Understanding of the .uk brand

[Bailey]

On a related note I was at the relaunch of a music venue in Glasgow last night, was surprised to see the venue using "clubname.info" for their website.

I initially assumed they obviously hadnt been able to get the co.uk or the.com however it turns out they've owned the co.uk since 2006 and only bought the .info in 2009

I guess this is the domain equivalent of scoring an own goal... Some people are beyond help!

I'm going to disagree.

Sometimes a certain extension usage aids memorability - But, yes you certainly want to have the primary extensions owned and pointing towards your chosen url.

I own several "property rental" type domains in .info - Where the .info extension is really the best fit.(yep I'd love to own the .com as well but, I dont)

 

[stellar73]

fair enough Bailey....I dont think .info is the worst extension in the world (it certainly beats .pro), I just cant see why any uk business would choose to use it over a .co.uk when they didn't have to....each to their own I suppose!

 

[Bailey]

Yes I realise it's very much 3rd or 4th choice as a internet domain extension/usage But, the way I looked at them was lets say "LuxuryVilla dot info" being on an ad-board outside (or in proximity) to a property. rather than as an internet centric use.

Keep it simple and memorable - And if they are going to charge £3k for every week for a very top of the range Villa - I'll settle for a weeks rental money (even less) to hand over the domain. (Yes, It is one of mine)

Of course the owner could use their property name plus whatever extension (and many do) but, thats hardly memorable , unless you happen to have paper & pen to hand. And yes in these instances I don't think the INFO use is out of place for a one-off physical and placed ad.

If you took a shine to the property. Then

"luxuryvilla dot info" isn't about escape your memory and obviously great for those select few that decide to view the property in comfort of home. It's one of those domain usages where your only looking for the select few to view in the first place - not to far adrift from your example given above really.

And of course I've got a few more similar .infos that fit the same bill

And Would I register them (.info) for purely internet usage ? - Not a fu*king chance

 

[tifosi]

agreed. It's all about context. And what's suitable for what purpose. We tend to think there's a heirarchy of which gTld or ccTld trumps another. But ironically not all internet 'business' is online. The clubname.info is probably savvy marketing.

 

[Bailey]

agreed. It's all about context. And what's suitable for what purpose. We tend to think there's a heirarchy of which gTld or ccTld trumps another. But ironically not all internet 'business' is online. The clubname.info is probably savvy marketing.

Agree - If your a 'Domainer' Try to See or Imagine domains at work in the 'real world' and you won't go far wrong

 

[Edwin]

Agree - If your a 'Domainer' Try to See or Imagine domains at work in the 'real world' and you won't go far wrong

In the 'real world' having .co.uk is possibly even more relevant than online. Unless you really only care about people walking past and remembering something after taking a really long, hard look at it, that is.

But if you're trying to make an impression with your URL on the side of a van, on a billboard, on a bus shelter ad, in a newspaper or magazine, or anywhere else where people will have fleeting seconds to see your ad amongst hundreds of distractions, then .co.uk is half the battle won before it's started. It's such a common extension that there's zero brainpower involved to remember that bit, so all they have to remember is the bit before the dot.

And if you've picked an appropriate generic they almost don't even have to do that, since it will be describing something they already know. That's an order of magnitude easier to remember than something like "acmeplumbingservices.co.uk" (I'm being kind here, most of the local URLs I've seen advertised are even more opaque than that).

Basically you need something that will be absorbed without ever triggering the brain to "process" it first, because the brain's too busy concentrating on driving, or on the 1,001 distractions of a busy street, or on the ad for a new luxury car on the page facing yours...

In other words: Glance->Got It!

 

[Bailey]

I agree with all your points above Edwin. And of course everything has to put into context. My point was in certain situations you can get away with a "good-fit" extension. And of course I would love to own the .coms for the "luxury property" domains that I do hold, but I think I missed that particular boat sometime ago.

I don't hold any other .info's that I recall apart from the property rental ones. You know yourself theres really almost two separate systems at work when you look at Gtld world as opposed to our local Country level.

I think the problem can arise in "domainers" and developers is that they can start to see the Electronic World in a rather narrow field of purely an ecommerce way and not come away from the comfort-shell that they operate in