

Ask HN: What do you think of my site name? - philipbrown

What do you think of the site name http://cultivatus.com?<p>The site is aiming to be a technology/Internet news/design and coding blog.<p>What do you think?
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dcpdx
I'm not really a fan. The name doesn't lend itself to the type of site that
you have. Also, try to get something that's 3 syllables or less; it will be
easier to speak, type, and remember. The "tus" suffix makes me think of a
disease or germ or something nasty; not exactly the feeling you want to convey
when you're trying to get eyeballs on a tech blog. I actually spent a brief
period of time consulting with new businesses on their company names, so I
have a little experience in this area. To get the ideas flowing, take a piece
of paper or open doc and start writing down words that have anything to do
with your concept, directly or tangentially. Then, start playing around with
prefixes and suffixes and coming up with combinations that look and sound
good. My favorite name to come along recently is Quora, it's short, sweet, and
applies directly to the type of site they have. Plus, it's unique and
original. My two cents. If you'd like any further advice feel free to shoot me
an email (it's in my profile). Good luck!

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philipbrown
Thanks that great. You actually highlighted some things that have been
concerning me.

Thanks for the feedback!

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bigohms
I've studied branding and specifically naming extensively. There are two
important factors: 1) don't go generic or too long 2) memorable wordsmithing
improves initial recall after a person is impressed upon the brand.

After you make the impression and deliver the experience: naming does not
matter.

For example: We no longer associate Hotmail with sex, but when it first came
out people were afraid of the impression it would have if your address ended
with it. Now, it's second nature as an old(er) web based email service.

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simon
Makes me think of culture, which tends not to make me think of your intended
content. On the other hand, it's a nice name, so maybe I'd get used to it.

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philipbrown
Thank you,

Originally it was a twist on cultivate, but I don't think it's really working.

Thank you for your feedback!

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tgrass
'Cultivate' was my first impression. I had no germ association.

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tgrass
A name for a blog is not as critical in terms of memory retention and
spellability, most traffic will not come from search but from links.

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eugenijusr
Opened the link without reading the description. Expected to see something
related to agriculture or at least growth in a general sense.

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dholowiski
thinkvitamin? boingboing? google, even? I think the name doesn't matter, the
content does.

Actually, you think so to: [http://cultivatus.com/2011/11/30/the-real-reason-
why-domain-...](http://cultivatus.com/2011/11/30/the-real-reason-why-domain-
names-dont-matter-anymore/)

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chmielewski
The first thing I did was to check if cultivat.us was available.. It's not.

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glimcat
May be problematic if you want people to type it or say it.

