5) Plurals. Very often a domain name will be free in plural but not in singular form. It’s a personal choice, but if your prefered choice of domain name is not available you might be stuck.

6) Short or Long domains – A short domain name is more memorable, but less likely to be available. A longer domain is harder to remember, but can contain more keywords which is important as some of search engines, use keywords in a domain name as part of search algorithm.

7) Which Top Level Domain Type - .com, .co.uk , .net etc This is a question I am often asked. There is no evidence that any domain name type is given preference by search engines. However some search engines such as Google, have local searches e.g www.google.co.uk which do select local content. Customer often get re-assurance from seeing a local TLD as they know they are dealing with a local company etc. You can, of course, register all of them!

8) Variations – If your prefered domain name is not available then its always worth trying a prefix my e.g mydomains.com or suffix e.g domains4U.com etc

First - Select your domain name, ideally this needs to be either your company or websites name.

Secondly - Check if its free. Most domain name registrars including www.discountdomainsuk.com offer a WHOIS service. Consider registering other Top Level Domain extensions, e.g .com and .co.uk if your UK based.

Thirdly - Register your domain name. As you register your domain name or names it is always worth giving thought to where your website will be hosted, some registrars and hosting companies expect you to purchase both services. It can be more expensive to change your mind later on.

Lastly maintain your domain name. If you change your e-mail address etc, do not forget to update your account with registrar, otherwise when renewal comes around you could overlook your domain names expiry.