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One of the most important elements of your website is the address, and in order to get the right address you need to choose the right domain. Get your domain name right, and it will be easier for customers to find you. Get it wrong, and you'll lose potential customers.

Shorter and simpler domains tend to be best as they are easier to remember and for customers to find. This domain will typically also act as your email address and be an important part of your business identity. The most popular domains have historically been the ones that end in the more recognisable ‘.co.uk’ or ‘.com’, although we are now seeing different extensions becoming increasingly popular (‘.net’ or ‘.info’ for example).

To ensure greater online visibility it can be a good idea to register a number of different extensions to your domain, as well as register domains that are very similar in appearance to your domain. For example, BT has registered both BT.com and BT.co.uk. But you don't need multiple websites for each domain - they can all be redirected to your primary domain and obviously prevent customers potentially ending up on the wrong website. Bulk domain registration is particularly prevalent in very competitive industries.

One other factor to consider is that when you register a domain, your registration details become public knowledge. Depending on the extension of your domain, you can choose to protect your identity by using a ‘Domain Shield’ package. This withholds your personal data from the external world and ensures any strategic domain purchases remain confidential.
You can buy domain names through BT for as little as £5 per year (ex VAT).

Visit BT's Domain section on bt.com

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