy support staff and ask for an official review of your name change request if you wish to modify your name more than that.

All of your reviews are kept even if you change your name, although your SEO may suffer. Since your store name determines your URL, your new store name may no longer be connected to your old URL.

However, there isn’t much risk involved in altering your name if you don’t yet receive much or any traffic from Google; over time, search engines will simply reevaluate your page and reestablish confidence.

In order to succeed in e-commerce, we hope you will use these suggestions to come up with the greatest possible Etsy shop name. The procedure will go more smoothly if you can start out by being more strategic. But don’t let the finality of it all overwhelm you; like we mentioned, you may change the name of your shop up to five more times after it has opened. Good luck with your naming!