Your domain name is a marketing tool. Ideally, you want a domain name that reinforces your brand and is easy to remember. An obvious option is to base your domain name on the name of your company, a trading name you use, or a trademark you have registered.
You will also need to decide which domain name ending to use (see question one). Most UK businesses prefer the endings .co.uk, or its international equivalent .com - an individual guessing your website address is most likely to try these endings. Other alternatives include .ltd.uk, .plc.uk, and endings like .aero or .pro for particular types of business (aviation and professional firms respectively).
You can find a listing of the different .uk endings by visiting the website of Nominet UK, the organisation that administers most UK domain names. Go to www.nominet.org and look under 'choosing your domain name'. For a list of generic international endings and other country codes, visit the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority at www.iana.org.
You may want to consider registering several domain names. For example:
- You might want to register different domain names for each of your major brands.
- You may want to register using several different endings: for example, ourcompany.com, ourcompany.co.uk and so on. This makes it easier for customers to find your website, and helps stop anyone else registering domain names similar to yours.
- You may also want to register different spellings or common mis-spellings of your company or brand name.
- If you trade internationally, you may want to register the local versions of your domain name (e.g. ourcompany.co.fr) subject to any local restrictions on whether foreign businesses or individuals may register country code domain names.
You will only be able to register a domain name if it has not already been registered by someone else (see question four). There may also be restrictions: for example, the generic ending .aero can only be used by organisations in the aviation industry; and some countries only allow local organisations to register domain names with that country ending.
You should also bear in mind that registering a domain name does not give you definitive ownership. Your registration could be challenged if someone else feels they have a better right to the domain name, or claims that you are misusing the domain name (see question 13). So you should avoid registering any domain name that uses, or is very similar to, a competitor's trading name or trademark.
