.Com vs. Co.uk
If you live in the UK and are starting a website, you have many domain extensions to choose from. The most popular choices are .com and .co.uk. Which one should you pick?
Both are good choices and cost about the same to register on a yearly basis, although .co.uk requires a two-year commitment. Which one you pick is really a matter of your target audience. Pick .com if you are targeting an international audience, especially if your site sells good or services. Internet surfers abroad are often leery of buying from foreign sites. Americans in particular are most comfortable with the .com extension.
On the other hand, UK web surfers prefer .co.uk names. If your target audience is the UK, stick with a .co.uk domain. Britons feel the same way about .co.uk as Americans do about .com. Of course, you may be stuck with a .co.uk anyway if the .com name you want is already taken.
Photo | Flickr
UK police shut down 1200 .co.uk domains
The Metropolitan Police’s Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) announced today that it, in conjunction with the .uk registry, has shut down more than 1200 .co.uk domains.
The domains in question were used by organised criminal networks for scamming. Many contained fake online stores where consumers could order designer goods for low prices, but these people ended getting conned out of their money instead. The names are thought to have generated millions of pounds in revenue.
It’s great to see something being done about Internet fraud. Cyber criminals are often times very difficult to prosecute, but in this case the PCeU found a way it could take action with minimal effort.
Photo | Flickr
Tag: .co.uk, .uk, online fraud, pceu, scam, scams
Report: 77% of UK residents prefer .uk over .com
A report released this week by Nominet, the operator of the .uk ccTLD, shows that Britons hold a strong liking for their .uk extension. According to the study, 77% prefer it over .com.
So far this year, .uk has grown 10.7%. Though this is the same as the average growth for all ccTLDs, it is still good news for anyone who has invested in the extension.
People like ccTLDs because they are more identifiable with their home countries, whereas .com is a generic catch-all. Interestingly, the United States hasn’t experienced the same trend as the UK with its .us extension. The vast majority of people still prefer .com. While .us is gaining ground, it still remains mostly unused.