Your domain name is your internet identity and there are several important factors to consider.
It is important to consider your business and the location prior to registering your domain name. For instance, if your business is targeting a global market then registering a .com or .net would be more beneficial. Alternatively if you have a business located in Australia a .com.au may be more beneficial when choosing a domain name. The reasoning behind this is that Google looks at searches and domains globally and locally. If someone in England is searching for a plumber, Google will present the relevant searches for that location as any .com.au sites are not relevant.
The .com suffix is still the first search people will try when searching in Google. Try to purchase your domainname.com first, before settling for the .net alternative. If by chance both the .com and .net domains are available you may wish to consider purchasing both and then re-directing the .net traffic to the .com website.
Avoid trademarked names when choosing a domain name. Remember that the large companies will fiercely protect their trademark. They have spent a lot of time and money building and promoting their brand. Companies are no longer writing large cheques to get their names back, they are phoning their lawyers.
You can register your domain name at any time. There is no need to have a website to be able to register the name you want. Many people will register several similar domain names. For instance, the full company name and an abbreviated, easier to remember version or common incorrect spelling versions. You may also wish to register the .com and .net versions.
Domain names are not case sensitive so companyname.com is the same as CompanyName.com. Registered domain names can only use letters, numbers and dashes, spaces and symbols cannot be used.
Remember to consider your domain name carefully, before registration.
