Your domain name is your address on the internet, the bit after the “www”. It is worth a few minutes’ thought, because a good one is easy to share and sticks in the memory, and because who owns it matters more than most people realise. Here is how to choose well.
Keep it short, clear and sayable
The best domains pass the “read it out over a noisy phone line” test. Aim for:
- Short. Fewer characters means fewer typos and easier sharing.
- Easy to spell. Avoid clever spellings, silent letters and anything you would have to spell out every time.
- Sayable. You will read it aloud constantly, on calls, on your van, to customers. If it trips you up, change it.
Your business name is usually the right starting point. If it is taken or awkward, adding your town or trade can work, but only if the result still reads cleanly.
Avoid the traps
A few things quietly cause trouble later:
- Hyphens and numbers. “smith-and-sons-plumbing-24” is a nightmare to say and to type. Avoid them where you can.
- Words that blur together. Read the joined-up version carefully; some innocent word pairs form something unfortunate once the spaces disappear.
- Trademarks. Do not build your name around another company’s brand.
.co.uk or .com?
For a business trading in Britain, .co.uk is the natural choice. Customers expect it, it signals you are local, and the names are more likely to be free. A .com feels a little more national and is worth having too. If the budget stretches, register both and point one at the other, so a customer who guesses the wrong one still lands on you. The extra domain costs only a few pounds a year and saves lost visitors.
Newer endings like .uk or .online can work, but most customers still instinctively type .co.uk, so lead with that.
Owning it is the part that matters
Here is the bit people miss. A domain is rented, not bought outright, you register it for a period and renew it. What matters is whose name it is registered in. If a web designer or platform registers it for you under their own account, you can find yourself unable to move, or even held to ransom, if the relationship sours. It sounds dramatic; it happens more than you would think.
Your domain should always be registered so that it is genuinely yours. It is one of the reasons a website you own beats renting a spot on a platform, a theme we come back to in website versus a Facebook page and in whether lead sites like Checkatrade are worth it.
How we handle it
With ReadyOnline, your domain is always yours. If you already have one, we connect it for free. If you do not, we can register and manage one for you and handle the yearly renewal, so it never lapses by accident, and if you ever leave we hand it over to you or your chosen provider at no charge. You get the convenience of it being managed, without giving up ownership.
Not sure what your name should be, or whether the one you want is free? Get a free preview of your site and we will help you sort the domain as part of it, no card needed.