.com or .co.uk? Or .pizza?

Is .com or co.uk better for your website?  Or with so many new domain extensions should you try something different?

As a reminder to launch a website you only really need a few basic things to get started;

1. Somewhere to host your site
2. A registered domain name (like bemoreonline.co.uk)
3. And something to show on your site (content)

We will not go in to detail of hosting in this blog, but if you are just starting out bemoreonline guides you through the process of choosing the right hosting package by answering some simple questions and making a recommendation of what hosting would be best for you.

Next is registering a domain.  Your domain (eg bbc) and domain extension (eg .co.uk or .com) are the main way in which search engines (like google) or potential visitors will find your website and content.  Your domain name is what a customer would type in to the address bar on their browser or is listed in a search engine result eg www.bemoreonline.co.uk is our domain name.

Now it gets interesting, you will need to do some research and get your thinking caps on.  Millions of domains have already been registered, so finding exactly the right domain and ensuring it is available can be tricky.  Using our search and recommendation tool https://www.bemoreonline.co.uk/domain-search/ is a great place to start and this will tell you if your searched for term is available as a domain, and which domain extensions are available to you (a domain extension is the bit after the “dot” ie .co.uk or .com as examples.

Once you know what is available, what then?  Should you choose .com, .co.uk or something else?

Ultimately it is your choice, however here are some points to consider;

• Confusion- If a consumer can’t remember your domain they will often assume it is .com.  At the very least your visitors could be confused or worse still they could end up at a competitors site
• Industry- Some extensions are better suited to specific industries and might be more acceptable.  For example, tech customers might be more accepting of industry associated extensions like .io.
•  Trust- Different domain extensions inherently have different levels of trust from consumers who perhaps don’t know a brand.  The .com extensions and the country specific extensions like .co.uk are more trusted than some of the less common extensions like .biz for example.
• Blocked / lost emails- Some emails from unusual extensions might end up getting blocked by the email filters of your potential customers.
• And incoming emails will not be received if the wrong extension is used, my emails will not get to me if you use stevehowlett@bemoreonline.net
• Less likely to be linked to- Other sites might be less willing to link to your site if you are using an unusual domain extension.  These extensions can create the perception of a gimmick or less professional organisation.

Of course the decision is yours and there is no right or wrong answer.  And there are many brands out there successfully using all different types of extensions.  However, we suggest doing your research and try to buy all variations of your domain that you think might be useful.  Domains are typically quite low cost and taking this approach keeps your options open and stops competitors registering your domain, but with a different extension.

If you need any help or advice, please contact us info@bemoreonline.co.uk (not .pizza!!)