What do you all think as far as business / marketing names, catchy name or more professional but more bland?
I started a side gig washing windows years ago for gas money. I had some experience in high school as a window cleaner and used that to get some small jobs once or twice a month.
Got to the point where I needed to be legit (insurance, registered, etc) - so I chose âGreat Panes Window Washingâ as a company name.
Fast forward to now- itâs my full time job, we added pressure washing in addition to windows, itâs grown way beyond ever imagined.
So, my residential customers love the name and the play on words.
My business, federal, state and county customers look at me like Iâm 12 years old when I tell them my business name 
Itâs also hard to incorporate our other services into our name like gutters, roof cleaning, PWing when our Priamry name is âWindow Washingâ
Personally I see and I like business names with the word âServiceâ in them.
.02
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Agree 100%. Think about where it might go, and work with that. Ours is still âProwashâ, but I keep considering that it should maybe just be âServicesâ or something. People donât care all that much though. The primary name is what sticks. We spun off our Christmas light business to Red Door Lighting Company a few years agoâŚpeople get the association, yet the difference in offerings, so it works.
I started similar to you, my name has Window Cleaning in it. I like it this way as I donât have to advertise window cleaning nearly as much as I do power washing and usually both services go hand in hand.
Customers looking for window cleaning always mention something along the lines of wanting some sort of power washing service.
I got a pretty decent commercial powerwashing gig through google even though my company name has window cleaning in itâŚ
Honestly at this point though I would love to strictly do 100% soft washing as I enjoy it more, but I had no idea this soft washing industry existed 3 years ago when I started the company.
I agree with both above saying to have âservicesâ in your name.
I used to work for a renovations company that had ârenovationsâ in their name and people would always call and ask what services we offered, then I would say we do roofing, windows, gutters, siding, etc the whole shabang.
I was thinking about having services in my name when I first started but opted for window cleaning as I thought that would be the only service I would be offering.
I thought it was important to have something like âwashâ or power wash in the name for web search results?
I imagine if something like âabc servicesâ wouldnât be near the top of someone searches for power washing?
Man thatâs a tough question.
I started with a âwindow cleaningâ name but once I started PW, I had to change to âexterior cleaningâ which frankly Iâm still not thrilled with. People get confused, most of my customers are retirees.
I briefly thought of something witty but there are plenty of those âcompaniesâ floating around.
Thereâs also my name, I get called âDCâ or âBrockâ a lot. It was extra confusing when I lived near Washington DC.
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I named my business House Washing Services, LLCâŚIt covers the pressure washing / softwashing & exterior window cleaning using pure water / waterfed pole in conjunction with house washâŚ
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Good to hear @theDuke2345 chiming in. Youâve got enough âreadâ time for sure.
Iâm interested to see what @Infinity has to say as he recently changed his company name.
My name change could have been better planned.
I used âAlex Lacey Pro Window Cleaningâ from 2006-2010
âInfinity Cleaningâ from 2010-2018
Incorporated in 2019, and didnât really think it through. I wanted âInfinity Cleaning, Inc.â but had to choose an alternate in case that wasnât available. Surprise, surprise: because âInfinity Cleaningâ was already (my) registered DBA, the state wouldnât let us use it for our corporate name. So they incorporated us under the alternate I had picked rather absent-mindedly: âInfinity Maintenance Services, Inc.â
I continued to operate under the Infinity Cleaning DBA for a year or so, then decided to rebrand under the corporate name to try and attract some more commercial work. And it seemed to help!
I think having âMaintenanceâ in the name creates a subtle sense of familiarity with maintenance managers, since theyâre hearing and saying the word on a daily basis.
âServicesâ also tends to resonate well.
But it can be a bit confusing to residential customers who will sometimes assume that I must do other types of maintenance, too.
If I could go back, I might pick either âInfinity ProWash, Incâ or âInfinity Soft Wash, Incâ. (I suppose thatâs still a possibility for the future at some point, but rebrands are a hassle.)
(Sorry for the essay, lol.)
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Yeah Iâm thinking something best to have wash in the name to get good hits also.
I incorporated under a more commercial/industrial name for an LLC then spent weeks deciding on my d.b.a. for residential. I have yet to use my LLC name in any way other than formal paperwork.
When i decided on my d.b.a. i wanted to ultimately go with a company name that was memorable, have a logo that was recognizable, and have a name that somewhat was obvious for what we do. The last part is debateable.
My company is Neptune ProWash.
It is a proper noun, easy to spell, and i have a custom logo to go with it. I wanted people to be able to recall my company months later when chatting with a neighbor or a friend at the little league game.
A friend of mine brought up that he saw a nice rig in his neighborhood washing recently. He said the company was âNola prowash.â 1 week later i asked him the name of that company, he said ânew orleans pressure wash.â They are two real and different companies. But he couldnt recall exactlyâŚ
I do think location based names are great but stay away from the generic, go proper noun in my opinion, or something memorable.
no offense to anyone out there with a generic name, im sorry*
There is a guy in town going by Silverback Pressure wash (softwash, prowash?) Not real sure about the last part but i remember the silverback part. He has a gorilla as his logo. Very good name. Have yet to meet him but i like his style so far.
Just today i left an estimate where i asked the customer has he had his house wahsed before (it looked like it never had been). He said yes a few years ago i had it softwashed, then i did it myself a two years ago. I asked if you dont mind, why have you not called that other company that did the work before? He said he lost his contact info and couldnt remember the company. I booked that job 45 minutes ago standing in his driveway, 15% higher than his other quote he just got, not to brag 
.
In the end, its me they remember, i believe, and not necessarily the company name. In the beginning, and still somewhat to this day, my company was a logo and a company name on a trailer, facebook, google, etc, with a list of the services we offer.
Lately, ive been trying to build a more personable brand behind the logo and company name. It is a family business, this is how i eat and put a roof over my familyâs head. I put my picture, seen in my profile here, on most all of my marketing materials with a âmeet the ownerâ section about who i am. This also gets great reception and people absolutely love to get to know me and chit chat about me, not my company, me and my family. Something like 3 out of 5 customers mention something they read in my âmini-biography.â It works wonders. Many times the job is mine before they hear a price. Why call another pressure washing company when you can hire William or Williamâs company?
The ProWash part is debatable on what it conveys, could be a brick and mortar carwash, detailing service, laundromat. But ultimately with all the other context clues, i think its works just fine.
Pick a strong, memorable name, it could be off the wall like the gorilla one i mentioned. The latter part, services, prowash, softwash, pressure wash, etc, can either pigeon hole you or make you too generic, or just vague, but remember all of your other marketing will provide the context around what you do. Your company name and number arent going to be written on any bathroom stalls right?
Also, google, the trillion dollar company, probably has the algorithm dialed in a bit to where youll be ok without the words âsoftwashâ or âpressure washâ in your actual company name.
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Interesting point hereâŚyour inc or LLC is one thing, your tradename/DBA is another entirely. We have a generic LLC over everything, with DBAs for âpro washâ, âcleaningâ, âlighting companyâ (I think we once had âtechnology servicesâ doing home automation wiring, what a PITA I can imagine)âŚwhatever else we might think up to go out there and doâŚbut the parent company name will always be consistent, plus it saves filings and paperwork. I just have to pay the state DBA fee for each one every year, which is minimal.
On the SEO portion of this, if your business name includes relevant services and service areas Google will factor this into ranking. There is a metric ton of crap Google uses for ranking so obviously this doesnât guarantee your first or even second on the first page when someone Googles âPower washer near meâ.
However, all things considered Jimmys ProWash-www.detroitpowerwashing1.com will rank better than Jimmys ProWash-www.jimmysprowash1.com.
Source: I work in SEO and website development.(PS hit me up if you have any questions or need marketing help). I free lance on top of working my 9-5 doing SEO and my exterior cleaning company i do on the side.
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