One in four small businesses has concerns over whether they made the right choice when picking their web address and one in three believes they could bring in extra revenue by changing it to something else.

The survey by Fasthosts Internet revealed that the majority of businesses recognise that the choice of web address has a lasting impact on the business but 41% admitted to spending less than an hour on this matter. Companies spend a similar amount of time choosing a coffee machine, the survey claims.

The research also found that 61% did not seek a second opinion when coming up with their domain name, and 52% did not consider options such as .biz, .net or .eu at all.

One in four firms wanted to improve either their domain name or the suffix, the survey added, while 33% thought doing so would bring in extra revenue. But, alarmingly, 24% of these businesses said they were unwilling to attempt to change the name because of the perceived amount of work involved.

“Businesses should consider all available options before purchasing their primary domain name,” said Mark Jeffries, chief technology officer at Fasthosts. “It’s often the case today that the best available domains belong to less obvious suffixes, and it is always advisable to seek external opinion on what a domain could suggest about your business.

“A web address is often bought in haste at the start of a business project,” he added. “Every UK business must recognise the lasting impact that a domain name can have on sales and image, and business owners shouldn’t delay making necessary changes.”

While most UK small businesses now recognise the benefits of having a website, the research would suggest that not all are optimising their web presence. Some 5% of business owners surveyed admit to having themselves forgotten their own domain name.