.uk Which one is better? .co.uk or .uk?

[Soofi]

Which one is better? .co.uk or .uk?

For domain name investment, as well as development?

I am trying to compare it with .co.in and .in and see how they fare.. thoughts ya'll?

 

[joro001]

.co.uk for everything by an absolute mile.

 

[Soofi]

.co.uk for everything by an absolute mile.

If I were to compare it with other cctld's, I see .uk would win being a shorter one and easy to type + remember.

Why do you think .co.uk is better brother?

 

[joro001]

I am from the UK and it's just fact .co.uk is better and more widely used then .uk every time despite being longer.

It is the extension UK businesses have used since the beginning and .uk was only introduced a few years ago and never took off. Things may have been different had .uk been released before .co.uk.

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

Short answer .Co.uk "owns" .UK

Why?

Say you try to register .UK?
You have to prove you own .Co.uk first.

Say you found a good keyword?

And your reg the .UK? If the .Co.uk isn't taken? The system will allow you.

But God forbid someone takes .Co.uk?

I think ?(correct me if I'm wrong ) 123.co.uk told me .UK would be forfeit to the .Co.uk registrant


Always best to get .Co.uk at least first. Will need to prove residence in UK or pay for trustee service in UK .

 

[Kate]

.co.uk with .uk rights.

 

[hamiltondomain]

At this stage .co.uk, as its whats is used here in the UK, and is recognised - But .uk probably won't fully take off until 2019, when they become available to register regardless of if you own the .co.uk version - Only then will we see what its value can become imo. atm you need to own .co.uk, and if you have the .co.uk and its already what your businesses uses for branding material etc, why would you use .uk? but, once these restrictions go, new businesses can register .uk, and use .uk, and they will become more widely used and recognised. At that point we will see its true potential.

 

[Soofi]

Some very interesting points mentioned here.

of course until and unless restrictions and limitations on .uk will be removed by 2019, we wont be able to see what happens with .uk and its popularity. But my experience in this industry says that shorter .cctld always wins, though introduced much later, as soon the limitations are off, it will be widely used cctld in and around UK.

 

[joro001]

Some very interesting points mentioned here.

of course until and unless restrictions and limitations on .uk will be removed by 2019, we wont be able to see what happens with .uk and its popularity. But my experience in this industry says that shorter .cctld always wins, though introduced much later, as soon the limitations are off, it will be widely used cctld in and around UK.

I personally don't really think so, I believe .co.uk will always be the main extension in the UK, it is what 99% of UK businesses prefer to use versus the shorter .uk. I agree when restrictions are removed .UK may find its place but I doubt most established businesses will really change branding (maybe reg as a defensive play) so you're looking at new entrants battling against a very established and well regarded extension in .co.uk.

Time will tell!

 

[Nappy Bunch]

im from the UK and .co.uk is the winner every single time..

 

[Soofi]

I personally don't really think so, I believe .co.uk will always be the main extension in the UK, it is what 99% of UK businesses prefer to use versus the shorter .uk. I agree when restrictions are removed .UK may find its place but I doubt most established businesses will really change branding (maybe reg as a defensive play) so you're looking at new entrants battling against a very established and well regarded extension in .co.uk.

Time will tell!

You have a very valid point there and I am not going to refute or counter that. Just that I see more play a shorter cctld, and I think time will rightly tell :D

 

[Nappy Bunch]

look at .com and .co

.co is shorter yet .com reigns supreme.. same as .co.uk against .uk in the UK

 

[Soofi]

look at .com and .co

.co is shorter yet .com reigns supreme.. same as .co.uk against .uk in the UK

.com has been here for how many years? and .co for how long? :D

Just a point to ponder over!

 

[GoKaizen]

https://domainlore.uk

3rd level (.org.uk, .co.uk) declined and 2nd level (.UK) has gained.

https://www.nominet.uk/news/reports-statistics/uk-register-statistics-2016/

 

[hamiltondomain]

https://domainlore.uk

3rd level (.org.uk, .co.uk) declined and 2nd level (.UK) has gained.

https://www.nominet.uk/news/reports-statistics/uk-register-statistics-2016/

Is someone comparing a mature market to a growth market again lol

 

[Brandon.Domains]

Don't you have the option to buy the exact .uk version of your existing .co.uk domain until end of decade?

.uk is definitely better. But it might take people a little while to get used to it.

Thanks,
Brandon

 

[carob]

Which one is better? .co.uk or .uk?

Several threads on here about this. As people have said, the fun starts in 2019 when anyone can register any .uk.

Until then anyone who owned the .co.uk at the launch in 2014 has rights to the .uk, whether or not they register it. https://www.theukdomain.uk/advice/do-i-have-uk-rights/

At 08:00hrs on 10 June 2014 we launched the new shorter, sharper domain name .uk into our UK domain family. If you are an existing customer and own a unique .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .plc.uk or .ltd.uk, a .uk domain name may already have been reserved especially for you until 10 June 2019.

But .co.uk domains registered after 10 June 2014 do not have rights to the .uk - they would need to register it to protect themselves. Seems many don't.

 

[ChelseaDott]

.co.uk, have seen more domains with this TLD than with .uk

 

[carob]

3rd level (.org.uk, .co.uk) declined and 2nd level (.UK) has gained.

https://www.nominet.uk/news/reports-statistics/uk-register-statistics-2016/

Over 2016 12 months net changes from that official page:

3d level (.org.uk .me .uk .co.uk .ltd.uk) down by 166,444

second level (.uk) up by 98,508


Some registrars have offered the matching .uk for £1.00 or even free. Also .uk includes any government services on the .uk extension.

 

[joro001]

Good grief, there are people on this thread suggesting .uk is better than .co.uk, total baloney sorry.
I am from the UK and all (99.9%) serious businesses use .co.uk and not .uk.

Had .uk been released 20 years ago instead of .co.uk then yes it may and probably would have been the main extension of choice, but it didn't happen and now .uk is close to an irrelevance and was released way too late to make an impression.

It may be getting more regs but most of those will be defensive regs by owners of the .co.uk owners protecting their brand, almost none will rebrand to .uk. It is open in 2019 for startups and the like to get a good domain not available in .co.uk but they will then bleed traffic to .co.uk which will always be the number 1 extension of choice. Suggesting anything else is totally ridiculous.

Will domainers be able to make money from .uk in 2019 onwards? That is another question and perhaps yes, but let's get some perspective here first!

 

[Soofi]

Good grief, there are people on this thread suggesting .uk is better than .co.uk, total baloney sorry.
I am from the UK and all (99.9%) serious businesses use .co.uk and not .uk.

Dude, what are you on about? No one is suggesting 1 thing over other. We are discussing and trying to hear opinions/viewpoints/thoughts of each and every individual on here.

Please do not take it personal or anything else for that matter.

If you think .co.uk is better, good for you but there might be others with differing opinion and you cannot stop that from happening.

Let people express what they think is rght and you stick to your own viewpoint, no one is asking yout o change that for god's sake!

 

[Soofi]

Had .uk been released 20 years ago instead of .co.uk then yes it may and probably would have been the main extension of choice, but it didn't happen and now .uk is close to an irrelevance and was released way too late to make an impression.

It may be getting more regs but most of those will be defensive regs by owners of the .co.uk owners protecting their brand, almost none will rebrand to .uk. It is open in 2019 for startups and the like to get a good domain not available in .co.uk but they will then bleed traffic to .co.uk which will always be the number 1 extension of choice. Suggesting anything else is totally ridiculous.

Will domainers be able to make money from .uk in 2019 onwards? That is another question and perhaps yes, but let's get some perspective here first!

This is why most of us also suggested, we will have to wait and see how year 2019 develops as limitations are removed.

 

[joro001]

Dude, what are you on about? No one is suggesting 1 thing over other. We are discussing and trying to hear opinions/viewpoints/thoughts of each and every individual on here.

Please do not take it personal or anything else for that matter.

If you think .co.uk is better, good for you but there might be others with differing opinion and you cannot stop that from happening.

Let people express what they think is rght and you stick to your own viewpoint, no one is asking yout o change that for god's sake!

As you wish i'm out of this thread.
All the best.

 

[Robert91]

.co.uk is any day better than .uk

 

[Soofi]

As you wish i'm out of this thread.
All the best.

Again you are taking it personal brother.. why?