Benefits of Owning a Domain Name

• once registered, a domain name belongs to you
• it is part of your corporate image and will be printed on all your stationery
• it gives you 'ISP independence' (without a domain name you have to change your e-mail & Web site addresses if you change ISP)
  

Points to bear in mind when choosing a domain name...

It must be

• at least 3 characters long
  
• a maximum length of 22 characters if a .com, .org and .net domain
  
• memorable
  
• easy to spell
  
• unambiguous in pronunciation
  
• concise - if your organisation is better known by an abbreviated form of its name, then choose that in preference to the full name
  
• short enough to fit on your business cards!

It can be

• words or numbers (a memorable phone number can make a good domain name)
• combination of words and numbers
• made of hyphenated words (eg ink-jet.co.uk)

And finally - what type of domain should you choose? (.com, .co.uk, etc)