Secure your domain name: Why thinking about it could leave you weeping.

Ever had that Eureka moment? Maybe not, but you have probably had one of those ‘that’s a good idea’ moments but how often have you followed them through?

With the ever growing importance of domain names in the modern world, thinking of a great slogan or concept should be followed straight away with a quick investment in securing the relevant domain names. Domain names are still probably the cheapest asset your business will ever acquire but probably the most valuable. Without them, your whole business premise could fail.

Worse still, if you forget about securing them first off it is easy to get carried away with the rest of your brand and business building and completely miss out registering them. By the time you realise you may have told many people, some of which may be a bit more savvy and look to snap up the domains before you. A harsh lesson to learn, but one that even the ‘top’ business minds have faced.

Over the weekend Jade Nash faced the very same in front of millions of viewers of the BBC The Apprentice. When quizzed about the four domain names listed in her business plan, interviewer Mike Soutar, CEO of Shortlist Media, revealed that , one of them chooseenergysupplier.co.uk, was not registered to her. In fact, he’d registered the same for himself when he discovered that fact and offered to sell it back to her. A major faux pas, especially when attempting to show her cutting edge business know-how. In her case, with Souter now offering it back at cost price, the only loss to Jade looks likely to be the loss of face on international tv, but in the real world, people face massive costs, stress and hassle by allowing somebody else to nip in and register a domain name before them.

With our online domain search tool, you can secure your domain name as soon as you think of it. It needn’t be people overhearing your conversations either who may ‘steal in’. If you came up with the idea, there’s a good chance somebody else has or very soon will too. Especially around big events such as last year’s royal wedding and the recent jubilee we always see a flurry of domains being bought in speculation so it is very easy to miss out.

There’s no excuse given the low cost and convenience of buying through 123-reg for you to miss out on registering your suitable domain names. They are affordable enough too to justify some speculation right across the domain range. Don’t forget your idea may yet become an international sensation. Don’t miss out as one 123-reg customer once recalled to this blogger, by choosing only to register the .co.uk domain and overlooking the .com option. Now  five years past and a multi-million turnover harnessed they are having to pay ‘over the odds’ to purchase the .com version to help expand their empire beyond the uk.

Have you ever ‘missed out’ on a domain name? Have you a tale of domain names secured but not turned to success until years later? Please let us know.