Domain name services

TLD is an acronym for 'Top Level Domain' and usually prefixed with 'cc' standing for 'country-code' or 'g' standing for 'generic'.

Generic TLD is the main group of domain names and includes the most commonly used such as .com, .net and .org. The generic group also contains domains for governmental and educational sectors such as .gov and .edu.

Country-code TLD is the group of domain names allocated to specific countries, designed for use on a website catering to a target country. In the UK, we use .co.uk and others you may have come across include .us (USA), .au (Australia) and .ca (Canada).

For more information, please contact us or call 0845 307 6177.

The decision on which domain to go for very much depends on the market you are trying to attract. We would always suggest a full analysis of your business model before making any decision but to offer some guidance, we'd make the following suggestions:

.com - If you are looking to establish a brand-driven business that will be recognisable nationally or globally then a .com is probably your best option. Regardless of your geographic location, .com's tend to be easier to remember and if your business is looking to create most of it's income online then a brandable .com will help. Some examples of successful .com brands in the UK include GoCompare.com, Confused.com and MoneySupermarket.com. The down-side to .com's is availability. Because the whole world is competing for them, trying to find a suitable .com domain names can be difficult.

.co.uk - For most businesses that only intend to operate within the UK, we would recommend a .co.uk domain. Whilst it may not hold the same kudos or brandability as .com there are a couple of advantages that a .co.uk domain offers. Firstly, if somebody is specifically searching for a UK-based product or service, they are more likely to choose a .co.uk domain as they know without looking at the site that it's UK based. Secondly, there are more .co.uk domains available than .com and it can be easier to rank in search results for a .co.uk domain when the searcher is using a country specific search engine such as Google.co.uk.

.org - We would only suggest using a .org domain if your venture is a not-for-profit organisation or primarily an information based website. Many visitors can feel a bit cheated if they visit a .org website and find it is patently a commercial website.

.net and .info - If you really want a specific phrase in your domain and it's not available in any other format then we would suggest considering either of these domains. They may not have some of the advantages of other TLD's but if you want a key phrase specific domain, such as 'cheapwatches' then you are more likely secure it as a .net or .info than the more popular TLD's.

For more information or advice, please contact us or call 0845 307 6177.

A keyword rich domain means having a word or phrase in your domain name that people would use in a search engine. For example, 'cheap widgets', 'buy widgets', 'widgets for sale', etc.

This is a fiercely debated question as no search engine will confirm if they give preference to keyword rich domains. From our own experience, we have found that keyword rich domains tend to rank higher in Yahoo than they do in Google. However, there is certainly evidence that Google does give some merit to keyword rich domains but Google patently doesn't give it as much importance as Yahoo.

If you think about it logically, some of the most recognizable websites in the world do not contain any clue in the domain name as to what they offer. Ebay, Amazon, Facebook and You Tube are all brand-related domains that don't contain any keywords. Indeed, our own domain, avara.co.uk does not include any keywords relative to our market sector.

Our own research concludes that having a keyword in your domain does have a minimal effect in Google but in the in the whole scheme of SEO, there are many, many more important factors. As a general rule, if you can find a keyword rich domain and intend to purely sell your products or services online (for example, 'cheap-laptops.co.uk) then we'd recommend a keyword rich domain. However, we wouldn't suggest using a keyword rich domain for localised or niche industry sectors. An Accountant with the domain name 'abc-accountants.co.uk' looks far more credible than a company using 'accountants-in-hampshire.co.uk'.

For more information or advice, please contact us or call 0845 307 6177.

Yes we can.

We have access to a vast source of what are know as 'after-market domains'. These are domain names that have been registered purely to be sold on and can be purchased from as little as £30-£40 to many thousands of pounds. With our domain acquisition service, we will locate the owner of your chosen domain, conduct negotiations to achieve the lowest possible purchase price and then manage the transfer of the domain.

The cost for this service on a no-win, no-fee basis is 20% off the purchase price with a minimum charge of £45.00.

For more information or advice, please contact us or call 0845 307 6177.

We do purchase domain names and the real benefit is the speed of the transaction.

The most common method of selling a domain name is to list it with an after-market domain company. The problem with this is it can take months to find a buyer, if you are sucessful at all. Once we agree a price with you for your domain name, we will transfer the money into your PayPal or bank account within 48 hours.

For more information or advice, please contact us or call 0845 307 6177.

We buy .co.uk, .com. .net and .org domain names that are at least 12-months old.

We don't buy domains that have recently been registered, include brand or trademarked terms (i.e. 'niketrainers.co.uk), contain mis-spelt or offensive words, or have been banned by any of the major search engines.

For more information or advice, please contact us or call 0845 307 6177.

Yes we can.

It is not possible for us to buy every domain name that is submitted to us. However, if we are unable to buy your domain we do offer a broking service wherby we will source a suitable buyer for the domain. Unlike an after-market domain listing website, we will proactively source a buyer for your domain name. By contacing potential buyers directly, we can usually attract at least one offer for your domain name.

The cost for our domain disposal service is a one-off charge of £65.00 plus a commission of 20% of the final sale price.

For more information or advice, please contact us or call 0845 307 6177.

For more infromation or advice on domain names, simply call us on 0845 307 6177 or use our contact form. We don't employ heavy-handed sales techniques or try to sell you a solution to a problem you don't have.

We guarantee you'll find us friendly, informative and above all, able to understand your specific needs.