Part 8: Name, Brand, and Structure

This part of the guide has 32 pages so far. Each page answers one question, shows what to do, and ends with an audit check you can use on your own business.

8.1 Choose the Business Name

• 8.1.1 Legal Name: Learn what a business legal name is, how it’s set for each business type, where it must match, and how it relates to the name on your Google Business Profile.
• 8.1.2 DBA or Trade Name: Learn what a DBA or trade name is, when you need to register one, where to file it, what it does not protect, and how it connects to your Google listing.
• 8.1.3 Public Brand Name: Learn how to pick the public brand name customers see on signs, ads, and listings, and why using one exact version helps Google and AI tools trust it.
• 8.1.5 Product and Service Names: Learn when a product, package, or service name needs its own trademark check, and how plain service names help Google, Bing, and AI tools match you to searches.

8.2 Check Name Availability

• 8.2.1 State Business Name Search: Learn how to search your state’s business records to see if a name is available for your LLC or corporation, what the results mean, and what they don’t tell you.
• 8.2.2 DBA Name Search: Learn where DBA and trade name records are kept, how to search them before you file, and why a local name conflict can cause trouble with customers and listings.
• 8.2.4 Social Handle Search: Learn how to check social media usernames for your business name, what to do if a handle is taken, and how matching handles help Google tie your profiles together.
• 8.2.5 Map, Listing, and Industry Name Search: Learn how to search Google Maps, Bing, Apple Maps, directories, and industry lists for similar names before you commit, so customers and search engines don’t mix you up.
• 8.2.7 Name Reservation: Learn what a state business name reservation does, when it’s worth paying for, how long it lasts, and why it doesn’t replace forming the business or a trademark.

8.3 Review Trademark and Confusion Risk

• 8.3.1 Trademark Search: Learn how to search federal and state trademark records for your business name, what counts as a conflict, and when to pay a trademark attorney for a clearance search.
• 8.3.2 Common-Law Trademark Use: Learn what common-law trademark rights are, why an unregistered business can still have rights to a name, and how to search the web, maps, and social media for prior use.
• 8.3.3 Name Confusion Risk: Learn how to judge whether your business name could be confused with a nearby or similar business, the factors that matter, and how confusion affects listings.

8.4 Secure the Digital Identity

• 8.4.4 Business-Owned Social Accounts: Learn how to create social media accounts the business controls, with business email and recovery details, so you don’t lose them when someone leaves or a vendor quits.
• 8.4.6 Two Business-Controlled Administrators: Learn why every key business account, including your Google Business Profile, needs at least two trusted admins inside the business, and how to set it up the right way.
• 8.4.7 Brand Consistency: Learn how to keep your business name, logo, colors, and public facts the same on your website, Google profile, listings, and social media, and why search engines care.

8.5 Define the Brand Identity

• 8.5.1 Brand Purpose and Promise: Learn how to write a short, honest brand purpose and brand promise for your small business, and how keeping that promise shows up in reviews and search results.
• 8.5.3 Positioning: Learn how to write a clear positioning statement for your small business, so customers, Google, and AI tools understand who you serve and what you do best.
• 8.5.5 Voice and Tone: Learn how to set a simple brand voice and tone for your small business, so your website, profile, review replies, and texts sound like one trusted company.
• 8.5.6 Visual Identity: Learn how to set your logo, colors, fonts, and photo rules, and how the same logo and real photos on Google, your website, and listings build trust.

8.6 Choose the Business Structure

• 8.6.1 Sole Proprietorship: Learn how a sole proprietorship works, how it’s taxed, the personal liability risk, and when owners move to an LLC or corporation instead.
• 8.6.2 Partnership: Learn how general, limited, and limited liability partnerships work, how they’re taxed, who is liable, and what your partnership agreement should cover.
• 8.6.3 Limited Liability Company: Learn how an LLC works, how it’s taxed by default, what it takes to form one with your state, and why the operating agreement and records matter.
• 8.6.4 Corporation: Learn how a corporation works, how C corporations are taxed, what records and payroll duties come with it, and how it compares to an LLC for a small business.
• 8.6.5 S Corporation Tax Election: Learn who can elect S corporation status, the Form 2553 deadline, why owners must take a reasonable salary through payroll, and what to ask your CPA.
• 8.6.6 Nonprofit: Learn how a nonprofit is formed with your state, how 501(c)(3) tax exemption works with the IRS, and the board, fundraising, and yearly filing duties.
• 8.6.7 Industry-Specific Structure Rules: Learn how licensing boards and state laws can limit business structure and ownership for licensed professions, and how to check the rules before you file.

8.7 Create Ownership Documents

• 8.7.1 Formation Documents: Learn which formation documents and state certificates to keep for your LLC or corporation, where to store them, and when banks, states, and Google may ask.
• 8.7.2 Operating Agreement: Learn what an LLC operating agreement covers, from ownership and authority to money, transfers, and disputes, and why single-member LLCs need one too.
• 8.7.3 Bylaws or Resolutions: Learn what corporate bylaws and resolutions are, what they should cover, when you need them, and how written resolutions prove who approved big decisions.
• 8.7.4 Ownership Ledger: Learn how to keep a simple ownership ledger for your LLC or corporation, what to record for each owner and change, and why taxes and sales depend on it.
• 8.7.5 Initial Consent or Meeting Records: Learn what to record in your new business’s organizational consent or first meeting minutes, from officers and bank accounts to shares and tax decisions.

8.8 Review Beneficial-Ownership Requirements

• 8.8 Beneficial Ownership Reporting: U.S. companies no longer file beneficial ownership reports with FinCEN under the August 2026 final rule. Learn who still files, deadlines, and what to keep.