

Ask HN: We go global. We should rename our startup. Best practices? - zeynalov

We started a local startup in Caucasus but we get too many emails from other countries if we could do our service in their country. It became so successful that we think we should go global.<p>But the problem is the name sucks. Because we didn't think big, we named it with local language and we think it's not a good idea going global with this name. Here are some pros and cons of renaming:<p>PROS<p>- It will be more memorable<p>- It will be a global name that everyone can spell<p>- (maybe) New name will bring a new breath to the team<p>CONS<p>- We will lose brand recognition of local costumers.<p>- We must buy another domain, so we will lose our Search Engine Optimized domain. We spent last year 23k $ for SEO<p>So what should we do for minimal consumer lost and maximal recognition? Do you have any experiences about renaming startups? What are best practices?<p>Or should we use the old name?
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itsprofitbaron
Specifically regarding:

    
    
      We must buy another domain, so we will lose our Search Engine Optimized domain. We spent last year 23k $ for SEO
    

You will _not_ lose Search Engine Rankings providing that you 301 your links
to the new url - if you want them to go to specific pages you can also do that
fairly easy with some .htaccess 301'ing instead of doing it through your
registrar.

Search Engines will then eventually replace your existing links with your new
ones.

NOTE: Sometimes, there may be a minimial loss in some rankings during this
period however, if you continue with your SEO strategy then will go to their
original positions and may improve (this is also dependant on other facts such
as domain age, geo-targetting etc)

Furthermore, you should try and get your links changed which are currently
linking to your site to your new url by contacting the webmasters who will
change them for you.

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mvaliente2001
If you are going to change the name, make it googlable. It isn't just to avoid
strange symbols (C# I'm looking at you), but the name you choose, if typed in
a search engine, shouldn't return other more prominent results. So, don't call
your company HomerSimpson, for example.

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zeynalov
you mean I should built a recognizable brand and it must rank for its name in
google :)

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ig1
Stick with the current brand for your own country and use the new brand for
expanding abroad.

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zeynalov
Our main idea was using a single domain for best SEO opportunities. Because we
already optimized and spent too much money on our old domain, using the same
domain will boost our new-other language section on the same site. I think
using different domain names will a problem to us.

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itsprofitbaron
Will geo-targetted domains be used on the same domain or on sub-domains? As
search engines regard sub-domains as completely different sites.

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dirkdeman
That's a nice problem to have! Can I ask what the name is (phonetic)?

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zeynalov
it's abbreviations of some azerbaijani words. nonsense

