How to choose the best name for your mobile app

When you name an app, there is so much to think about... a name that grows with you, is highly visible and create a lasting impression on your target audience. Therefore, choosing a name for a mobile app can be difficult. Your target audience is not only on app marketplaces, but they are on social media and web too. Your mobile app name is your brand, and it should be everywhere.

Whether you have built a robust enterprise app, a photo editing tool, mobile game, an online shopping app or a fitness tool, naming a mobile application is most crucial for its success and marketability. Here are some valuable tips on how to name a mobile application.

1. Choose a name that is short, simple and relevant

Imagine a scenario where your app name evokes an idea in the minds of your customers and the app actually happens to be something different. It will leave a bad impression on your target audience. Because when the name suggests "shooting," for instance, the app should also be something related to shooting.

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Moreover, the app name should be something that the users can easily pronounce, remember and recall. So if you are wondering how should a mobile app name be, a smart way is to keep it short, simple and most relevant.

2. Distinguish yourself from your competitors

Brand names are meant to offer distinction... something unique from what others provide. If your app name is something, which is very similar to another app that offers almost same features, or there are hundreds of popular apps that start with that word, it can be extremely confusing for your customers. It can seriously impede your app exposure and visibility due to muddled or mixed app store and web searches. One of the most effective mobile application naming strategies is to keep it short and simple to avoid technical issues, descriptive enough to portray app relevance, and offer distinction from competitive apps.

3. Make your app name evocative

Amidst today's highly competitive mobile app market, stealing the attention of your customers and keeping them engaged is most important. So, if you are considering how to name your mobile app, the best way to do it is to make it evocative that draws attention of the users. On one hand, it should be descriptive enough to illustrate its functionality; on the other hand, you must make it interesting and attention-grabbing. You can use rhyming words like "Double Trouble" to make the name evocative and memorable.

4. Optimise your app name

Optimising the name of your mobile application is most crucial to get free and organic traffic. A keyword in the app title, rather than in the meta data, may result into 10 times higher search rankings. However, the chance of rejection also exists, especially if optimisation is done improperly. Make sure that you do not use too many keywords in the app title or this may jeopardise the fate of the application. Rather, including one or two keywords may increase app visibility and traffic manifold.

5. Test the trend

There are tons of mobile apps that have followed the latest app naming trends and have been successful. For instance, look into the app named Shopify. Following the trend of 'ify,' a bucketful of apps hit the market during that time - Gamify, Spotify, Webify, etc. However, you do not need to follow the ify trend. It is outdated.

So, what is fresh now? Adding an -i or -y at the end of the name such as Famili; dropping or doubling a syllable such as Vouchr or Faamli; replacing a syllable with another one that sounds the same such as Lyft. Check out what your competitors are doing. But make sure that you don't follow the trend blindly or sound too similar to that of your competitor.

6. Localise your app name

It is crazy and unwise not to include localised keywords, meta data and screenshots for other languages. If your app name is a descriptive name, you can translate it to other languages. This will not only make it simpler for your customers to find your app globally, but also increase app downloads dramatically.

7. Adhere to camel/sentence-case

If you browse through the list of apps on your mobile, you will find most of them to be in camel-case (for e.g. ScoreCenter) or in sentence-case (for e.g. Cut the Rope). You might consider doing something unique with your app name and experiment with all caps or lowercase letter such as SHOT NOTE, but to tell you honestly, it can risk the success of your app. Consumers have a tendency to buy what they trust or have been seeing for long. Anything beyond that can be delegitimised. Therefore, if you break the upper-lowercase convention, they may find you sketchy or fake.

8. Do not forget about social media and domain name

Since social media accounts and a website or landing page plays an integral role in app marketing efforts, it is important that you consider availability of social media accounts and domain name corresponding to the app name that you are thinking of. You have to first secure these valuable assets before you proceed about naming a mobile app.

9. Names that deliver visualised experience

There's nothing more impressive than the power of words which conjures up amazing visual experiences and takes you into trans. For instance, the name Farmville instantly evokes the thought of a farm, fields of corn and fruits, ploughing crops, etc. The app also delivers the same experience as its name promises. Your app name should spark appealing visual images in the user's mind that will attract him or her to download and use it.

When it comes to naming your app, do not rush with your thoughts. Remember, a name can make all the difference.