Right now, if you buy a new Domain you can claim 1 month FREE Professional Hosting to get your online venture up and running. Adding Hosting is that easy – choosing the right Domain can be the trickier part.

Let's imagine you're Bloggs Ltd and you're launching a new ecommerce website to sell your widgets. Do you make the domain name your brand name - bloggs.com - or do you use a keyword like widgets.com? Or maybe bloggswidgets.com?

Branded domains...

• A branded domain will create a sense of confidence in customers.
• It puts the brand out there every time it is mentioned, linked, shared etc.
• You can still use the rest of the URL for keywords e.g bloggs.com/widgets/green-widgets.html
• May be easier to get hold of than a keyword rich domain.
• A short, snappy domain name like slashdot.org is more likely to be remembered (and shared) than awesome-internet-tech-news-website.com.

A branded domain is a must if you are planning to be in business for the long term.

Keyword domains...

• Keyword rich domains can catch direct type-in traffic - though this type of traffic should never be relied upon and also this makes the web savvy cautious of these sites.
• Single keyword domains like printers.com, laptops.com or coffee.com are normally expensive - toys.com went for $5.1 million last year.
• Different search engines place different emphasis on keywords in domains - doing some research into the specific search engine that you are interested in can be invaluable in choosing the right keywords and structure.
• Keyword domains (especially hyphenated ones) can be harder to remember.
• An advantage of keyword domains is by their nature they are descriptive so visitors may be more inclined to click a link where they have an idea as to what's coming.
• You risk pigeon-holing your business if your domain is too specific - What if your website was cheap-printer-cartridges-uk.com but you decided to start selling laptops across Europe?

Keyword domains serve a purpose to direct traffic to a core site.

Bear in mind that...

• Although a good domain name is important, creating useful, accessible content is the more important aspect of web development
• You don't even have to register a new domain - websites like Sedo.com offer a domain market place where people can buy or sell registered domain names.
• If you manage to get yourself a decent domain name and you are serious about your business then it's worth investing in the common TLD's (.com, .org, .net and the newest, hottest .co) to protect your brand.