The .co domain names have now moved into general release phase so you may be able to get yours at a lower price, but what should you buy, why and what will you do with it? There are a host of domain name extensions available; .co.uk, .com, .net, .uk.com, .me etc., my advice is to source your domain names in this order.

  • Buy the .co.uk or .com, these are the most popular so should always be your first choice.
  • Avoid hyphens "-" if at all possible, just because a lot of people aren’t even sure which ones are hyphens.
  • Keep your domain name short, don't forget you'll have to give out your email address and a long domain name means a REALLY long email address!
  • Write a list of preferred domain names and order the list, then you can look to source them in that order
  • Purchase a keyword rich domain name e.g. "mensclothes.co.uk" or "ladiesshoesonline.com"

If you’re not sure which domain name contains the best keyword rich list or indeed which extension to buy, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

The next decision is should you also buy the .com to go with the .co.uk, and what about the .co and the .net.... This is always your choice but I would suggest stick to the one, two at the most, because unless you put an actual website on the domain name then the search engines will ignore it anyway, furthermore there is evidence to support Google’s position that if the domain names are all registered to the same company and/or postal address, that they will see it as a underhanded (or blackhat) attempt to fool Google, a situation they will not be happy with.

The only other reason to buy additional domain names is the “dog in the manger” approach, “I’ll buy it so that no-one else can”, for more on this read our article on domain name scams