Com or Co.uk

[MattB]

Not purely an SEO question, but intrigued to hear people's views.

I have recently bought the same name in .com and .co.uk. I wanted both in case the site became successful as didn't want the other to be developed by someone else.

It's for a deals/voucher type website. Torn between developing the com or the UK name. Will obviously forward whichever is unused.

I feel the com potentially has a bit more prestige and a bit more of a ring to it when you say the name/more memorable, but the co.uk is more instantly recognisable as being a UK focused site in search engines.

What are peoples general views on this?

If it makes a difference, the com has been regged since 1996, the UK since 2003. Com may therefore have a slight age benefit in the search engines if that still plays in at all.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[m4c]

I asked a similar question over using .co.uk or .uk for a brand name - I guess it has to be personal preference…

could your site / service go international, or is it only UK centric?
- either way, given the amount of competition in the voucher space, using .uk could give you an edge on demonstrating relevance in the mind of your target audience…

and if it does blow up, then you can still launch in other territories with the .com, without changing anything on the main UK site…

 

[MattB]

Thank you for your views! I've PMed with specifics.

Good point re: the .com potentially being used internationally. I think you're probably right and the .co.uk edges it.

 

[dee]

i'd go com if you plan to go outside the uk and if uk only use the .uk . I think theres a search engine preference for local results isn't there ?

 

[MattB]

Given the nature of the site, I think the .com and .co.uk would need to be different sites if there was an international version, as users would either share deals in USD (US) or GBP (UK).

 

[Ben Thomas]

Given the nature of the site, I think the .com and .co.uk would need to be different sites if there was an international version, as users would either share deals in USD (US) or GBP (UK).

Or you could just convert USD - or whatever currency it is uploaded in - to the users local currency (that they can select in settings or whatever) using an exchange API

As for your question, as others have said, if you plan to offer an international service the .COM is the best option.