Your website is a very important part of building your brand and product/service, and you should therefore choose your site’s domain wisely. But how do you pick the best one?
What is a URL?
The URL, or domain name, is the web address that people will type in or be taken to when they search for your brand. While some customers may stumble across you through a search engine, some may come directly to you so you must ensure that your name is easily remembered and also relevant so that you get the optimum visits.
It’s so important to impress with your first impression!
Where to get your domain
You can buy your domain via a number of different websites such as https://www.names.co.uk/domain-names, who may offer the domain alone or a package. The vendor may not highlight this so bear that in mind, but it’s important to read the terms and conditions and understand where you stand with your purchased name.
How much will it cost?
A web address might vary quite significantly in price, depending on how unique, rare or common your choice of name is. Your first year will normally be offered at a cut down price, so be sure to check what the price will be for the subsequent years. Prices can start as low as a few pounds and up to the thousands.
How to make a domain great
What makes a domain stand out is if it is original and catchy. You want to make it as simple as can be to avoid the possibility of errors – for example, coming up with a new way of writing a word that is central to your product is all very well but you must be careful that this doesn’t adversely affect your marketing potential. You may wish to avoid using hyphens or lengthy chunks of text and you will most certainly want to check that there are no copyright issues before completing your purchase.
Which domain suffix to choose
Depending on where you plan to do your trading, you may want to choose your suffix accordingly. A suffix is the bit that comes at the end of your domain address – .com, .co.uk, .uk. .biz. and so on…. If you wish to have international appeal, then a .com is always the way to go!
