Lewis Carroll said, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there". This is true with the exception of when you are trying to determine what domain name you will be creating for your website. The name you choose will end with a .SOMETHING. You will be building your website to build a business, so you need to decide whether your .SOMETHING is either .co.uk or .com - .co.uk represents commerce in the UK and .com represents commerce without boundaries. This decision can make a significant difference on where you end up on the international roadways called the internet.
Your domain name represents you, your business, your livelihood, the way you support your family and if you are lucky, and your passion. The .SOMETHING represents where you want to do business. When picking a domain name you need to think about your vision for your website. What is its purpose? Whom do I want to be talking to? Do I want to reach people in the just in the UK or worldwide? We are going to answer those three questions with the case study of a growing scarf store. Sally, the owner, will decide whether a .co.uk or a .com is better for her growing business.
This study applies to anyone building a website to promote a product. The product could be waterproof mittens, an exercise video that you have developed or an affiliate offer that you want to promote locally or worldwide.
Sally's Beautiful and Unique Scarf Business -
Sally has a small business that she operates from her kitchen making and selling beautiful, unique scarves for men, women and children in London. She has decided to start her business by selling her scarves to the people who live in London and the area surrounding London. Sally decides she is going to do deliveries to her customers so she can meet them face-to-face to promote her business.
The domain that ends in .co.uk will be the best for her. A recent survey of people in the UK showed that 8 out of 10 people that live in the UK and shop on the internet prefer a .co.uk domain. The .co.uk in her domain name makes UK customers feel like her business is connected to where they live, and has a stronger level of trust with buyers than a .com in her domain name. Seeing the .co.uk in her domain name potential customers will feel confident that she is a local business, and she is selling the best scarves in the UK. Sally decides that her new domain name will be - BestScarves.co.uk and she will be making linen and cotton scarves beautifully dyed with all natural dyes.
Sally's marketing is working. The excitement of her beautiful and unique scarves starts to widen out of the local London area, she starts getting calls from people further away in the UK. Sally is still working from her kitchen, but orders from all over the UK are starting to come in. At this point in Sally's business, she will still only need to have the .co.uk domain.
Her referrals have taken off so well that not only is she moving from her kitchen to a small storefront she is getting inquiries from all over the UK about her scarves. Because of Sally's .co.uk domain not only her friends and neighbours have become customers, but the tourists have found her, too. Then a marvelous thing happens - when the tourists go home, and their friends see Sally's scarves they want to buy some for themselves and as gifts for their friends. So, the tourists start referring their friends to her website. Pretty soon she is getting inquiries from other countries.
Yes, it is time for Sally to own the .com domain. This is the reason why.
Sally has a highly targeted, short, easy to spell and easy to remember domain name - BestScarves.co.uk. But when someone tells her friend about Sally's website they forget to tell them they must enter .co.uk after the website's name. What she will tell her sister or her friend to do is go to the BestScarves website. Most people outside of the UK will think of a .com domain name and will not find Sally's .co.uk website. People from the United States or other countries are used to looking for companies and products using the .com in the domain name. For this kind of international customer, Sally should also have the .com for her domain.
So, how does she fix this problem? The solution is to buy both the .co.uk and the .com at the same time. Set up the .com website to automatically redirect to the .co.uk website. If your vision for your business is to only market to the local buyers in the UK, then you can just use the .co.uk. However, if you think you might ever grow outside of the UK you should buy them both at the same time. Even if you are not thinking of expanding in to a worldwide market the .com with the .co.uk will bring you all the customers that type your website name into a search engine.
With the people of the world coming closer and closer all the time because of the internet, Sally wants to make sure that she is positioned to get every buyer that is looking for a scarf for a man, woman or child to come to her website to buy her beautiful, unique scarves. Our case study of a beautiful and unique scarf shop certainly can be extended to any type of business that may be more than a local business. Your business might be an e-book or novel you are selling, a charity that you are forming. This strategy can work for your business, your vision whether you buy the .co.uk domain or both the .co.uk and the .com address.
Erin Gray is a professional author and webmaster who works for Discount Domains https://plus.google.com/105680080416880251513/posts
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