question Why prefer ccTLD over .com

CCTLDS have always been good for me i have sold several thousands of them and people in the UK love co.uk as lots of them dont need the .com its as simple as that !

European countries seem to be the ones that prefer to use their country's extension unless they are international.

What is the obsession with .com? If you are a domain investor at the highest level, a business in U.S. and A. or international brand I get it. Dot com. Sure, businesses in other countries should register the .com and .net for type in and to stop competitors. But there are so many reasons not to use .com in U.K. First off the bat we TRUST co.uk over .com. Next we can IDENTIFY it's (probably) a U.K. based company. Next co.uk is far better for SEARCH engine ranking. Finally it's just always been that way and like others have said the average small to medium business in U.K. couldn't give two hoots about .com. I actively encourage S.M.E.'s to grab the .com and .net and redirect to co.uk. Some argue they are a window cleaning company in Nuneaton so why would they need the American one?

By the way, as you've witnessed throughout history, we'll do what we want.

In Australia our ccTLD is .com.au

For commercial entities, such as companies (with an ABN or ACN as registered through ASIC), and businesses (registered with state governments).

Cheers
Corey

@redemo

I don't think it's an "obsession" when British firms use .com without a redirect to co.uk for their website.

Of course co.uk is the most popular choice in a lot of cases.

These typical British organizations in my sample are just smart, and ready for a bright .com future.

This is also about trust.

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/
https://www.royalmint.com/
https://www.royallondon.com/
https://www.selfridges.com/
https://www.britishairways.com/
https://www.trinitycollege.com/
https://www.londonschool.com/
https://www.heathrow.com/
https://www.londoncityairport.com/
https://canarywharf.com/
https://www.visitlondon.com/
https://www.londontheatredirect.com/
https://www.boots-uk.com/
https://www.goaheadlondon.com/
https://www.london-stadium.com/
https://www.londonenergyltd.com/
https://www.williamhillplc.com/
https://www.derwentlondon.com/
https://www.rexlondon.com/
https://educatinrx.com/
https://www.thegoodcaregroup.com/
https://www.nationalgrid.com/
https://londonsroyaldocks.com/

They're almost all trading internationally or for both U.K. and international audience (INT).

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/ (INT)
https://www.royalmint.com/ (INT)
https://www.royallondon.com/ (INT)
https://www.selfridges.com/ (INT)
https://www.britishairways.com/ (INT)
https://www.trinitycollege.com/ (INT)
https://www.londonschool.com/ (INT)
https://www.heathrow.com/ (INT)
https://www.londoncityairport.com/ (INT)
https://canarywharf.com/ (INT)
https://www.visitlondon.com/ (INT)
https://www.londontheatredirect.com/ (INT)
https://www.boots-uk.com/
https://www.goaheadlondon.com/
https://www.london-stadium.com/ (INT)
https://www.londonenergyltd.com/
https://www.williamhillplc.com/
https://www.derwentlondon.com/ (INT)
https://www.rexlondon.com/ (INT)
https://educatinrx.com/ (INT)
https://www.thegoodcaregroup.com/
https://www.nationalgrid.com/ (INT)
https://londonsroyaldocks.com/ (INT)

Local and medium sized companies in U.K. don't need .com but it's a good idea to register and redirect to co.uk.

redemo said:

They're almost all trading internationally or for both U.K. and international audience (INT).

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/ (INT)
https://www.royalmint.com/ (INT)
https://www.royallondon.com/ (INT)
https://www.selfridges.com/ (INT)
https://www.britishairways.com/ (INT)
https://www.trinitycollege.com/ (INT)
https://www.londonschool.com/ (INT)
https://www.heathrow.com/ (INT)
https://www.londoncityairport.com/ (INT)
https://canarywharf.com/ (INT)
https://www.visitlondon.com/ (INT)
https://www.londontheatredirect.com/ (INT)
https://www.boots-uk.com/
https://www.goaheadlondon.com/
https://www.london-stadium.com/ (INT)
https://www.londonenergyltd.com/
https://www.williamhillplc.com/
https://www.derwentlondon.com/ (INT)
https://www.rexlondon.com/ (INT)
https://educatinrx.com/ (INT)
https://www.thegoodcaregroup.com/
https://www.nationalgrid.com/ (INT)
https://londonsroyaldocks.com/ (INT)

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Knowing the British a bit, I would have expected at least some of these URLs to redirect to the super strong .co.uk brand. But looking at this from across the canal (hello!) I think they both look completely fine.

When I grew up with Paddington Bear, this cute little bear didn't even have a personal website yet. Furthermore, .co.uk is not in my system as it is with the British themselves

I would say they are either un-aware about the world wide web (www) or have very little knowledge about internet/digital world. I do agree the business should prefer to broadcast its business on the web with its country code extension but not registering .com and not forwarding it to ccTLD shows that the business entity has very little knowledge about internet/digital world.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking .com. It's just that co.uk is better for a U.K. only enterprise that's all.

Google uses Google.co.in and similarly many corporations uses ccTLD extension. It gives local credibility. I think a company must take control of dot com (if available) and also register ccTLD extension. If no dot com is available - then go with ccTLD. But, now adays even getting a decent ccTLD available is difficult.

In some countries it is a MUST.

domseocrew said:

In some countries it is a MUST.

Click to expand...

Can you name those countries?

Future Sensors said:

Can you name those countries?

Click to expand...

UK, Germany, China, India, Canada... basically any country that has a ccTLD that is still a true ccTLD.

DomainRecap said:

UK, Germany, China, India, Canada... basically any country that has a ccTLD that is still a true ccTLD.

Click to expand...

To be clear(er) -

I agree that ccTLDs are the most popular choice in a lot of countries, just like here in .nl.

But a "must"? Not really. Our best known webshop in the Netherlands is Bol.com. It's not a must for being successful.

Sorry for thinking the way I do today

Well sure, if you are incredibly lucky and already own your core brand in .COM, then maybe not, but that's an extremely rare occurrence, and even then, I don't think you want your ccTLD owned by anyone else, if only because Google gives true ccTLDs a nice local bump in the search results.

And bringing up an ultra-expensive, pronounceable LLL.com like BOL.com as an example of why you don't need a ccTLD is pretty zany. That's top-of-the-line right there, but it obviously represents a tiny percentage of NL companies.

It's similar to Canadian banks, which make billions a year and can easily afford premium domains like TD.com, BMO.com and RBC.com (with most also owning the .CA) but again, that represents a microscopic percentage of CA firms.

The only type that might be excluded are massive multinationals who own their core .COM brand, like Intel (who coincidentally owns Intel.us) or Walmart (who umm... also owns the .US), or Volkswagen (who owns VW.com, along with the .DE, .CA among others), or Sony (who own Sony.jp) or... wait, what were we talking about?