Made-Up or Plain: Which Name Gets More Clicks in Google Results?

You've narrowed it down to two names. One is a real word people already know. The other is something you made up — short, catchy, and yours alone. Before you decide, you want to know one thing: which one gets more people to click when your business shows up in a Google search?

That's a fair question. This is the piece most people skip. So let's talk plainly about coined vs real-word domain click-through rate, and what really moves the needle.

What actually decides the click

When someone searches, Google shows a list. Your listing has three parts they see: the title, the short description under it, and the web address itself. People scan that list in a couple of seconds and tap the one that looks right.

Here's the part that surprises people. The name on your domain is a small piece of that decision. The title of your page usually does most of the work. So a made-up name doesn't automatically lose clicks, and a plain-word name doesn't automatically win them.

What the name does do is set a first impression. Does it look trustworthy? Does it match what the person searched for? Does it read cleanly, or is it a jumble of letters they have to squint at?

Where plain-word names have an edge

If someone searches "Tucson roof repair" and sees a listing with the words tucsonroofrepair right in the address, that match feels reassuring. It tells them, in half a second, that they're in the right place. That kind of instant match can nudge a click your way.

Plain-word names also don't make people wonder. Nobody reads "cityplumbing" and thinks, "Wait, is that spelled right?" There's no hesitation. For a local business chasing customers who searched for exactly what you do, that clarity helps.

• It matches the search, so it looks relevant.
• It's easy to read at a glance.
• It answers "what do they do?" before they even click.

Where made-up names can hold their own

A made-up name can look sharp and memorable in a list of plain ones. It stands out. If your title and description clearly say what you do, the name being invented doesn't scare anyone off. People click Google, Zillow, and Etsy every day without blinking — those started as made-up words too.

The risk with a made-up name isn't the click. It's everything around the click. Can people say it out loud? Can they spell it after they hear it on the radio or from a friend? We dug into that here: Coined vs. Real-Word Names: Which Is Easier to Say Out Loud?

The thing that beats both

A confusing name loses no matter which camp it's in. If a real word is spelled a weird way, or a made-up word looks like a typo, people scroll past. The click goes to whoever looks safe.

So the real contest isn't made-up versus plain. It's clear versus confusing. A clean made-up name beats a clunky real-word one. A tight real-word name beats a made-up one that looks like your cat walked across the keyboard.

Pick the name people don't have to think about. That's the one that gets the click.

What this means for your business

Most small businesses aren't building a national brand from scratch. You're a contractor, a clinic, a shop, an agency. You want the people already searching for your service in your town to find you and tap your listing. For that, a plain name that matches the search is usually the safer bet.

But if you've got a name you love that happens to be made up, don't rule it out over clicks alone. Make it clean, make it easy to say, and let your page title carry the message. If you want the full trade-off, read When a Real-Word Domain Beats a Coined Name (And Vice Versa).

One more thing worth doing: write a strong, honest title for your homepage. Google explains how titles show up in results in its own Search Central documentation. That title often decides the click more than the name ever will.

Still weighing it? Take one minute and browse names for your city and trade. Seeing a few real options next to each other makes the choice a lot clearer than any list of rules. And if one name catches your eye, ask us about it — we'll tell you straight what we know.