Every domain name has two main elements: a top-level domain (TLD) (e.g. .com or .net), and a second level domain (e.g. the "mywebsite" part of "mywebsite.com").

Selecting the most appropriate domain name for your website takes more time and effort than you might expect. You'll need to think about the following:

- You have a choice between a descriptive domain name, and one that will be easy for you to brand. Many of the most popular websites, like Yahoo.com and eBay.com, are not descriptive domain names, but branded ones: Yahoo! and eBay have built their brands around their quirky, memorable Domain Names. However, be aware that building and marketing a good brand is usually costly and always takes a lot of time. Descriptive domains may be better for your business,, particularly if you are quite small and specific in what you offer. Of course, you could combine brand and descriptive elements in your domain name to great effect: DomainMonster.com is a nice demonstration of this.

- Should you choose a descriptive domain, you'll need to work out which keywords you're going to target when you're making your website search engine friendly. You'll get more "targeted traffic" (traffic from visitors interested in your products or services) if your keywords are more specific. Specific terms are also less competitive than generic terms: "wedding floristry" is less competitive than "flowers", for example.

- Short domain names are often a better choice, because they take less effort to remember than several words joined together. However, you need to make sure that you use your common sense in this regard: your domain name must also be easy to spell and unambiguous, so don't miss out characters just to get a shorter domain name.

- Have a look around for the best prices. DomainMonster.com offers very competitive prices on bulk domain registration.

- If your business is well-established, you could try asking your clients, coworkers or friends and family what they'd type in first if they were guessing your business domain name. Web forums can also offer loads of useful suggestions.

- Avoid trademarked names in your domain, as you may be accused of cybersquatting and forced to give up your domain name.

- It's best to register hyphenated and unhyphenated versions of your Domain Name if it contains more than one word, and as many of the popular top-level domains as possible, so that your hard-earned traffic doesn't get snatched away by competitors.

There are lots of articles on Domainmonster.com about finding a good domain name.

By Natalie Catchpole