Even if you are not intending to create a website for your business immediately, you'll probably be using email and want to have a presence on the web at some point in the future.

Choosing a domain name

The website address - for example, my-new-business.co.uk - is known as a domain name. For most businesses based in the UK, a name ending with .co.uk is suitable. Your email address will normally include this name - for example, enquiries@my-new-business.co.uk.

Businesses and individuals that meet certain criteria can apply for the .eu domain extension - for example, www.my-new-business.eu.

If your business is active in other European Union countries, the .eu domain name can help you market your company as a pan-European business.

To reserve a domain name for your business, you need to register it through an agent, who will charge a small annual fee. You should do this as soon as possible - even if you're not going to use your domain name straight away.

You cannot have a domain name that is the same name as a company registered with Companies House.

Registering your domain name

• Decide on a suitable domain name for your website - You can use numbers as well as letters. Hyphens can be used to separate words but not spaces, full stops or other punctuation. It's a good idea to have a few alternative names in case your first choice has already been taken.
• Check whether the name is available on the official registry for UK domain names, Nominet
• Register the name - you can do this online with any registration agent. There are hundreds of registration agents to choose from - a good starting point is Nominet.