Website name guidelines

Choosing a name for your site can be difficult. Should the domain name represent your company, the industry you are in or be something more abstract but catchy? Below is a list of points to keep in mind when choosing your name.
1) Your domain name is the technical term used for your website name so for example Google’s domain name is www.google.co.uk
2) Your domain name does not need to be the same, or even like your company name so for example Alphabet Inc.’s domain name is abc.xyz
3) For trust purposes it can be good for your domain name to represent your company name. If it doesn’t then you should clearly state on your website that this domain is owned and operated by your company.
4) Your domain name does not need to start with www, but it is recommended as less technical users expect web addresses to begin that way. In any case typing in the domain with or without www should be set to resolve to one or the other. www.abc.xyz resolves to abc.xyz for example.
5) Websites are ranked by a number of factors but a very important one is the domain name. Therefore, to appear well in search results it is helpful if your domain name contains keywords your visitors are likely to search for so a key website providing information on search engines domains is called searchenginewatch.com. (More established sites like Google do not have to worry about this).
6) Because internet search is keyword driven a domain name should include something that clearly distinguishes you from your competitors. A very generic name may lead to a competitor being listed higher than you in organic search results.
7) More generally, domain names should be fairly short, memorable and easy to communicate (for example over the telephone).
8) Avoid punctuation for example anewsite.co.uk is better than a-new-site.co.uk
9) Use an extension which is correct for your organization. For UK based businesses this is .co.uk. For international ones .com. None profit, government and educational sites have their own extension types.
10) Your domain name is not set in stone, but changing it can be confusing not only for your customers but also for the host of different websites which will soon be referencing it. If you do decide to change a name, make sure it is done properly with the right type of diverts put in place.
Some good examples; www. dolphinwebdesign.co.uk, www.dolphinaccountants.co.uk. Some bad examples; www.thebestwebdesign.co.uk, www.thebestaccountants.co.uk.