For a new site: .UK or .CO.UK?

[newbie]

There has been a lot of discussion in the past regarding .UK or .CO.UK, but we are now coming up to 18 months since launch of .UK. Have your views changed?

If you were launching a new website, now, today, would you:

1) Launch with the .CO.UK and if .UK takes off in later years, switch your site across.
2) Launch with .UK straight off the bat.

I am in such a predicament, and I am in two minds. I'm leaning towards going straight with the .UK but I am *used* to the way .co.uk looks. Am I just outdated?

I'd appreciate your thoughts!

Thanks,

Colin.

 

[ChrisMM]

.co.uk I see no benefit at this stage to launching new websites on .uk

 

[MikeJDS]

.com if at all possible.
If not .co.uk

 

[DomainM]

.uk, if we don't use it it'll never catch on

 

[Adam H]

Sure there was a thread a couple of weeks ago with some pretty comprehensive answers. I personally wouldn't convert a current site to .uk right now, but if i was starting a new one then id probably go with .uk and redirect the .co.uk ( unless the .com was available too )

 

[martin-s]

100% option 1.

 

[accelerator]

I would go with:

2) Launch with .UK straight off the bat.

That's because I think it will become the "best" domain to have in a few years time, so you might as well get started with the .uk and not have to change everything later. I'm sure people will get used to it. Even if it's not ideal in the short term then it will be better for the long run. However, I think any short term impact would be minimal anyway.

 

[Edwin]

.co.uk and 301 redirect the .uk to it, plus specify the master domain in Google Webmaster tools and use the rel="canonical" link element on each page of the site to further emphasize that the .co.uk version is the one that holds weight.

If you do all the above, you'll minimise the chance of Google indexing the wrong one, and you should still pick up (most of) the link juice from anyone who links to the .uk version by mistake.

Should .uk take off you can then use the 301, Google WMT and canonical settings to reverse the precedence of .co.uk/.uk and let Google gradually catch up with the new master URL.

 

[MikeJDS]

I would go with:

2) Launch with .UK straight off the bat.

That's because I think it will become the "best" domain to have in a few years time, so you might as well get started with the .uk and not have to change everything later.

Nightmare scenario - Just imagine.

 

[suggs]

.co.uk for me

 

[max99x]

.co.uk 100% !!!

 

[newbie]

Thanks a lot guys for sharing your opinions, I have followed many of you for years and found your views extremely valuable! I'm still not fully decided (but .co.uk is gonna get a look in now), but this has no doubt helped my eventual decision, whatever it may be!

 

[leec]

Hi,

I asked this exact question back in October, so you are not alone in thinking about the future.

See here: http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/general-board/136386-new-site-co-uk-uk.html

As you can see most people said .co.uk

For now, I am sticking to .co.uk

The only time I will look at switching is when the likes of Google, Amazon, eBay and the BBC for example move from .co.uk to .uk

Last thing to note. I did a test with some random people a few weeks back and I gave them my web address, but said it ended in dot .uk

They all visited using the .co.uk version!

For me this was enough to know that the public have .co.uk stuck in the brain.


Cheers

 

[Admin]

I understand your hesitancy in this choice. IMO it will not really matter as long as you 301 redirect the one you don't use to the other one, you MUST do this.

 

[newbie]

.co.uk and 301 redirect the .uk to it, plus specify the master domain in Google Webmaster tools and use the rel="canonical" link element on each page of the site to further emphasize that the .co.uk version is the one that holds weight.

If you do all the above, you'll minimise the chance of Google indexing the wrong one, and you should still pick up (most of) the link juice from anyone who links to the .uk version by mistake.

Should .uk take off you can then use the 301, Google WMT and canonical settings to reverse the precedence of .co.uk/.uk and let Google gradually catch up with the new master URL.

This is what I am getting my head around over the next few weeks. You see, things are a little more complicated than my initial question. I am moving from an old domain to a new domain, I am pretty sure the new domain will be .co.uk after the feedback I have received in this thread!

I need to preserve as much link juice as possible as the current domain has many valuable backlinks built up over 13 years.

So, I will 301 redirect:

old domain -> new .co.uk
new .uk -> new .co.uk

Here's hoping to not get too much of a hit from Google!

 

[newbie]

I understand your hesitancy in this choice. IMO it will not really matter as long as you 301 redirect the one you don't use to the other one, you MUST do this.

I had not considered that people might type .uk to find the .co.uk and/or vice versa, i'll definitely have both extensions 301 forwarding to the new .co.uk ensure no traffic is missed - thank you so much for the advice!

 

[accelerator]

In essence you are trying to predict the future of .uk over .co.uk. My prediction is that .uk will become predominant, because it is the short one, and therefore easier to say and type in. So if it was me I would build on .uk and do any redirection on .co.uk on the basis of my prediction.

How important this is depends on how you are promoting the site. If you are mainly promoting online and giving links that people have to click on, then it's largely academic.

 

[Edwin]

This is what I am getting my head around over the next few weeks. You see, things are a little more complicated than my initial question. I am moving from an old domain to a new domain, I am pretty sure the new domain will be .co.uk after the feedback I have received in this thread!

I need to preserve as much link juice as possible as the current domain has many valuable backlinks built up over 13 years.

So, I will 301 redirect:

old domain -> new .co.uk
new .uk -> new .co.uk

Looks good. I'd also redirect the non-www version to the www version if that's what most incoming links are using.

In other words, 301 redirect everything else to "www.domain.co.uk" and use that as the canonical URL and the "moved to" URL in GWT.

 

[Admin]

For the young'uns.... GWT = Google Search Console Talk about change for changes sake hey!

 

[murph]

Brand new site, most likely .com if I can get it! Otherwise .co.uk unless it would be really useful to be as short as possible, in which case I would opt for the .uk