How to Register Your Domain Name

If you need a domain name for your business then you'll going to have to choose one that's not already registered and then use one of the online services to register it so it belongs to you.

Now that the internet is 15+ years old many of the common domains have already been registered by so called cyber-squatters who find all the generic names and keep them for themselves so that they can make a profit further down the line.

However, if you have a unique business name it's unlikely that it's been registered before so use this guide to get yours today.

How to Choose the Right Domain for Your Business

Much like choosing a business name your domain will also be used for branding your online business so if you don't have a business name as yet choose something that is easy to remember for people to search for online. Try not to have hyphens in the name as the company without the hyphen will also receive your traffic as people will forget to key that additional element into their browser.

What Domains Should You Register ?

If you are a UK business then of course registering the .co.uk domain is essential however, people have been known to start to register all the other variants so if they are free it's wise to register the .com .net .org versions of any domain.

Searching and Registering Your Domain

It's easy to see if your domain is free to register as all companies offer a search facility on their website. Many offer alternatives if the name you want is taken and also offer a "whois" record which shows the details of the person or company that already owns the name.

Registering is easy. In the UK nominet look after the registration process and all companies need to pay a small fee to them and that's why domains are not free. You also want to choose a company that's reputable as you don't want to lose a web business that you have built up over many years. We recommend 123-reg as they are owned by Pipex who in turn are owned by Tiscali. On their site you can search for domains and manage your account. It is not recommended that you take any of their hosting plans as they don't support php and are difficult to manage.

If you Domain is Taken

If you are searching for a common name it's most likely already been registered previously. You can see if there's an operating website that's being used simply by typing the address in your web browser if typing it into Google. If there's a website that looks like a legitimate business then the chances of owning that are slim - although you could contact the owner to see if they are looking to sell the business.

If there's no website or it looks like it's just made for advertising (adsense mainly) then the owner is simply waiting for an offer. Again approach the registrant. You can see who owns a domain by going to nominet for UK domains and typing the domain into the search box on the right, without the leading www.

If you want to see what domains and website people are selling you can check out sedo.com or alternatively there's a nice community over at acorn domains that have many domain resellers on there and auctions of popular domains and recent catches where people and companies have left their domains to expire and someone else now owns them.

Other Options

Mainly it's the .com and .net that have be already registered and .co.uk domains are generally freely available. But if yours is taken and you can't afford to purchase the name of your choice then think of other words that may describe your business. If you are just local try adding the town or city into your description as people do search specifically for local businesses and this may also help your search engine rankings in the longer term.

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