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Need some inspiration for what to call your new holiday let, self catering properties or agency? Take a look at the key areas you should be considering and our top hints & tips for choosing your new business’s name.

The future

Let us start by looking ahead to the future. What you decide at the beginning will stick, so you need to make sure that it will both be relevant today, and in the years to come. So if you have a vision of growing your business, or there is even the slightest chance that you might add to your portfolio - then what you choose to name yourself, should also make sense if you evolve over time or become more successful.

For example, avoid “The Cottage In Somerset”, if in a few years, “The Cottages In Somerset” would have been better suited. Similarly, a name such as “My London Holiday Property” would be great, up until that time you expand and wish you were called “My London Holiday Properties”... So the advice here is to think ahead. Admittedly, you can’t always predict what will happen in the future, yet considering how your business could evolve early on, will prevent any potential headaches further down the line.

Competition

As with any new project, you should always check how you may stack up against the local competition. By looking at your neighbouring businesses, you can pick up all sorts of ideas, as well as get a grasp for what could work for you. But when it comes to a name, you might want to make sure that yours is individual enough and not too similar to the cottage down the road.

So if there is a particular word or phrase that you’d like to incorporate, just check that no else uses it. You don’t want to be unnecessarily competing against someone because you sound similar, or accidentally pushing traffic towards your rival.

You should also factor in that if your property is called “Rose Cottage” for example, that there are high chances that you are not the only holiday let with that name, and there could even be one within close proximity to you. So make sure that you come up with something unique that sets you apart.

Availability

Your website's domain (the address used to arrive to your site, such as scrumpy.co.uk) will have a strong influence and may even cast a deciding vote towards your business's name. 

There’s a chance that you won’t be able to call yourself something, simply because there are no domain variations available that haven’t already been taken. It’s also worth noting that just because when you type in an address and there is no website, that this doesn’t mean that domain is free - as in some instances, people purchase them for brand protection or projects in the future.

So it is important to use a domain checker, https://domains.google/, to see what is availability.

Whilst you don’t have to have exactly the same URL for your website as your business's name, the closer they are the better. This will help to avoid confusion, promote cohesion and can even give you a natural advantage with search engine results.

Hints & Tips

Strictly speaking there isn’t a wrong approach to deciding on your business's name, yet taking the following into consideration will help you make the correct decision and establish benefits for the long term.

  • Keep it short - This can be difficult when you want to incorporate the likes of your location, or make your name unique, however your customers will benefit from having fewer characters to type for your URL and you’ll also get a subtle SEO boost for a shorter website domain

  • An abbreviation - this a great way of getting a short domain and shortening what might be a wordy phrase to speak aloud. For eg. Big House Holiday Lets use the domain bhhl.co.uk

  • Use .co.uk - if you are based in the UK, by using this suffix in your domain, not only will it advise your customers where you are based, but also inform search engines; who will then be able to more accurately target traffic towards you and give you higher quality listings

  • Recognisable - The chosen name will essentially become your brand. So make it easy to pronounce, especially if someone is to call you up, as this will prevent any unnecessary mishaps and embarrassment. 

Synonyms

If you're trying to replace a word or struggling to think of the most relevant term, we’ve got a few suggestions for you. You might even find that by replacing a phrase with one of the alternatives below, that you’ll be able to get the ideal domain that was otherwise taken:

Holidays, breaks, stays, retreats, vacations, staycation

Lettings, lets, self catering, rentals, lodging

Luxury, leisure, organic, comfort, snug, plush, cosy

Accommodation, properties, cottages, barns, houses, apartments, lodges, stables, chalets, loft, mill, flats, huts, villas, cabins

Retreat, sanctuary, haven, resort, hideaway, rest, den, burrow

Lakes, valley, view, rise, hills, hollow, gorge, heights, ridge, downs, sands, wharf, willows, tor

Farm, complex, park, buildings, homes, suites, rooms, mews

Croft, grange, manor, estate, ranch, mead, place, court, towers

The decision

When it comes to committing yourself to a name, there’s no harm in getting another's opinion. A fresh pair of eyes and a different perspective can provide constructive feedback or even new ideas.

If you have a project that you’re undertaking and require any assistance at all, then let us help. We’re a team full of experience and would love to hear from you. At SCRUMPY we can provide assistance for all of your online needs, with our websites with software for self-catering.

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