co uk v com (ding ding part two)

[mikeylondon]

Hi

If your target audience was the UK market and all that was left of the domains was a choice between a hypenated co uk domain and a one worded dot com name which would you go for and why?

example

www.blue-cars.co.uk

www.bluecars.com



Thanks in advance,

Mike

 

[ScottJ]

Probably depends on the end game plan...

If it's to rank and attract traffic then blue-cars.co.uk, due to the fact it's easier to rank in Google.co.uk

 

[storebuilder]

Good question!

This depends on what you want to achieve.

As an example if you were targeting a specific keyword that was mainly uk traffic then play-bingo-uk.co.uk would be a perfect name.

Hyphenated .co.uk are great (and cheap) for the seo guy/girl that knows what they are doing and what they want to achieve with them.

But if the words are not a search term then I'd go for something that you can brand by getting hold of the .co.uk and .com

In your example I'd try and find something else because if you ever built a successful business out of the hyphenated name then you could easily be hijacked by the non-hyphenated name.

Hyphenated names are great for those that can build traffic organically or use a PPC campaign but not much cop for building a brand.

 

[storebuilder]

As usual Scott is more succint, less wordy and more to the point

 

[mikeylondon]

Thanks guy

Your answers really helped and has made me think a little (rare!)

Mike

 

[ScottJ]

In your example I'd try and find something else because if you ever built a successful business out of the hyphenated name then you could easily be hijacked by the non-hyphenated name.

That's a very good point, lots of us built on hyphenated domains if you go back 4 years or so as it was deemed better for seo purposes then and in doing so I know quite a few people who have had to negotiate the non-hyphenated domain at a later date once they became successful, myself included.

 

[accelerator]

I would definitely buy:

bluecars.com

That's because .com domains are way more valuable than .co.uk, and it is widely accepted that .com can be used to build a site relevant to any country. So, stick it on UK servers and you have a highly brandable UK focused site.

I would only ever buy blue-cars.co.uk if both bluecars.com and bluecars.co.uk were already registered by someone else.

.com is still king of domains. If I find a good .co.uk generic that is unregistered, I will always aim to register the .com as well, but normally you can't.

Rgds

 

[khalid]

the .co.uk would give you qudos in Google.co.uk

the .com would be better for brandability in my opinion, and easier to remember.

Buy both and forward one to the other!