Register your domain name BEFORE your register your company...

New businesses are being encouraged to purchase their domain names prior to registration at Company House.

An increase in the purchase of popular domains over the past few years has led to some businesses being unable to buy a domain that correctly matches their branding.

Sites such as Company Name Generator allow users to check the availability of their desired domain before they commit to registering their brand.

Recently, a new fleet of top-level domain names (gTLDs) became available from domain regulators Icann. Many believed that a wider variety of gTLDs would aid in the personalisation of their online brand, but at $185,000 to apply, are a little out of many people’s budget.

Most companies aim to register a .com or .co.uk address, but as the web becomes more populated, some are finding it difficult to claim a relevant domain. Another domain suffix has been rising in popularity as an alternative to .com. The .co extension also represents ‘company’ and is being used by some whose original desired domain name had already been taken.

Registration companies such as Domaincheck advise the purchase of multiple domain names to secure brand recognition, even if the customer decides to simply ‘park’ the domain until they wish to use it.

Domaincheck are currently offering popular domain names such as .co.uk and .org.uk for as little as £2.99 per year + VAT

Not everyone thinks new gTLDs are worth the cost of an average mortgage

Okay, well I suppose you are purchasing a home for your website, albeit the Beverly Hills equivalent.

Controversy has surrounded plans for applications that generate a huge number of new top-level domains. It is now possible to register a variety of new words as a web address suffix, allowing companies to further personalise their domain and open the gates to a whole new web category system.

According to BBC News, the most popular new suffixes are predicted to include parts of place names, such as .London and .Newcastle, localising specific domains and can also be used to promote particular brands and identities.

Both the Association of National Advertisers and the US Federal Trade Commission have opposed the plans due to speculation that it could increase the abuse of the domain name system, and make it more difficult to track down cyber squatters and online fraudsters.

The new top level domains come with a hefty price tag; however the scheme has already attracted significant interest from the retail and financial sectors.

Many believe that the new GTLDs will mostly affect smaller brands; companies that may not have £100,000+ to spend on what could essentially be considered a novelty.

There are concerns from those in the technical industry that existing validation systems for websites may suffer with the new extensions, although no issues have yet been publicised.

Not many domain registration companies will be applying to provide the new GTLDs, as many feel that the cost of these new extensions far outweighs the benefit they will bring to customers. Instead, companies like Domaincheck are choosing to focus their efforts on the sale of existing top-level domains like .com and .co.uk, and don’t feel that the decision to forego the plans will affect popularity.

About the Author

Steve If you need a domain name please go to Domaincheck.