Choosing a domain name
The domain name effectively provides your web site with its own address or location within the internet, allowing customers to locate and view your site.
Choosing a domain name for your web site over recent years become a difficult task as most quality domain names have already been snapped up. Therefore finding a quality domain name to represent your business or brand will be a challenge.
When trying to determine the correct domain name, make a list of all Key words that your business evolves around. You can then create a list of potential domain names to choose from.
You will also be faced with choosing the Domain extension, for example, .co.uk or .com. This really depends on what type of organisation you are and also where your target audience is based. If you trying to attract wide world customers, then you should try to obtain the .com and also the country specific domains. If you are a UK based business then it is recommended to get the .co.uk domain as well.
When brain storming your possible domain names you will need to check whether they have already been registered by someone else. Avoid just popping the address into a web browser as this can be misleading, Domain Names can still be taken even if they are not being used. Instead use a site such as the following in order to check on availability:
- www.123-reg.co.uk - Domain Registration and Management [
AFL ]
Tips for choosing domain names
- Try to keep the domain name short and memorable.
- Try to choose a common TLD where possible, eg, .co.uk or .com
- Where possible try to represent your business name or brand in the domain name.
- Avoid variations on words that may confuse the, eg, using Kars instead of Cars
- Avoid including hypens or other non-alphanumeric characters in your domain name, eg, use a-z and 0-9 only