When you buy a domain name, are you buying the .com or the .co.uk?

Should you buy both?

How many variations should you have on that name?

In theory, you could buy 20 variations and misspellings and STILL not have all the variations available - but you have to draw the line somewhere.

Let me illustrate the problem.

There's a very good printer ink supply company called 'Ink & Stuff' who trade at inkandstuff.co.uk. Now then, the very similar domain name  'inksandstuff.co.uk' (note the plural for 'ink' here) has also been registered - but by one of their competitors!

This means new customers mistyping or misremembering the name of Ink & Stuff might accidentally buy from their competitors, who only got the sale because the customer was not careful.

So, how does this affect you? Does this mean your competitors will be buying up every variation before you do? It's possible, but is it realistic and what should you do about it?

The answer to that question can be difficult to answer, but here's one way to solve the problem so you can rest easy at night.

Before you buy your name, we recommend you register the .com and the .co.uk variations together. You will find that the .com version is maybe ten times more likely to have been taken, so test out your names on the .com first - chances are high that, if the .com is available, the .co.uk will be too. Curiously, the .com versions for the two inks companies mentioned above did not register the .com versions of their names - we think that was a mistake.

So what about misspellings?

You could go on forever but, to save money and worry simply ask yourself the question: "If my prime competitor bought this variation of my preferred domain name would I feel:

1. Flattered
2. Not bothered
3. Very upset and considering legal action

If the answer to the question for any domain is No. 3, then you should buy it for peace of mind. If the answer is No. 1 or No. 2, then you probably don't need to buy it.