Domain namesDomain names
Your domain name is your company’s address on the internet and should be short, memorable and reflect your business. By registering your domain name when you set up your company, not only can you match your domain name to that of your company but you ensure no-one else can use it. You may even want to secure more than one domain name to further protect your business identity. For more information read our guidance notes.
What is the best domain suffix for a new business
The most commonly known domain suffixes are .com and .co.uk. For easy recognition and branding, you would normally want to use one of these. For UK businesses, we would generally recommend using .co.uk whereas if you are intending to trade overseas and don't want to be considered as primarily a UK company we would suggest that you pick a .com. For more information read our guidance notes.
Choosing your domain name
Your domain name should be short, memorable and reflect your business. There are some restrictions on the characters and names you can use. For more information read our guidance notes.
Where are they registered?
There are various registries throughout the world but for the purposes of UK registration the following is applicable.
- UK – Nominet http://www.nominet.org.uk(.co.uk/, .org.uk,)
- Registries around the world can be viewed at http://www.norid.no/domeneregistrering/index.en.html
Are there any restrictions?
- Very little providing that the name is not the same as another
Where is a domain situated?
The magic of “DNS” ……. Domain name servers route users to web sites
You type http://www.bbc.co.uk/, a “DNS” server translates to 212.58.253.67 so you
end up on the bbc website!
Can I see who owns a domain?
Yes, for .co.uk you can check http://www.nominet.org.uk/ and see registrant details.