Choose the right name for your business

Even if you are not intending to create a website for your business immediately, you'll probably be using email and want to have a presence on the web at some point in the future. This could be a single webpage advertising your business and giving contact details, or it could be a site that allows customers to browse through products, place orders and make payments online.

For further information see website hosting options.

Choosing a domain name

The website address - for example, my-new-business.co.uk - is known as a domain name. For most businesses based in the UK, a name ending with .co.uk is suitable. Your email address will normally include this name - for example, enquiries@my-new-business.co.uk.

Businesses and individuals that meet certain criteria can apply for the .eu domain extension - for example, www.my-new-business.eu.

If your business is active in other European Union countries, the .eu domain name can help you market your company as a pan-European business. The European Registry of Internet Domain Names (EURid) provides guidance on how to register .eu domain names.

Registering your domain name

• Decide on a suitable domain name for your website - if you are unable to use one that exactly matches your business name. You can use numbers as well as letters. Hyphens can be used to separate words - but you can't include spaces, full stops or other punctuation. It's a good idea to have a few alternative names in case your first choice has already been taken.
• Check whether the name is available - you can check if your chosen domain name is available with Nominet, the official registry for UK domain names.
• Register the name - this is a simple process which you can carry out online with any registration agent. Nominet provides further information on domain names.