With all the pressures involved with starting up a business, thinking up a good name can be quite a low priority. But the name of your business is to become your online signature, your brand, and one of your key marketing tools. Finding one which is memorable and unique is therefore extremely important.

Many are tempted to make a name out of one or more of a small selection of generic words: "net", "web", "com", "tech", "data", "info", "cell", "soft", and so on. Have a go: try typing combinations of these words into your web browser with .com on the end, and see how many of them have been registered.

The trouble with doing this is that your brand is hopelessly diluted even before you've started your marketing campaign. Because these terms are generic, you can't sue anyone for using something that sounds like your name. What's more, customers will easily get confused about what you do, and how you differ from webthis.com or infothat.com.

The most memorable online business names are those which don't feature horrible buzzwords: Amazon, Yahoo!, Google, eBay and so on. Even though the names aren't descriptive of what services or products the businesses provide, they get around that problem by being highly brand-friendly. Think of the offline brands you remember the best: Rolex, Panasonic, Tesco and Apple are strong brands because they are unique. And Panasonic can easily sue someone who tries to use a name like "Panazonic", because their brand is not a generic term.

When you're choosing a name for your online business, make sure that you don't come close to violating any copyright laws. Also, avoid web-clichés. Descriptive names are fine, especially for small businesses, but even if you are a web design firm, don't call yourself "WebFlash" - either call yourself precisely what you are - "Berkshire Web Design", for example - or don't try to be descriptive at all, and go for a brand. The added benefit is that if you pick something new - especially if it's a made-up word, like Google - your chances of registering a matching domain name are far higher.

By Helena Henderson