Not sure if we've named our automated testing app correctly, currently working with thingsclick.com but initial feedback on this domain isn't positive

Discussions
#1

So we’re building an automated testing tool, you setup tests for your website in the browser, save them and then re-run them as often as you need to. More info here: http://www.thingsclick.com

I had a friend who I respect a great deal tell me:

My advice would be to change the name – Quality testing of software is an enterprise/corporate/med-to-large-software-house thing but the name Things Click is a bit “consumerish”

I was still unsure, but last week another person who is testing the beta told me he didn’t get the name.

So what do you think? Does Things Click not click with you?!?

The only thing I’ll add is that we’ve owned and hosted sites on thingsclick.com for a number of years. So I assume that ranking Things Click for the keywords we want will be a damn site is easier than .com. Having said that, we expect for this app to be around for years to come so I’m not going to make a short term decision based on SEO alone when we’re in this for the long run.

#2

Simon, hello! Hate to say it, but the name didn’t ‘click’ with me either. Couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason. Maybe due to the word “things” being so generic. But then again there are plenty weirdly named web services having a lot of success. If your target customers are voicing objections to the name, however, by all means change it, I say :smile:

#3

Personally I would stick with the name for now. Think about it, what kind of nonsense name is “Microsoft”, it’s a total 70’s name.

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#4

Thanks both of you. I’ve had mixed feedback from the various forums I’ve posted on so we’re going to have to give this more thought. A marketing guy I spoke with said:

What do you want from a business name? And more importantly, what do your customers want?

I’d say:

Memorable
Easily understood in conversation or by phone
Doesn’t create an unintentional new word when placed in a URL
Isn’t a rude word when said in another language

“Things click” ticks all the boxes for me. Plus it has assonance (“i” sound in each word), which helps make it memorable.

If every company name had to convey its purpose, mission and function, we wouldn’t have “Apple” or “Crazy Egg” :simple_smile:

So that was very useful feedback…

Thanks again :smile:

#5

“What’s in a name?”

Your name is bad for SEO - no one who doesn’t know your product will ever type “things click” when trying to find a product like yours.

However, names, like logos, are things that obsess new business founders, and yet are mostly irrelevant. Your name is just fine.

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#6

Hey Steve. You’re absolutely right, if it wasn’t for the fact that not one but two of my close SaaS buddies had called me out on the name I wouldn’t have given it a second thought.

As you say, absolutely no upside in the name thingsclick.com but the domain itself is well and truly out of Google’s sandbox and already ranks for various terms so I’m hopeful that when we do optimise the site for the key phrases our audience will search for that we’ll rank faster/higher than a brand new domain.

Thanks as always for your feedback. :smile:

#7

Its not a great name IMHO.
-not great for SEO
-doesn’t give a clue about what it does
-‘consumerish’

I would consider changing it, if you can come up with something better.

If you are going to change it, change it now. It will be harder once you have some brand recognition and traction.

Either way, its unlikely to be the difference between success and failure. Plenty of products with worse names have done ok (although they might have done better with better names).

I’m not sure how much of an issue this is if you do a permanent redirect from this domain to your new domain.

See also:

#8

Hey Andy, thanks for the feedback. I’ll definitely check out that article and see what we can come up with but at the same time I can’t afford to get sidetracked by this. As you say, it’s not going to be the difference between success and failure but could make the overall journey a bit tougher and bootstrapping is already tough enough!

#9

I think that one reason that may trip people is that it can be easy to split the domain incorrectly; at first I read the domain as “thing slick”. Have you thought about reversing the order? Or maybe even adding a “dont” (dont click things) to drive home the point that your software removes the tediousness of manual testing?

#10

The name says nothing about what the product does, what problem it solves, who it serves. It feels too generic and unrelated to what it is. I think you can fix that, you need some clever copy (I’m not clever enough to write it, sorry) that connects the name with your USP so they “get it” and remember it. It needs a tag-line. This is not a good one but you get the idea: “Things just click into place”. Stick a few of those cliches on the wall and throw darts at them to see what gets the most hits. Start with the two words and play scrabble with it.

Consider my business name - “CAD bloke” - what do you reckon I do? Also consider the sort of impression it conveys about company size, accessibility, working relationship, and the preconceptions it creates. That’s the sort of thing you want to instantly convey with a name, you hijack existing perceptions, just like advertising hijacks the English language. Also SEO, I own the front page of Google for “cad bloke”, much to directory sales spammers chagrin. That was more of a bonus than a target, I just grabbed the domains when they were available.

Your site can steer people to the specific brand site if you change the name. There are plenty of solutions for wrangling existing traffic, none of which I am knowledgeable enough to advise on.

Other brands I have, tvCAD and CAD find Replace don’t Google so well (yet, there is no product for either) but they do say what they are. Even another personal tag I use, “Don’t Sail Backwards”, has lots of positive connotations and preconceptions.

Yeah, naming things is hard.ly (please don’t do that)

Also: “I had a friend who I respect a great deal tell me:…” unless they have skin in the game or are well-qualified then their opinion is no better than any other, perhaps just a little more honest. Your friends are not your market.

#11

Do people outside the UK know what ‘bloke’ means?

#12

I’m in Australia so yeah but else where, probably not so “worldly”.

#13

Thanks @cadbloke interesting feedback. I totally agree, we’re still in the process of building the MVP for this thing (that clicks!) but when we have a loyal group of paying customers re-branding to something more fitting is next on my to do list. I’ve got a couple of ideas in mind…

#14

Consider something along the lines of “kill manual testing” or “we hate end-to-end tests” or “no-software testing” or maybe ghostinspector has some copy that will inspire you.

You want to position yourself in the testing realm, but different/better than unit tests, integration tests, MANUAL tests, and end-to-end tests (which take 2x-3x longer to write than the feature itself!). The automated testing service that prints money by saving 3+ engineer-hours per week! “Our testing service saves each of your engineers half a day every week that they would have spent writing end-to-end tests. You can reclaim $687/engineer/month for only $60/month” (for example)

Cheers,
A man who hates writing end-to-end tests and likes ghostinspector.

PS The scrollbar on your site is crazy, get rid of whatever javascript is doing that!

#15

Excellent feedback thank you so much @dtrejo. Our tag line is the next thing I’m working on so I’ll definitely incorporate your feedback here.

P.S. I hate that javascript scrolling nonsense too, it won’t make it on to the site when we’ve got our MVP sorted.

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