.com or .co.uk TLD

[lazypbx]

Which is best for a website that mainly targets a uk market: - .com or .co.uk, or does it really matter now?. Any thoughts, opinions or hard facts on how TLD affects SEO or visitors likelihood to click a link.

 

[nahosting]

I would say a UK domain is better but I would secure the .com too and have it redirect to the UK domain. A UK domain does indicate you are UK based or offer UK support so may sway a small number of people, which may make a difference. Amazon uses a .co.uk so that speaks volumes.

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Does matter one bit to be honest. It's all about how you optimise your site with great content and keep it updated.

I have a site that is a .com and ranks first for a core keyword term. It's been like that for 8 years.

A .com is handy if you ever wish to expand overseas.

 

[Digital Oriented]

If your website content is specifically targeted to a certain geographic region, it absolutely matters to have a country code top-level domain corresponding to that region, both from a point of view of SEO and visitors.

Using a ccTLD is a strong indicator for search engines that your website / business focuses on a specific country or region. It also gives your website more credibility in that country / region and increases visitors' confidence.

 

[Paul Murray]

I'd get both and use the .co.uk as the primary. You can always switch later. A .co.uk TLD has a nice 'local' feel to it, so if you're targeting UK markets it makes sense to use it from that perspective too.

 

[DMollart]

Get both, use the UK domain as primary domain as mentioned above. The last thing you want is to get the UK domain and someone redirects the .com to your competition.

 

[lazypbx]

Thanks for the replies but all the +1's for .co.uk seem anecdotal.... any hard evidence for affecting search results or clicks ? I couldn't find any.

Yes Amazon uses .co.uk, but they could probably use whatever they like given their presence (i'm sure a /uk would work equally well) ... BT uses a dot com for example.

 

[DMollart]

Using .uk is best if you have a UK specific service. It tells the person right away you're based in the UK. That's the main reason to use it. If it's a global service the .com is better served.

 

[dotcomdude]

I think that SEO-wise, it doesn't matter. If there could be any confusion about where you're based - and that is important to the customer - then use the .co.uk.

It also depends on what product or service you're offering. For example, if I was searching for 'A4 paper' and there were two results - one with a .com and a different one with a .co.uk, I'd probably look at the .co.uk and ignore the .com if there was nothing visible in the .com's listing to suggest it was British...

 

[RjMaan]

If you are going to target the UK based visitors and traffic than you should go towards the UK domain.

 

[Inva]

I would say a UK domain is better but I would secure the .com too and have it redirect to the UK domain. A UK domain does indicate you are UK based or offer UK support so may sway a small number of people, which may make a difference.

This is the right idea. ccTLDs help with local search results:

Q: What about real ccTLDs (country code top-level domains) : will Google favor ccTLDs (like .uk, .ae, etc.) as a local domain for people searching in those countries?
A: By default, most ccTLDs (with exceptions) result in Google using these to geotarget the website; it tells us that the website is probably more relevant in the appropriate country. Again, see our help center for more information on multi-regional and multilingual sites.

https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2015/07/googles-handling-of-new-top-level.html

Amazon uses a .co.uk so that speaks volumes.

Amazon does not use .co.uk for SEO improvement, that's for sure, and this is a topic that i did not see mentioned above. Keep this in mind: the TLD also determines the legal authority which regulates this internet space. A .co.uk is regulated in UK for all possible purposes and disputes are settled in UK courts as well. A .com or other gTLD on the other hand (i'm not a legal expert though) is probably regulated in USA as it's under IANA which i think was founded by the USA government.

So basically, this will also determine where you go to court if you have a domain-related dispute.

 

[dotcomdude]

Keep this in mind: the TLD also determines the legal authority which regulates this internet space. A .co.uk is regulated in UK for all possible purposes and disputes are settled in UK courts as well.

I'd be very interested to see anything that supports this theory.

 

[Inva]

Sir that's not a theory. The UK space is regulated by a company called Nominet and if you have issues with a .uk domain you can't settle them in a Honduras court.

 

[Inva]

http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/02/26/07-16788.pdf