Domain name dilemma: find the right name for your business

Choosing a business name can be a really difficult decision, it could be with you for years, and it could impact the way that people perceive your business. With an almost certain need for an online presence in todays internet driven world, you will need to factor in how your business name translates into your domain name as well. Here's our 3 top tips for choosing a business name:

• Brainstorm key words and test them out on people you respect such as family and friends.
• Check trademarks; you won’t be able to use something that’s already been trademarked by someone else, you can check this here.
• Pick something easy to spell and easy to spread. So, whilst Amazon doesn’t really describe what the business is about, it’s easy to spell and tell other people about. Tumblr on the other hand sounds like it should be spelt “tumbler”, it’s lucky it’s a good concept.

Once you've decided on your businesses name, you will need to find a domain name for your website. Many of the best .co.uk and .com domain names have already been snapped up but the good news is that lots of new domain extensions have been released in the past few years with more scheduled. This means that whilst .co.uk and .com names have been taken, there are plenty of more specific domain extension's (TLDs) available to fit your business type such as .london, .co, .uk.ltd and .uk. It may be worth checking back every couple of months to see if there's anything new available.

Some other useful tips when considering your domain name choice:

• Spell it right, avoid abbreviations and don’t use number alternatives (ie. gr8) – you want to make it as simple as possible for people to find you.
• Check the availability on social media as well so that you can create one branded name across all platforms.
• Keep it short- it should be 2 or 3 words maximum.
• Purchase a variety of domain names similar to yours (if they’re available) so that you can protect your brand and drive more traffic to your site even if people spell it incorrectly.
• If you’re struggling with inspiration there are a number of sites that can help you create a domain name; Panabee, NameBoy, NameStation and NameTumbler are just a few.
• Buy it now! Domain names sell quickly (nearly 84,000 are registered per day) so grab it if you see it.

It’s super easy to purchase your own custom domain name from Webforward. Simply type in the domain you're looking for into our domain name checker and we’ll bring back all the domains that are available to you. Once you own your domain name the next step will be hosting your website. If you want to find out more now, and how we can help you then give us a shout at hello@webfwd.co.uk.