co.uk or .com

[ECS]

I am launching a new website which initially will be targeted at the UK market, but later on will target the US. As such I wanted a name with a co.uk and .com suffix. Unfortunately, for the name I want the .com version of this address is already taken. As such, can anyone give me any advice as to what to do.

Do I launch with (1) below, which is my favoured name (note this is not the actual name of the site !). If so what do I use for the US site ? Or, do I go with (2), where I'll be able to keep the same name with two different suffixes ?

1. internet-shop.co.uk ........ (no .com version of this name, thus don't know what to do when targeting the US )

2. internetshopuk.co.uk / internetshopuk.com

 

[webhostuk]

Its always good to think about the future, so if you are thinking of global market then its good to have the .com domain as well, so will suggest to go with second option and buy both .com and co.uk.

 

[Chinavasion]

It doesn't make sense to have 'uk' in the .com domain. It will be highly confusing for US customers, if that's your target market. I would try to come up with a few other alternatives for your domain.

I do think you should make sure to register both .co.uk and .com sites

 

[Sheng]

If possible registering both .co.uk and .com domains would be the best. But it could also be good enough to only register .com if the .co.uk isn't available.

If in the future you want to target US, you could use a sub-folder structure for your site like this: .com/us

 

[RogerBa]

I agree with all the previous comments, particularly in choosing a domain name you can have both .com and .co.uk in.
I also think that including uk in the name defeats the object a bit, the only exception would be if you are trying to focus on selling British products in the US, in which case there will be better options than the one you have chosen.

 

[ECS]

Thanks for all your replies.

I prefer the 'internet-shop' version of the name as it's much 'snappier' than the other version. I like the idea of the sub-domian.... hadn't thought of that. How good is that though for SEO on google.com ? (would it be better to have a .com suffix in it's entirety ?)

I thought having the 'uk' in the name might actually work in it's favour when overseas customers are looking at it instantly identifies it as a British site and thus appeal to those who might be looking for products available here but not in their home market.

 

[Amy@ Filplastic- Racking]

We registered both .com and .co.uk for our domain, even though we aren't selling in the US. It stops anyone else buying the domain (if it's a general name domain, not protected by copyright) and riding on the back of your success by pointing it to their website. Also a lot of people often type in the wrong URL ending in the UK, as we seem to have a pretty even split between .co.uk and .com.

 

[ECS]

Typing in the wrong url is also an issue. This time with respect to the main part of the name. The hyphen-less version has been taken by one of our competitors so there is a danger that people will go to internetshop.co.uk

I suppose the answer is to come up with something completely different. Can't think what though at the moment that will be equally as descriptive.

 

[JamieM]

I suppose the answer is to come up with something completely different.

Absolutely! I wouldn't use a hyphen and I wouldn't put UK in the domain.

 

[SabriM]

Use a domain name where you can purchase both the .co.uk and .com domains at the same time.

 

[JodieVeeqo]

I'd go for the second option to keep things consistent by having the same name for both .co.uk and.com domains. I'd probably think of an alternative to having UK in the site name though.

 

[positivesparks]

Hi there, quite a few of the domain purchase sites allow you to quickly search our various permutations of a domain name based on keywords. Fasthosts has such a service I believe? Might be worth running a few permutations of your name through that and seeing what's available on both .com and .co.uk? Overall, I think if your business is a web business it's good to have both .com and .co.uk bought for the overall brand name. If your business is offline with online presence, it doesn't matter quite so much.