So, today, SynthaSite is officially renamed to Yola and it’s been a pretty fantastic day for us – a lot of work has gone into this over many months and it was a tough decision to make. SynthaSite was really built into a solid and popular brand – supporting over 1.5m users and growing rapidly. We also raised $20m in financing last month – so we need to put that money to good use and build out a solid business!
This clearly begs the questions: “Why Yola?” and “Why now?”.
Why Yola?
In a world with so many different global brands and names – it’s actually very difficult to find a unique name, especially a short one. We went through a long process and decided on Yola. It’s short, easy to say and spell in most languages, reflects the culture of our organization, and will be able to grow with the plans we have for our business. We believe that it reflects the culture of our organization and we were able to secure the .com domain name – an important part of renaming any web company.
Why now?
Given the sizeable investment we’ve just received, we obviously have big plans for the company. The rename was always going to happen, the funding is just going to enable us to achieve those goals faster.
SynthaSite is a great name for our website building product, but we don’t believe the brand transfers very well to ancillary products that we may launch in the future. I’m not a big fan of having multiple brands in any fast growing market (it’s different in mature markets – multiple brands allow for more “shelf space”), so in order to consolidate our branding across our future products and services, we had to select a brand that could transfer brand equity from one product to another, in which case “SynthaSite” doesn’t work as well as “Yola”.
For example, in the future, we may role out a mobile product, and instead of calling it SynthaSite Mobile – we felt Yola Mobile would be a better name – shorter and to the point – the “site” part gets in the way, and “Syntha” is not really a standalone word or name (Synth A Site). SynthaSite is really a single product name and not a company/global brand name and therefore this presented a challenge, and many others like this, to us – which will all considered carefully in the process of our renaming.
The rename is really about looking forward into the future about what our company is about and where we need to and want to go – SynthaSite could serve us well as a single product brand, but it really didn’t fit with our long term product & business strategy. I’m sad to see it go, but excited with the prospects of what Yola will bring – I trust that you are too! Thanks for all the great feedback and support!
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Comments On This Post
March 26, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Vinny thanks for the explanation. I just went to update my SynthaSite page and was confused to be redirected to yola.com. Thinking I made a mistake when I typed in the the sythasite.com url, I tried again. I then noticed the "Yola formerly SynthaSite" logo in the top left. My first thought was, "Why wasn't I made aware of this? Where was the e-blast update to all users?" I went to tweet about this confusing series of events when I see you on my feed with "Why Yola? Why Now?" It's great to see you guys using social media effectively in communicating with customers.
March 26, 2009 at 10:17 pm
nice of you to take the time to explain, i always love the way synthasite/yola pay extra attention to customer satisfaction, Best of luck with all your future plans. Lee.
March 26, 2009 at 6:16 pm
[...] Chief executive Vinny Lingham blogged about the name change, saying: Given the sizeable investment we’ve just received, we obviously [...]
March 27, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Good name then synthasite .Do yola have office in india ?
March 28, 2009 at 12:06 am
Can you change the color of the sign, Yola? It's in pink now, and I think green or red or any other color would be a nice change, because pink..
March 30, 2009 at 1:53 am
so… will the sites still end with '.synthasite.com'? or will it now be '.yola.com'? ~neko~
March 30, 2009 at 9:18 am
We have used all of communication channels to communicate about the change. I would just like to emphasize that URL's are not changing because of the name change! You will always be in full control of your site's URL and can make use of any of the options available, but a change will not be forced on any of our customers. For more information on the name change, please see: http://www.yola.com/yola-rebranding-faqs.html. If you still have any questions, please email support[at]yola[dot]com and we will be happy to answer you!
April 2, 2009 at 9:26 am
I also wonder if you changing the color of the logo is possible.
April 2, 2009 at 10:56 am
what does Yola mean, Vinny ?
April 3, 2009 at 4:02 pm
You've done a good job with the branding. Memorable name, nice logo. Good luck!
April 4, 2009 at 4:59 am
Yes I agree with RezV, the new name is really more easy to recall and quite catchy. I tried the new Yola but when I try to publish the site using the subdomain (free) option, I still get the synthasite.com instead of yola same as neko's experience. But honestly, I like to interface its easy to use however when I tried to make a new post, it doesn't save it. Maybe I pressed a wrong button.
April 4, 2009 at 9:20 pm
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Web 2.0 Expo features the most innovative and successful Internet industry figures and companies with examples of business models, development paradigms, and design strategies to en…
April 5, 2009 at 8:31 am
It's nice to hear that you're planning on introducing a wide range of products. Congratulations once again on the funding, and congratulations on Yola.
Best of luck -
April 6, 2009 at 7:27 pm
That is cool you are introducing new products. Keep up the good work.
April 7, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Good name for good product. It's easy to remenber. Thanks to give update information.
April 8, 2009 at 8:03 am
Great product.
April 15, 2009 at 2:43 am
http://www.enjoychinatour.com/
Great product
April 16, 2009 at 10:24 pm
I have reading the new Yola website and it looks great. I´m thinking in doing some free websites and the best plattaforms seems to be Yola and Weebly. But I liked more the Yola because of the Shop and the Paypal option. Great work,
April 25, 2009 at 7:10 pm
How did you get $20 Million in funding? That's excellent!
How can you provide free websites & free hosting?
Does this mean that Yola.com will be part of my URL?
Thank you,
Ken from Used Office Furniture
April 25, 2009 at 7:21 pm
I too, would like to know if the Yola.com will be part of my domain name when I sign up to Yola?
Thanks,
Ken from http://www.superiorofficeservices.net
April 30, 2009 at 9:12 am
May you change the color of the Yola sign? It seems there is other color will be appropriate to everyone.
May 6, 2009 at 2:53 am
Maybe you should change the name agian because yola is slang for cocaine and it might be insulting to other people – just a tip for you to think about.
May 6, 2009 at 2:55 am
I'm not trying to be rude just so. You know
May 16, 2009 at 7:41 pm
The new Yola site is great, looks very good with alot of context…
May 25, 2009 at 3:06 am
You know that yola is slang for coke right, as in Cocaine?
May 26, 2009 at 11:00 pm
I visited the site and it's really a big product. It is not easy to start such ventures in these days. Congrats!
May 29, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Thank you for explain. Logo is nice and simple, but… pink? It is little contestationly… but 100 people, 100 tastes
June 8, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Great explanation of branding and how it applies to product line extensions. I think you were definitely right to choose a new name and Yola sounds like a good one. It really looks like you're on your way to even greater success. Good job!
June 11, 2009 at 8:48 pm
I'm excited to check out Yola. Web 2.0 sites are popping up everywhere, but this realy looks like a great site. I like the name over SynthaSite as well.
June 22, 2009 at 6:11 am
I have reading the new Yola website and it looks great. I´m thinking in doing some free websites and the best plattaforms seems to be Yola and Weebly. But I liked more the Yola because of the Shop and the Paypal option. Great work,
June 22, 2009 at 7:55 am
nice of you to take the time to explain, i always love the way synthasite/yola pay extra attention to customer satisfaction, Best of luck with all your future plans. Lee.
June 22, 2009 at 2:10 pm
@Sue I agree I like the name over SynthaSite its more catchy
Yola :p
June 24, 2009 at 6:29 pm
I like Yola. Its a cool name!
June 29, 2009 at 2:24 am
yeah me too, yola is a cool name and easy listening
June 30, 2009 at 1:11 am
i don't know yola?
July 1, 2009 at 2:43 am
We like to present "Yola"…….
I like the name.
July 2, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Excellent demonstration in effective marketing and brand reconition, great stuff
July 3, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Stop browsing, start building…
Yola was nice….
Great vinny
July 4, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Yola actually sounds catchy I like it
July 4, 2009 at 10:05 pm
[...] was renamed to Yola.com in March 2009. Share and [...]
July 5, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Yola, Thanks for the marketing tips.
July 5, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Thank you so much…nice of you taking time to explain all this. Wish you best of luck in your future plans.
July 8, 2009 at 6:56 am
what does yola do exactly? but anyway it's a good name. i think you will do good out of it. good luck
July 8, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Definatley prefer yola as a marketing name, very catchy tagline, thank you for taking the time to explain the change!
and congradulations on the funding you recieved
July 9, 2009 at 6:13 am
great site, with easy remember name…..
Yola…….
July 9, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Yola is much more catchy name!
http://www.travelcover.org
July 9, 2009 at 7:11 pm
I think you chose a fantastic name, it will stick in peoples minds. Although unique it has the qualities that names such as twitter and google and many others have, they are unique and very catchy
July 10, 2009 at 12:51 am
Great product.
July 10, 2009 at 7:52 am
I'm excited to check out Yola. Web 2.0 sites are popping up everywhere, but this realy looks like a great site.
July 13, 2009 at 6:55 am
the tagline is kewl..
stop browsing.. start building..
July 13, 2009 at 7:24 am
Maybe you should change the name again because yola is slang for cocaine and it might be insulting to other people. May you change the color of the Yola sign? It seems there is other color will be appropriate to everyone.
July 17, 2009 at 6:32 am
Cool revision you have there… also a Cool name "yola"
this also applies to other business of re branding their items to be more attractive to the eyes of the people..
well sounds a great opportunity for you guys.
July 21, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Looks to be a great brand name, short, catchy and easy to remember. Should do well.
July 22, 2009 at 9:01 am
Good name for good product.. I always love the way synthasite/yola pay extra attention to customer satisfaction, Best of luck with all your future plans.
July 22, 2009 at 9:14 am
Definatley prefer yola as a marketing name, very catchy tagline, thank you for taking the time to explain the change! Web 2.0 sites are popping up everywhere, but this realy looks like a great site.
July 22, 2009 at 9:28 am
Good name then synthasite. Memorable name, nice logo. Good luck!
July 23, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Thanks
July 23, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Good..
July 23, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Thanks.
July 23, 2009 at 7:40 pm
SaÄŸolun..
July 26, 2009 at 12:31 pm
evry short name is good
i dont like long words 
July 26, 2009 at 1:06 pm
good name.
easy listening.
sound like "Hola" or "Hello"
July 26, 2009 at 9:06 pm
I have reading the new Yola website and it looks great.
Really a good and interactive post.
July 27, 2009 at 8:07 am
I have reading the new Yola website and it looks great. Thank you for explain. Logo is nice and simple.
July 29, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I like Yola it even sounds good I have the widget myself on my blog. =p
July 30, 2009 at 7:35 am
Yola is much more easier to remember than Synthasite. I've already made a test site using their services to let my employer see my work. And he was kinda shocked to see that the site is redirecting. Thanks for the explanation.
Watch How I Met Your Mother
July 30, 2009 at 4:04 pm
SynthaSite was officially renamed to Yola. Why Yola? You said the name is short and unique so you agreed upon it. But how did you come up with Yola?
July 31, 2009 at 4:18 am
It is important that everyone should understand these.
August 6, 2009 at 7:03 am
Fantastic post. Bookmarked this site and emailed it to a few friends, your post was that great, keep it up.
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August 13, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Oww thanks very loll..saq
August 13, 2009 at 6:14 pm
thank you.
August 13, 2009 at 7:58 pm
I had never heard of Yola before but after reading this article I went and checked it out. Looks like a great site that can provide some help in my business. thanks
August 16, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I agree too. thank you for sharing
August 22, 2009 at 2:19 am
thanks yola tu yaar kuch toh bola really very nice info in this articles i like it and i support it
August 25, 2009 at 10:53 pm
yes I think you will do better !
August 25, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Thats cool name… “Synthasite” was a little long name. Yola is cool
August 31, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Yola is much more easier to remember than Synthasite. I’ve already made a test site using their services to let my employer see my work.
September 20, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Why Yola? I never heard about it. But now I know and I will maybe try it out.
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