Domain Names
Registering the best possible Domain Name (URL or web address) is important for your website. It creates the very first impression and including keywords and an extended period of registration (for a .com) can contribute a little to the web site's search engine visibility.
And there are good reasons to avoid changing your domain name after the website is launched!
Intuitive Domain Names
Domain names which are based on generic words like 'DIY' or 'digitalcameras' are called 'intuitive' domain names. The alternative is to use a 'proper name' or 'trade name' such as your name or the name of your organisation.
The use of generic words in an intuitive domain name may help improve your search engine ranking a little. Google does index words from the url but most commentators suggest they have comparatively little value when compared with other ranking factors. Favour hyphens (www.digital-cameras.com) over underscores (www.digital_cameras.com). Further reading: Matt Cutts Google Blog.
Should you register a hyphenated or non-hyphenated domain name? We suggest you register both! The choice of which you should ultimately use comes down to business preference. Hyphenated domains are easier to read and may help where inbound links use the domain name. Non-hyphenated domain names are easier to spell out over the phone and are perhaps more intuitive from memory.
Good Domain Names are:
- Logical: www.bbc.co.uk
- Descriptive: www.diy.com.
- Memorable: www.lastminute.com.
Top-Level Domains
A top-level domain (TLD) is the last part of your domain name - ie the letters that come after the final dot. For example the TLD in the domain www.mywebsite.com is 'com'.
Top-level domains are grouped in three categories.
- Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLD):
Used by a country it is two letters long and the ccTLD for the UK is 'UK'. - Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD):
Used by a particular class of organisation - eg .com should be used by commercial organisations. These are three or more letters long. Most gTLD are available for use worldwide. - Infrastructure top-level domains (iTLD):
Used exclusively for Internet-infrastructure purposes.
The most relevant and popular Top-level domains include:
- .uk: UK based commercial companies often use .co.uk
- .com: For commercial organisations
- .net: Now often used as an alternative to .com
- .org: Intended for non-commercial organisations
- .eu: The extension for organisations with their offices inside the European Union
Full lists of gTLDs and ccTLD are available from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).
Should you register a .com, .eu or .uk? Again we suggest you register all if they are available! If your market is local or national as opposed to international then a .uk is probably the best choice. If you would like to market overseas then choose a .eu (for the European Community) or .com (worldwide) as appropriate.
Registration Periods
It is believed Google (and perhaps other search engines) prefer domain names that have been registered for an extended period. A longer registration suggests that the web site is likely to be more established and is not a temporary or test site. Registering for more than one year certainly reduces the administration work and will probably save money too.
The following domains names can be registered for a minimum of 1 year and up to a maximum of 10 years.
- .com
- .net
- .org
- .info
- .biz
The following domains names can only be registered for a period of 2 years.
- .co.uk
- .org.uk
- .ltd.uk
- .plc.uk
- .me.uk
Currently .eu domain names can only be registered for a minimum 1 year period.
