46% of UK small businesses without a website

Recent research published by 1&1 reveals that 46% of the UK’s smallest businesses have no website in place. Of those surveyed, 41% agreed that a website could increase their sales but are put off by the time and cost involved.

Significantly, those small businesses that do have a website recognise that it is an important way of generating new business.

As the owner of a small business you have to be responsible for a large number of issues to keep things moving along. Sales, marketing, accounts, personnel and admin to name just a few. Many small businesses that we have spoken to find it difficult to know just who to go to for advice on setting up a website.

It can at first seem quite complicated with decisions needed on domain names, email addresses, web servers and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). But to those with experience these are actually quite simple matters that form part of the overall tasks needed in setting up a website. We recommend that all businesses have a website but the size and complexity of each website must reflect the business itself and its budget. Even a simple 2 or 3 page website can attract new customers and we have proof that this works with one of our clients.

If you are a small business owner who needs advice on setting up a website please get in touch. You may be surprised at how little it can cost.

Read the full article here.

maidstonecouriers.co.uk domain for sale

www.maidstonecouriers.co.uk domain for sale.

Perfect domain for a courier company in Maidstone Kent.

View all our domains for sale.

Food and cooking related domain names

This selection of domain names are all related to either food or cooking, perfect for promoting your business online.

bestslowcooker.co.uk
caketime.co.uk
devonfudge.co.uk
dhansak.co.uk
justcheese.co.uk
organiccream.co.uk
pathia.co.uk
starofbengal.co.uk

View all domains for sale.

Annuity and pension domain names

We have some excellent domain names for sale relating to annuities and pensions:

withprofitsannuity.co.uk
flexibleannuity.co.uk
purchaseannuity.co.uk
basicpension.co.uk

These keyword domain names will enhance your existing website marketing campaign. View all domains for sale.

Holiday home domain names

We have a great selection of domain names related to holiday homes and holiday lets. Promote your holiday home with a keyword domain name:

cherrycottage.co.uk
devonholidaycottage.co.uk
devonfudge.co.uk
devonholidaylets.co.uk
dorsetholidaycottages.co.uk
newforestbreaks.co.uk
norfolkcottageholiday.co.uk

View these plus other domains we have for sale here.

accountantsbristol.co.uk is for sale

The domain www.accountantsbristol.co.uk is for sale.

View all domains for sale.

opticianskent.co.uk is for sale

The domain www.opticianskent.co.uk is for sale

Choosing A Domain Name

When choosing a domain name for your business, it can be difficult to know what your first consideration should be. Should you give priority to finding a name that will help you rank high in the search engines? Or should you be more concerned with a name that describes your business?

One thing you should probably not do, unless you are very famous – i.e. a household name – is use your exact company name as a domain name. It can be tempting to do this, as you can be sure it will be easily available. However, if you are just beginning to establish a web presence, people won’t be looking for you as they won’t know about you. They will be looking for the service you provide. So you need a domain name that will help them find you easily.

The other thing you absolutely must not do when choosing a domain name is deliberately use a name that is similar to that of a famous competitor. For instance, suppose you are a financial adviser, and there is a very well-known bank called Parker Finance. You might be tempted to choose a domain name like ParkaFinance.com, in the hope that people looking for the famous bank might arrive at your site if they made a typing mistake, as often happens. However, you would find that the big companies are on the look-out for this practice and would have no hesitation in taking action against you.

So your main decision in choosing a domain name is: should you use a highly-searched keyword or phrase, to help your search-engine ranking? Or should you use a name which characterises your business as accurately as possible? Opinions differ. Some say using a keyword or phrase is a good idea. For instance, if you are a financial services provider, and you found that a highly-searched keyword was “leading financial services” you could choose a domain name like “leading-financial-services.co.uk” (if it was available). Others advise against it as the search engines keep changing their criteria, and recommend that you find a name that represents your business, such as FinanceForYou.com

What is important is that your domain name should be clear, memorable and as short as possible. You are very unlikely to get a one-word name as most of those have been snapped up long ago. But avoid hyphens if you can, and also letters mixed with numbers e.g. Finance4You or Finance4U. Remember that you or your staff will often have to tell people your web address over the phone, so the simpler you can make it, the easier it will be for people to find your site.

The other main question is, what top-level domain (TLD) to use – that is, the suffix at the end of the domain, e.g. .com, .co.uk, .net, .org etc. Most people advise going for .com if you can, as that has the most prestige. The .net suffix is also a good one. The .co.uk suffix is fine if you are a UK company, but you should probably still go for .com if you can. A lot of new ones have recently become available, such as .biz, .info. These are less prestigious, but cheaper if you are short of cash. However, if cash is not a problem it can be a good idea to buy up as many as possible of the other TLDs on your domain to prevent other people using them. If your site is called FinanceForYou.co.uk, and someone else sets one up called FinanceForYou.net, it can cause endless confusion.

Finally, bear in mind that even if you arrive at the most perfect domain name, you can’t have it if someone else has already registered it. When you go to your domain hosting site to type in your choice of domain, they will tell you if someone else has already taken it. They will then provide a list of suggestions for similar domains that are available. Remember – keep it clear, memorable and easy to spell, and you won’t go too far wrong.

justcheese.co.uk is for sale

www.justcheese.co.uk is for sale

organiccream.co.uk is for sale