web sites for artists
choosing domain names
If you do not already have a name for your website you can check availability by using the box below. Domain names are registered with a central body but you generally pay a registration company to register it and re-register it bi-annually. It costs around £4 a year to keep a domain name but the initial registration may come free with your hosting package. It makes sense to buy your domain name from a company which offers cheap and easy domain registration and management alongside hosting.
Domain names should be at least three characters long and can include letters (upper and lower case are interchangeable), numbers and hyphens only. Descriptive names are better for search engine visibility (oil-paintings.com) but you may prefer something more personal which sounds better when said out loud (johnsmith.com). You should avoid any existing brand names or trademarks.
You have a choice of endings (.co.uk, .com etc) but some are supposed to be restricted to certain types of organisation (eg .org, .gov) or countries of origin. In Britain .co.uk is widely known (unlike .plc.uk) and gives the visitor a clue to where you are based. A .com name is more universal but slightly more expensive. You may find that your preferred .com is already taken, but the .co.uk is available.
check a domain name:
sub domains
You may consider it worthwhile to register a number of different domain names and have them all lead to one site. You can then include variations like johnsmith.co.uk, john-smith.com as well as possible misspellings like jonsmith.com.
transfer
If necessary, domain names can be transferred from one host to another. Look for one which will do it for free.
For more advice on choosing a name contact us.