.org.uk value

[scwebsites]

I've been developing websites since 2002, and as part of that I have studied and practiced search engine optimisation. One thing I have noticed over the last few years is the growing number of .org.uk domains that are appearing in the top 10 results for lots of competitive searches.

I'm not suggesting we are seeing an algorithm change that in some way gives a boost to .org.uk domains, I think it is simply that more .org.uk domains are being registered and developed, but one thing is for sure, some people building very successful websites on .org.uk domains.

So, apart from the fact that far more .co.uk domains have history, backlinks and earned authority than .org.uk domains, I believe that from an SEO point of view, .co.uk and .org.uk are pretty much even. That is to say that a newly registered .org.uk domain has just as much potential as a newly registered .co.uk, SEO wise.

One major difference between .co.uk and .org.uk is that many people, quite rightly, believe that .org.uk is not really suited to a commercial site, such as a shop or paid service. That's a matter of opinion, and perhaps visitors coming in from search engines are unlikely to worry that there is a shop on a .org.uk, especially if they find what they want on the site.

I do think .org.uk domains are great for information sites, directories, Blogs and free services. These can earn good revenue from direct and contextual advertising.

So I am very surprised that domainers, particularly those who develop domains, do not see far more value in .org.uk domains. I've seen some really great .org.uk names left on the shelf.

Do you guys think .org.uk will grow in value? I've seen a few have sold for big money recently, but still few people see great value in them.

 

[willbon]

Being very general, .org.uk values have risen... as have most domain prices - simply due to the supply/demand and lack of FTR domains

Also look at .me.uk's.. they're seeing more interest these days too

Personally I'd prefer to use the .me.uk rather than .org.uk simply because people have not quite come round to the fact that .org.uk is not necessarily for a charity or 'organisation' - They are however more difficult to rank, but do look better as a brand with certain words.....

I'd say the .org.uk extn will become more popular and values increase if the average search engine user accepts that it's use is for commercial purposes too...

When regging a domain and the .org.uk is available I usually register the .org.uk as well... to protect the .co.uk in rankings and make sure some swine doesn't nab it too!

Good luck!

 

[scwebsites]

] They are however more difficult to rank, but do look better as a brand with certain words.

I'm not seeing them as more difficult to rank. I certainly don't think Google or Bing rank .org.uk any less than they do .co.uk

There are far more developed .co.uk domains, so there are far more .co.uk in the serps, this may make it look like it is harder to rank a .org.uk

 

[willbon]

Sorry I meant the .me.uk's were harder to rank... do you have any experience with the .me.uk's?

 

[newguy]

I'm not seeing them as more difficult to rank. I certainly don't think Google or Bing rank .org.uk any less than they do .co.uk

There are far more developed .co.uk domains, so there are far more .co.uk in the serps, this may make it look like it is harder to rank a .org.uk

Maybe he means from a perspective of gaining inbound links - rather than .org.uks being treated different by google, which in turn impact ranking. To be honest though, I haven't found that to be the case either, so who knows. I think .org.uks have a lot going for them. When coming at it from a pure SEO angle I'd just as soon have a less significant outlay, as I did with my funny quotes .org.uk site. There's concern about repeat visitors going to the wrong site I guess, some types of sites don't get major repeat visitors anyway.

 

[scwebsites]

Sorry I meant the .me.uk's were harder to rank... do you have any experience with the .me.uk's?

I see .me.uk domains as solely for personal website and / or e-mail use. For instance if someone had the name Joe Bloggs, joebloggs.me.uk would be a grea personal blog.

I noticed last night that tourist.me.uk was available and considered registering it because I think it would make a great address for a personal travel blog. Sadly I have two kids and two dogs and blog about popping to Bognor for the weekend may be a bit boring. I wouldn't buy it and use it as a commercial travel site though, but if tourist.org.uk was available I'd snap it up.

I did however once own a very popular .me.uk that had 1000+ uniques a day, so I know that they can do well in the search engines.

 

[scottsmith]

I'm all for the value of .org.uk going up as I own a few nice ones like Cameras.org.uk, Recipes.org.uk and Horoscopes.org.uk. As for getting them ranked I will let you know in a few months as I've just started to build a site on www.horoscopes.org.uk

Scott

 

[scwebsites]

I'm all for the value of .org.uk going up as I own a few nice ones like Cameras.org.uk, Recipes.org.uk and Horoscopes.org.uk. As for getting them ranked I will let you know in a few months as I've just started to build a site on www.horoscopes.org.uk

Scott

Nice looking site too

That's an absolutely ideal domain for .org.uk

 

[scottsmith]

Thanks, still a long way to go with Horoscopes.org.uk, will keep you posted.

 

[thecat]

My experience is .org.uk rank as well as co.uk, and if a site is purely about seo generated traffic then it's fine. Branding can be another matter though as has been discussed.

 

[accelerator]

My unscientific opinion for Google SEO is that .org.uk is equivalent to .co.uk but the .me.uk is harder to rank.

I like .org.uk myself.

Rgds

 

[sdsinc]

My unscientific opinion is that as long as you develop pretty much any extension might do... their built-in value or resale potential is of course another matter.

 

[scwebsites]

Actually, of the developed site is generating traffic, and revenue, I don't see .org.uk being of any less value than a .co.uk

There of course should be a difference in value, a .co.uk is more brandable, more memorable and can be used for ANY type of website, but the difference in considered value is far greater than it should be and I recon, from what I have been reading, many people are starting to see this.

I saw a post on here where a member sold a one work .org.uk for £10K, and yet still many really good one work .org.uk domains fail to sell for much more than the original reg fee.

I bought aquatics.org.uk the other day as it was available. The idea I had was to develop a website about fresh water, tropical and salt water fish keeping, but I have some many projects at the moment it would be months before I could give it any attention. I have just listed it on Domainlore and I hope someone else sees the value in it. If it were a .co.uk I recon it would get quite a few bids.

 

[Edwin]

90% of annual advertising spend takes place offline. And SEO is only a part of online advertising spend. So aside from SEO, .co.uk trumps .org.uk in all other situations because consumers have been "programmed" over the last 15 years, through the cumulative impact of millions of URLs in ads, to expect to see .co.uk at the end of a URL.

 

[scwebsites]

Sure Edwin, of course that is quite correct. But... Information websites, and blogs rarely if ever advertise offline, and in most cases traffic is gained solely from organic search and the creation of unique content. These website can generate huge revenue streams, and having a nice domain with relevant keywords can help a little with SEO.

I'm by no means suggesting that .org.uk should have the same financial value as a .co.uk, I'm just surprised the value is quite a low as it seems to be.

 

[Edwin]

Sure Edwin, of course that is quite correct. But... Information websites, and blogs rarely if ever advertise offline, and in most cases traffic is gained solely from organic search and the creation of unique content. These website can generate huge revenue streams, and having a nice domain with relevant keywords can help a little with SEO.

That's all true.

Perhaps it's also down to the fact that to have a popular website with "huge revenue streams" requires a sustained, ongoing effort - and many companies won't want to start down such a cost-intensive route on a .org.uk domain name?

 

[scwebsites]

Yeah, very true, like my aquatics.org.uk if I put tonnes of work in I building unique content I could make it work, but I don't have the time. Putting hours in would cost me money which I wouldn't see back for many months.

I think a good .org.uk can compliment a not so good .co.uk. For example, say there is a company called Bobs Aquatics, and he tries to register aquatics.co.uk or tropicalfish.co.uk but finds they are gone and not for sale. So he registers bobsaquatics.co.uk knowing it's not as good, places his shop on bobsaquatics.co.uk and then buys aquatics.org.uk, develops a site an information about fish keeping, deep linking to his products on bobsaquatics.co.uk.

The above example could apply to many business types, and shows how .org.uk domains could be valuable to a business.

 

[Bailey]

My unscientific opinion is that as long as you develop pretty much any extension might do... their built-in value or resale potential is of course another matter.

Indeed. That's the bottom-line.

The UK market operates in an almost unique niche with it's second-level Country coding (i know there are a few others)

From a 'stand alone' domain value - It is a 'diluter' which indeed the whole sub-system is. It would be interesting to see a "ficticious- projection" of what the UK names space (and values) would have looked like with just the .UK in place..

My personal opinion is that it would have been one of the most highly valued Country Codes on the planet.

 

[cc976a]

All it will take is a few high profile commercial .org.uk's (so the average consumer thinks about the extension and sees a org.uk the same as a .co.uk) and I'm sure you'll see a snowball effect.

To be honest this generally creates the excitement over new extensions ( .co recently more than most because of the similarity). The fact they hope Joe Public will cotton on to these and voila instant cash. Hasn't happened so far - and after a few years of .org.uk speculation it still hasn't quite happened yet.

In fairness anyone running an online SME with turnover of £50-£150k will probably do just as well with a .org.uk than a .co.uk (assuming most of their business is done online). Larger and you start adding risks, that perhaps are unnecessary.

Domainers and developers fear the loss of offline business by not having a commonplace extension. I get that - I'd fear it to.

I have a couple of similar sites, same industry but different niches. One is .co.uk and the other is .org.uk - I'm waiting to see how this pans out, but I've also contiplated a .me.uk for experimental reasons if nothing else

 

[jwm]

I think a good .org.uk can compliment a not so good .co.uk. For example, say there is a company called Bobs Aquatics, and he tries to register aquatics.co.uk or tropicalfish.co.uk but finds they are gone and not for sale. So he registers bobsaquatics.co.uk knowing it's not as good, places his shop on bobsaquatics.co.uk and then buys aquatics.org.uk, develops a site an information about fish keeping, deep linking to his products on bobsaquatics.co.uk.

Or why not set the store on aquatics.org.uk, SEO it for the term aquatics and then when you have high/1st place rankings on G 301 the site to bobsaquatics.co.uk

You then have a 'branded' site ranking for the main keyword in your industry