How important is your Alpaca Ranch name? If you are interested in being found on the Internet, it turns out it's very important, but only a part of the mysterious art of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)! Just do a search on one of the search engines for Alpaca. Aside from the fact that there are millions of hits returned, take a look at the URL and the Ranch Name for the first 100 or so. Although there are a few exceptions, most of the ranch names as well as the URLs have the name Alpaca in them. In addition, the title of the page also has the word Alpaca in it, and Alpaca is repeated throughout the text of the web pages.
So, what is the Greatest Ranch Name Ever? To be honest, the Greatest Ranch Name Ever does not exist, however there are many great names as well as many types of names to avoid. In a nutshell, the name that you decide to use for any business should have something to do with the primary product of your business. For most Alpaca breeders, the name should contain the word Alpaca if you are in the business of breeding and selling Alpacas, but there are exceptions.
OK, now we have the start of our Ranch name. Something with Alpaca in it, but what else should we have. Remember how many results were returned when we searched for Alpaca? Think about what you would search for to reduce the number of results returned. When I first began researching Alpacas, my second search was for Alpacas in "My State" (Pick your state). So, the second part of your ranch name should probably include something similar. Put yourself in your potential customer's shoes. What would be the second thing that they would search for?
As you think about what to name your ranch, do searches on the words besides Alpaca that might appear in a search. It's amazing how many common names are associated with less than family friendly websites, or products that are entirely unrelated to yours. I didn't know that there was a programming language called Alpaca, but it comes up in the first few pages in a search. Let's say that you decide to name your ranch Quality Alpacas. Well, it turns out that almost every Alpaca Ranch has Quality Alpacas, and the URL QualityAlpacas.com is already taken by a ranch in Colorado called Dutch Valley Ranch that also sells Alpaca Food. Now there may be a ranch named Quality Alpacas, but I can't find it on the search engines, but I may check into that Alpaca Food.
Another aspect of the perfect name is that it should be memorable and easy to spell. I remember reading an advertisement about an Alpaca breeder that went something like "the tax man said I wasn't a farm so I bought some Alpacas and told him M2AFarm. Just for fun, I just typed in http://www.m2afarm.com and an Alpaca breeder in Illinois came up. However, if I search for Illinois Alpacas I don't see them, at least in the first few pages. Still like the name though!
If you are just starting out in the Alpaca business, I hope this helps in your search for the perfect name. If you already have a less than perfect name, there are still ways to be found on the Internet, but I'll leave that for another day.