Domain Name Registration

What is a domain name?

A domain name is like an address. Once you have chosen and registered your domain name, it becomes your unique address on the internet. There are many domain names available. The most commonly used in the United Kingdom is .co.uk - this indicates that you are based in the United Kingdom.

Why do domain names have different endings?

There are many endings to domain names and you may be wondering what the difference is between them all. The last part of any domain name is called the top-level domain (TLD), a few examples of which are listed below.

Top-level domains can be geographically grouped:

  • .fr - the country of origin and in this case France
  • .eu - a country in the European Union
  • .co.uk - a company in the United Kingdom
  • .org.uk - a non-profit making organisation in the United Kingdom
  • .gov.uk - reserved for government use in the United Kingdom

Top-level domains can be internationally based:

  • .com - international commerce (company)
  • .org - an international organisation
  • .biz - an international business
  • .name - used for personal names

How do I decide my top-level domain?

When choosing a domain name for yourself, business or organisation, you must decide what top-level domain would suit your needs best. For example - a .com indicates ‘international’ but do you want to be seen as an international operation if you are a local playgroup?

Search engines, like Google, play a very important part in getting people to your website. If someone residing in the United Kingdom searches the internet - search engines may give preference to .co.uk domain names over a .com or .biz domain name in their search results.

What about the spelling of my domain name?

When choosing a domain name you should choose something which is easy to spell.

For example, if you type www.gocompare.co.uk you will find the famous comparison website. However if you type www.gocompair.co.uk you will find something completely different.

One solution to the problem, is to register two or more domain names which will go to the same website. We have registered two domains names for a client in Lincolnshire with a business called Just4Legs. This example can be seen working below.

www.just4legs.co.uk
www.justforlegs.co.uk

You will see that if you click on either of the above, you will go to the Just4Legs website.

Does anyone regulate the use of domain names?

Yes there are regulatory bodies for the use and control of domain names:

  • domain names ending in uk are controlled by Nominet
  • International domain names, for example.com, are controlled by ICANN

Are you new to domain name registration?

Let Minting Design guide you through selecting the right domain name for you or your business.

Minting Design will:

  • advise you on suitable choices of domain name
  • check the availability of your prefered domain name
  • register your domain name, for you, in your own name and address

Call Minting Design today - we’re here to help you with your domain name registration!

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