How to choose the perfect domain name for your business

Your domain name is often the first thing people see of your business online, and it ends up on your email address, business cards and adverts. It's worth taking a little time to get it right.

Keep it short and easy to spell

The best domain names are short, memorable and easy to type. Imagine telling someone your web address over the phone: if you have to spell it out or explain it, it's probably too complicated.

Avoid hyphens and numbers where you can. People forget whether there was a hyphen, and "4" versus "four" causes confusion.

.co.uk or .com?

If most of your customers are in the UK, a .co.uk tells them straight away that you're a British business. A .com is recognised everywhere and is a good choice if you sell internationally.

Many businesses register both and point one at the other. That protects your name and catches visitors who type the wrong ending.

Make it match your brand

Ideally your domain matches your business name exactly. If that's taken, try adding a word that describes what you do or where you are, such as mybusinesslondon.co.uk or mybusinessplumbing.co.uk.

Check before you commit

Before you register, do a quick search to make sure nobody else is using a similar name, and check the UK Intellectual Property Office's trade mark search so you don't run into problems later. It's also worth checking whether the matching social media usernames are free.

Ready to find yours? Use the domain search on our website to check availability across .co.uk, .com, .net and .co in one go.