domain namessite promotion
marketing strategy
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domain names
Registering a domain name for your business allows you to use an easy to remember and unique World Wide Web address for your web site. Your domain name should be carefully chosen to reflect your identity and style, forming powerful associations in the minds of your customers.
A domain name for a UK business usually takes the form http://www.yourcompany.co.uk and matching email addresses such as yourname@yourcompany.co.uk provide consistency and convenience. Sometimes, other domain name endings such as .com are a useful alternative or addition, depending on specific marketing requirements, and even having more than one domain name can be the way to go.
Choosing a domain name
How to choose a domain name? Choosing a domain name involves some careful balancing of priorities unique to each business but there are some fundamental guidelines to keep in mind. Ideally your domain name should:
- Match your business style
- Be attractive
- Be legible
- Be memorable
- Be easy to spell
- Be guessable
When selecting a name, there are four main associations that can be made between the domain name you choose and your business.
- Your business name
- Your business sector or activity
- Your geographic location
- Your main product/service name
Make sure your domain name is chosen to cover what's most relevant to your business needs.
'Protecting' your business name
It is natural to want to register the domain name which matches your business name. Doing so helps your customers to remember or even guess your web address and it reinforces your existing identity. Also, there should be less reason for confusion with other similarly named businesses.
However, some businesses will have the same or very similar names and there is a chance that your preferred domain name has already been registered. You can use our domain name checker to see if your preferred domain name is currently available.
If your preferred name is not available, don't worry too much. You just need to adopt an inventive strategy to arrive at your choice. For clients purchasing a web site package, we provide extra guidance on how to deal with this point.
.com domain names
For a UK business operating in a UK only market a .co.uk style domain name is a good choice. If your business has an export focus or you want to create a more international feel for your site, then a .com ending has some advantage. Customers in many countries, including, but not just the US and Canada, may well remember or guess a .com domain name ending before a .co.uk
A .com domain name ending is offered as an option with our web site packages.
Domain name mapping
Domain mapping allows a single version of a web site to exist but with more than one domain name used as a web address for that site.
Choosing more than one domain name, with each chosen for a particular association or marketing strategy, can be a good way to deal with several potentially conflicting priorities.
Domain name mappings are available as an option with our web site packages.
Strategy
- Match business name
- Use .co.uk and/or .com ending
- Use domain mapping as needed
Our suggested strategy for most businesses is firstly to choose a domain name which matches your business name using a co.uk and/or .com style ending to suit your target markets.
Then consider ways you can create additional associations between your business and a domain name within the minds of your customers. Use domain mapping, as needed, to enable these together with any useful variations of the original domain name.
The registration of a .co.uk style domain name is a standard feature of our web site packages with options to use a .com style ending and domain mapping.
To further explore the domain naming possibilities for you business, contact us today to arrange your free, no obligation consultation.
July 2002 - S.B.
This is an abstract of an article made available to clients purchasing one of our web site packages.
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