Why buy both .com &
.co.uk domain names?
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The .com version of a domain name is aimed at
international rather than specifically US companies
or commercial organisations. A .co.uk domain name
suggests a UK-based operation although there is
no practical restriction on who can buy a .co.uk
domain. So how do you decide which to register
or whether to register both?
Cost is no big issue as .co.uk domains cost just
£9.99 each and with the .com version at
£19.99 it hardly breaks the bank. So for
under £30 you can have both versions.
.com can suggest more substance and more prestige
than a simple .co.uk. There is a suspicion that
some of the top US and international search engines
and internet directories are more sympathetic
to including .com domains than others and may
also rank them more highly than other types of
domain. On the other hand some specifically UK
search engines and directories do prefer .co.uk
names for inclusion in their lists so a .com may
not get you the best possible ranking in the UK.
So if you are not planning to sell in the UK
at all just the .com will do. If you are only
selling in the UK however don't think that just
the .co.uk is enough on its own. Although a lot
of UK residents will use google.co.uk for example
there are still many who still prefer the international
version, google.com. So there are potential UK
customers looking for you on both!
You will also find in general that .co.uk domains
will not get ranked in non-US and non-UK search
resources whereas .com will. For example msn.fr
(France) will accept .fr and .com domains, google.de
(Germany) favours .com and .de. So a .com domain
helps here too!
So our advice is simply:
1. If the UK market is of no importance to you
buy just .com domains.
2. If you are a UK site and you are not concerned
with your position in the international search
engines, then buy just .co.uk versions of your
domain names.
3. If you want to sell in the UK and search engine
performance matters to you then buy both versions.
To return to the domain name home page
click here.
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