Here are some of the more common types of domain name - listed with some of the advantages and disadvantages. These are of course subjective, and as perception is very important, you'll want to consider carefully what factors are most important to your customers, as well as the general advice given here

This type of domain name can be a good choice for a company which is selling physical products (as opposed to downloadable or subscription products). This is because many UK consumers feel more confident ordering from a web site which they know is based in the UK. By using a .co.uk domain name, this is reinforced. However, customers outside the UK may be confused by this type of domain name, or find it hard to remember correctly. For instance, if you quoted "www.mysite.co.uk" to an American, they might get confused and write it down as "www.mysite.com.uk".

The grand-daddy of domain names, these domains are usually the most valuable in an international setting. If your product or service is available in many parts of the world, or you have an international trademark, a .com domain name is a must. Another advantage is that some web browsers add the "www" and ".com" parts for you, so if you type in "mycompany", it may come up with "www.mycompany.com". Also, if someone knows the name of your company but doesn't know your web site address, they may guess, and the first thing they will try is "www.yourcompany.com". A disadvantage of .com domains is that because they are so widespread and popular, many of the nicest sounding domain names have already been registered.

Kind of the "poor relation" of the .com domain name, these domains were originally designed to be used by internet companies. Examples of the correct use of these are virgin.net and earthlink.net. However, these conventions have been widely ignored for many years, and in most cases, someone will register a .net domain if the .com alternative has already been taken, or sometimes they'll register both (assuming they're both available), to stop someone else from running a similarly named web site.

A relatively new domain type, and therefore with many more variations currently available. One reason this domain was brought into being was to deal with the problem of a shortage of domain names. Another was that the .com domain, originally meant to indicate a commercial web site, has widened its appeal, and so a domain meant especially for business users was devised. However, you'll want to think carefully about whether the "biz" is suitable for your line of business. For example, www.themusic.biz would be an excellent choice, whereas www.funerals.biz would perhaps be a poor choice?

Introduced at around the same time as .biz, this domain was intended for informational sites, rather than sites which sell or have other commercial purposes. This domain is unusual in that there are four letters after the final dot, whereas nearly all other domain names have either two or three letters. This can occasionally result in email addresses being rejected.

Originally intended for not-for-profit organisations, this domain type has been diluted to the point where many commercial organisations have registered it, sometimes simply as a protection against similarly named companies. However, it is expected that in the future, the not-for-profit rules may be enforced more strictly. Therefore, it is not recommended that you register a .org domain unless your organisation is a non-profit making one.