If you are in the process of deciding on an appropriate name for your business, you’ll soon realise that whilst registering your domain name may be simple – deciding on the right name for your business can be something of a mine-field.

Domain name registration is big business and there are many firms vying for your income. The big hitters in this market are; Godaddy, 123-reg and Ukreg who all facilitate registration as well as offering links to other services. So get clued up and read on…

Tip 1
Give your business a name that is relevant to the type of service you are offering. For example, if you are a caterer selling freshly made sandwiches to order for local offices a name like, ‘Gourmet Goodness’ might be too broad and vague. What type of gourmet food is being sold exactly? An indistinct name could slow the growth of your brand recognition and rankings.

Tip 2
A name that is too specific to your services, products or geographic area could also harm your business long term. If your 5-year strategy includes the gradual introduction into other services, products or areas, the business name mustn’t be too restrictive. If this same sandwich making business, for example, wanted to eventually offer home-made desserts, being called ’Sandwiches At Noon’ wouldn’t do. In the same way that the name ’London City Sandwiches’ would restrict growth if areas outside of the City were being considered.

Tip 3
To avoid any legal issues check with the Companies House web service that the name you have chosen is not already taken. You may also want to check that your name of interest is not the subject of a third-party trade mark. Taking the time to ensure that you are free to use your preferred name at an early stage may help to avoid unnecessary costs further down the line.
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To sum up, don’t buy a domain name simply to get ahead in the search rankings. There are many other ways for your website to be optimised that over time will see customers continually coming to you because they know your name.

​What's your website status?
If you’re a business that’s just starting out, jotting down ideas, creating a strategy, it’s never too early to start thinking about the type of website design you might have. Perfect Layout is a company that gets excited about helping new and established clients obtain a website that’s designed just right for their business. Every project is met with enthusiasm and we are happy to offer our advice about how your ideas can be translated and understood by your customers when in website format.
Identifying your target audience is key to ensuring that your future plan takes into account the ebbs and flow of the ever-moving online traffic. Your website design should include photographs that are personal and reflective of the service you provide. Content should be interesting and applicable to your product and written in a language that draws people in.

During your free consultation, Perfect Layout can help you focus and offer ideas that you may not have thought about. As an online business, it’s paramount that you get this right or otherwise you’ll end up stuck, going nowhere fast.

Be inspired - have a well thought out strategy
Travelling home on the motorway recently (from a wonderful week in Cornwall!) the strangeness of people’s behaviour whilst driving really struck a chord. All lanes had traffic, but it didn’t stop many drivers constantly swapping lanes. The effect? The traffic slowed down even more rather than speeding up. And there I was thinking that us British were always patient whilst queueing!

If you’re a business that is constantly changing its strategy, trying to get ahead of your competitors but getting nowhere fast, it may be time for you to take a new approach. If you’re a new start up business or your website hasn’t been looked at for a while or you’re a business working without a website – now is the time to make that change and get in the right lane to making your business work.

We’re not like some motorway drivers that can’t help but change lanes when they come up to a bit of traffic.  We think long term and avoid reactionary behaviour. A constant 55 mph is way better than bombing it at 70mph for a quarter of the journey then travelling at 30mph for the remainder.