To DotCom or CoDotUK – Which is Better?

 

A key factor of consideration for running a small business should be your online presence.  When choosing your website URL one thing to choosing a urladd to the mix is whether you choose .Com or .Co.Uk.  Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of both.

 

 .Com

Many people automatically assume that .com is American-orientated but this extension is actually short for Commercial.  It is the most popular website domain extension as it encompasses many website purposes and ideas.

If your business customer is international then this is a good choice.  It was also thought that If websites end in .Com then these sites carried more authority over .Co.Uk sites, although this isn’t necessarily the case anymore.

 

.Co.Uk

This is for UK specific domains and servers.  This narrows the search down on the internet allowing you to target customers or visitors to your country-specific page.

The advantage of .Co.Uk is for businesses wishing to establish a local presence, is that .Co.Uk clearly indicates that the website is a UK business.  If your business sells items then it will indicate lower postage costs and delivery times over one ending in .Com.  It is great for businesses which want to tap into the “buy local” movement as many customers wish to support UK made products over cheaper items made overseas.

However the downside of .Co.Uk is also the same as what may be an attraction – international customers or visitors may be discouraged as postage to non-UK countries will be higher than those within the UK.  It can also indicate lack of presence on a global market, and therefore some businesses can be overlooked for services over ones with a .Com extension.

 

Red Desk verdict

It really depends on the type of business you have.  In an ideal world, if both URLs are available (.Com and .Co.Uk) then buy both.  You can redirect one of the URLs to point to the one which you wish to use to grow your online presence.  Of course, cost can be a big factor to consider and on the whole, .Co.Uk URLs are cheaper over .Com.

Choose .Com if you are a UK business with an international customer base, or selling or renting overseas properties.

.Co.UK should be consider by local tradespeople, UK estate agents and those wishing to establish a local presence.

 

dotcomOther alternatives to consider

These days there are many other extensions to consider such as:

.Co – originally used to designate Columbia’s domain, this is now widely used by start ups

.Net – originally used for internet service providers or networks this is now open to anyone

.Org.Uk – designed for not-for-profit organisations, this again is now open to anyone

.Gov.Uk – for government agencies

.Ac.Uk – for educational institutions

You can read a wider list on Host Reviews.

 

Further Reading

You may also be interested in other Red Desk articles:

Building a Website – Do’s and Don’ts 

Rebranding: When to change your business name

Rebranding your Small Business – what to consider

 

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