Choosing a domain name info@thewebsitedesignstudio.co.uk
Tel: 01903 879362

Choosing a domain name

This short article looks at ways you can use to find a suitable domain name that is relevant to your website, easily remembered, and that is not already registered by another website owner.

Identifying your website goals

When it comes to choosing a domain name, you need to think about your goals of your website. For many individual potential website owners, such as artists, authors and actors, the main aim of the website is that of a showcase. Therefore the obvious choice of a domain name is the name of the owner. For a business, the name of the company, or a term that descibes that main focus of the company is a good choice.

Finding a name

For businesses, it is important for a domain name to be memorable, and it is also important that the domain name contains at least one keyword related to the topic of your site. (For example, the domain name of this site is www.thewebsitedesignstudio.co.uk) This is so the domain name is noticeable to search engines. Of course, this is more easily said than done since many domain names containing keywords are already taken. If you can’t find a domain name that contains your keyword, settle for something short and catchy.

A good place to start looking for a domain name is godaddy.com. They have a domain name checker and a tool you to suggest other names if your chosen name is already taken. There are many other domain name companies that offer a similiar service.

Should I choose .co.uk or .com?

Generally, if you are business are based in the UK, a .co.uk name is best. If your business is of a more global nature, .com is probably your best option. .com names generally suggest a US or global bias. There are advantages in choosing a domain name that has a suffix that indicates the location of your business. For example, search engines searching for UK companies will give priority to .co.uk domain names.

Choosing unique domain names

You may find that your chosen name and alternative variations of it are already taken. In this case you may have to go back to the drawing board. One tactic is to take a dictionary and look for arbitrary words. What you are looking for is a short (preferably under 8 characters and with an unambiguous spelling) that could possibly make a good name for a website. (Think of the names Yahoo, Amazon and Google for example.)

Should I buy a domain name before I approach a website designer?

Ideally, it is best that you get your web design company to register the name for you. This is because the web design company will have a preferred host and the name will be registered with that host. Of course, you can register you name yourself - there are many companies that offer low cost domain names. However, this can be false economy as web design companies usually use their own hosts, and there will be a charge for transferring your name to their hosts. There is also a risk that the name can get lost in the transfer process and you may have to choose another!

Please contact The Website Design Studio for a friendly, no obligation discussion about your website needs.

Tel: +44 (0)1903 879362
Email: info@thewebsitedesignstudio.co.uk

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Glossary

Animation
Any graphic that moves on your website. Animations are often created in a programming language called Flash – hence the term Flash animations.

Below the fold
Content of a web page that is not seen by the visitor unless the visitor scrolls down the page.

Blog
Blog is short for web log. It’s a web page were the owner can easily add short updates (known as posting). It is particularly useful for online diaries.

Blogger
The author of a blog.

Blogging
Blogging is the act of posting on a blog.

Bookmark
A link to a specific web page, stored by your browser in your favorites section.

Brochure website
A simple website designed to give information about the owner’s products or services.

Browser
A program on your computer that allows you to look at web pages. Examples include Internet Explorer, Fire Fox and Netscape. There are others.

Comment
A piece of feedback left by a reader on a blog.

Compression
A way of packing data in order to save storage space or for faster download time. It is commonly used when preparing photographs for presentation on the web. Photos that have not been compressed take a long time to download.

Content
Anything that is included on a web page including artwork, text and photographs.

Discussion board
A discussion board is a general term for any online "bulletin board" where you can leave and expect to see responses to messages you have left. Or you can just read the board.

Domain name
The address of your website. (e.g. www.thewebsitedesignstudio.co.uk)

Domain registrar
A domain registrar is a company or organization involved in registering domain names on the Internet.

Email
Typed messages that can be sent to other users of the internet (providing both the sender and the receiver have email addresses.)

Email address
An address that can be used to send and receive emails.

Email forwarding
A way of forwarding emails to another email address.

Flash
Software made by Macromedia that created animated sequences for inclusion on a website.

Forms
A way for website visitors to communicate with the website or other people instead of sending an e-mail. Typically forms may ask for a visitor’s name, address, email address and details of any enquiry.

GIF
A GIF is a type of image file. It stands for Graphic Interchange Format. It is best used for artwork with flat colours.

Hits
The number of times a web page has been viewed on the internet.

Home page
The first page you see when you view a website.

Host
A computer connected to the internet that stores website pages.

HTML
Stands for Hypertext Markup Language. This is the language that web pages are created using.

Hyperlink
A link on a website that points to another web page (sometimes known as hotlinks)

Images
Artwork or photographs displayed on a web page.

JPEG/JPG
Stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group ( the name of the committee that created this file format). JPEG is best used for photographs for the web.

Keyword
Keywords are words that are key or important words. Users type in a keyword in the search engine to find the relevant websites associated with that keyword.

Link
See hyperlink

Link building
Is a technique where you create reciprocal links with websites with the intention of increasing the popularity of a web page, thus helping increase a web page's position in the search engines. The more inward links a web page has, the more likely it is to be noticed by a search engine.

Link popularity
How popular a web page is based on the number of back links it has.

Mail box
A sort of letter box where your email are stored before you view them.

Masthead
An image placed at the top of a web page to tell the visitor what page they are on.

Mailing list
A method of using one email to sent do multiple email addresses.

Mouse over
A change on a website (e.g. a photographic changing) when the curse is passed over it.

Navigation
The way a visitor moves from page to page on your website.

Navigation links
Highlighted word or phrase that by clicking, allows you to jump to another web page or website. Typically navigation links that move you around the pages of a website are found at the top and bottom of a web page.

Navigation structure
A map or flowchart of the relationship between pages on your website.

Online shop
A website with the facility for visitors to pay for goods bought from the site.

PDF files
Stands for Portable Document File. PDF files are a good way of displaying documents on your website.

Reciprocal link
A link between two websites.

Rollover
A feedback cue that is activated when the mouse cursor is moved over a particular element or button on a web page.

Search engine
A tool for search the web using keywords. Google, Yahoo and MSN are examples of popular search engines.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Making you website as attractive as possible to search engines, thus increasing your chances of being on the first page, or, better still, first position on the search results list. A number of factors are important when optimising a website, including the content and structure of the website's copy and page layout, the HTML meta-tags and the submission process.

Shopping cart
A virtual shopping cart where visitors can store goods to buy before payment on a shop website.

Splash page
A website's introduction page, usually using flashy of Flash graphics.

Statistics
Information on how many visitors a website receives, where they come from, which pages they look at, how long they stay on the site for etc.

Submission
The process of submitting a new site to search engines for inclusion in its database, so that the site appears in listings.

TIF or TIFF
A file format for graphics used on a website.

Templates
Ready made websites or web pages that can be adapted to meet specific needs of a new website owner.

Traffic
The number of visitors that view a website.

URL
Stands for "Uniform Resource Locator". It is the address of a web page. URLs begin with http://. For example the URL of this website is http://www.thewebsitedesignstudio.co.uk.

W3
World Wide Web

W3C
World Wide Web Consortium

Web design
Web design describes the process of designing a web page or website.

Web designer
A person who designs websites.

Web performance
The time it takes for a page to load.

info@thewebsitedesignstudio.co.uk
Tel: 01903 879362