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Choosing Your Domain Name
Keep it Simple
Sometimes the choice is easy. Using your business name makes the most sense, and that's what existing clients will expect. Keep the name simple though, it's easier to type and easier to remember. Although we could have gotten coljamconsultantsltd.com, plain coljam.com is just easier, and therefore more appealing to customers. 
Using Dot Com (.com) Domain Names
It's never a bad idea. You'll never regret choosing the .com, and if you choose a .net or .org address, you very well may regret it. Why? Because if your name is Acme Delivery Scotland, then AcmeDeliveryScotland.com or AcmeDeliveryScotland.co.uk is what potential customers will try first.  Keywords For Domain Names
If your chosen .com address is not available, then a good second choice is to use the keywords that your customers will likely search for. Search Engines love it. If someone is searching for properties in Perthshire, for example, being PerthshireProperties.co.uk will make it much more likely that's what will come in the search engine for those terms! So choosing keywords that you can get as a .com is much better than going with a .net or a .org address for your first choice, and might even be better than your first choice, so check it out!  When To Use Country Code Domains (.co.uk)
If you do business exclusively in the UK, and want to show that as part of your company brand or image, then definitely get the .co.uk address. In fact, even if you primarily do business globally and therefore choose the .com address, you might want to consider "parking" the .co.uk address. (Parking means buying it but not using it: This prevents anyone else from using that domain.) On the other hand, very few people would think automatically to try a .eu address, so we generally discourage people from using a .eu address as their primary domain, even if all of their business is European.  Say It Out Loud
Unless a misspelling is part of a widely recognised brand name such as Kwik-Fit, never misspell words in your domain name just to be cute or to get a particular domain name. We also discourage people from using numbers or things that could be easily misinterpreted. You have to remember that sometimes you'll be saying your domain name to people. If your website is Laffs4Kidz.com and you tell someone that, you may end up having people go to laughsforkids.com, and being puzzled when they don't find you, or worse yet, finding a competitor's site instead. If you cannot get around this, you might want to purchase more than one domain name. For example we had a client who wanted the domain name BannedFromUSA.com. Because he's a musician who would be saying the name on the radio quite a lot, we also purchased the name BandFromUSA.com, because 'banned' and 'band' sound exactly the same when spoken. We made the domain BandFromUSA.com point to the proper name BannedFromUSA.com, so he doesn't lose anyone to misunderstandings. Because domain names do not have punctuation, you should very carefully analyse whether or not your domain name could be misinterpreted by breaking up the words differently. We've seen some examples of this that have left the domain owners pretty red-faced, because their choices ended up making them look like adult sites rather than proper business sites.  What If I Already Have a Domain?
If you already have a domain that breaks all the rules, all is not lost. If you're already getting a steady flow of traffic, are indexed in google and have 1000 business cards printed for each person in your office, you're unlikely to want to change your domain address. Using good Search Engine Optimisation techniques can help make sure the right people can still find you. The more well known your site is, the less you will have to rely on your domain name itself for traffic. Why Does My Business Need A Website? What Type Of Website Do I Need? What is SEO, and why does it matter? How Do I Protect My User's Privacy and Data? Why Does No One Visit My Website? |
