Domain Names
What is a domain name?
Very simply, your domain name is the equivalent of your phone number for your business. However as opposed to being provided with your number, you get to choose your own! The bad news is that a lot of the names that you possibly want are probably gone.
How do I get one?
If you look at the next article (Hosting) most of the hosting companies will also sell you your domain name. It should work out at less than £10 a year for the name.
How do I know if the one I want is available?
Have a look here - just type in the name of the site you want in the top right hand side.
.co.uk / .com / .info etc - what do I choose?
The majority of companies will want a .co.uk or a .com name. In some circumstances (if your chosen site name is already taken), you may wish to consider an alternative like .net or .biz.
If you are an organisation or community group then you may wish to consider a .org or .org.uk site.
So what should you call your website?
Well this is the million dollar question and one to which there is no right or wrong answer. The choices that are open to you are to go for either your company name (www.yourname.co.uk) or what you actually do (www.yourproduct.co.uk).
My advice is to keep the domain name as short as possible and try to think of words that can't easily be misspelled.
Like a phone number, most people won't remember your domain name. They will get your domain name from either your offline marketing (business cards, leaflets, adverts in the paper etc), your online marketing links (eg yell.com or online advertising) or by general searching (see my tips on Search Engine Optimisation and internet Advertising).