Clearly, choosing the descriptive part of your domain name is important. But you also need to choose which type of domain name you should buy. Should it be country-specific, or a more international .com?

There are many different types of domain name. If you are trading or intending to trade internationally, then by far the most popular is a domain name ending in .com.

The .com is what most people type in when searching for a domain name. If you have www.joe-bloggs.co.uk and someone else has www.joe-bloggs.com the chances are you will loose some of your trade due to your customers visiting the wrong address. For this reason alone it is worthwhile securing the uk-based domain along with the international counterpart.

Two other international top domains, .net and .org, are also popular. .net is officially reserved for network associations such as ISP's, but in practice anyone can register a .net name. .org is supposed to be for non-profit organizations, but again this rule is not enforced and anyone can buy .org names. You should think of .net and .org names as distant cousins to the almighty .com, less desirable certainly but not unbearably so. Anyone can register .net and .org domain names.

Most countries now have their own top domains, such as .uk for the UK or .fr for France. The rules for buying domain names under each country top domain vary from country to country; always check before you buy! Some countries (such as France) will only allow you to buy a .fr name if you have a physical presence in the country.