In short: choose a domain name that is short, easy to say and easy to spell, and make sure it is registered in your name. For most UK businesses, a .co.uk or a .uk is a good choice. Here is how to decide.
Your domain name is your address on the internet. It goes on your website, your emails, your van, your cards and your invoices, and it is hard to change once people know it. It is worth ten minutes of thought before you settle on one.
Keep it short and memorable
The best domain names are short enough to remember and simple enough to type from memory. Try this test: say it out loud to a friend, and ask them to write it down. If they get it wrong, or have to ask how it is spelled, it is too complicated.
Use your business name where you can
The easiest choice is usually the name of your business, written as one word, such as yourbusinessname.co.uk. People who already know you will guess it, and people who find you elsewhere will remember it. If the exact name is already taken, add what you do before reaching for anything random, so that yourbusinessplumbing.co.uk is better than a string of unrelated words.
Avoid hyphens, numbers and awkward spellings
- Hyphens are easy to forget when you say an address out loud, and people will type the version without them.
- Numbers create the question of whether you meant "4" or "four", "2" or "two".
- Unusual spellings of ordinary words are often mistyped. If your business name is spelled in an unusual way, think about whether visitors will get it right.
- Very long names are harder to read on a phone and easy to get wrong.
.co.uk or .uk?
Both are UK domain endings, and both work well for a business serving UK customers. The .co.uk is the one most people recognise, so it is a safe and familiar choice. The .uk is shorter, and some businesses like that. Whichever you choose, say it the same way every time and put it on everything, so customers learn one address.
Check it does not clash with someone else
Before you commit, search for the name you have in mind, and look at how it reads when the words run together, because an unlucky join can spell something you did not intend. If another business in a similar line of work already uses something very close to it, customers may land on the wrong one, and it may cause trouble later. Choose something that is clearly yours, and write it in capital letters as well as lower case to check that it still reads the way you mean it.
A worked example
Suppose a business is called Green Valley Gardening. The ideal domain would be greenvalleygardening.co.uk. If that is taken, greenvalleygardeners.co.uk or greenvalleylawns.co.uk keeps the name recognisable. A domain such as green-valley-gardening-4u.co.uk is harder to say, harder to remember and easier to mistype, so it will lose customers.
If the name you want is taken
Do not settle for a near miss that sends customers to a different business. Try adding what you do, or choose a slightly different version of your trading name. If a business with the same name is in a different line of work, it is usually fine to use a different ending or an added word, but think about whether customers could confuse the two.
A quick checklist
- Short enough to remember, simple enough to spell.
- No hyphens, no numbers, no unusual spellings.
- Clearly different from any other business.
- Registered in your name, with you as the owner.
Make sure it is registered in your name
This matters more than any of the above. Whoever sets up the domain for you, it should be registered in your name, as the owner, so that you are never left without access to your own address. With our package the domain is registered in your name, as set out in our terms, and it is included while you keep the card machine.
Think about email at the same time
Your domain will also give you an email address that matches it. We explain why that is worth having in our post on business email with your own domain. And if you have a domain already, the FAQ explains how we agree on the call how to use it.