A domain name isn’t just the gateway to your website, it’s the online representation of your brand or business name.
If you’re a UK business then there’s a good chance you’ve registered the domains yourbusinessname.co.uk and also probably yourbusinessname.com. That’s because they’re the two most popular types, and the ones that most UK consumers would expect to see. But have you ever thought about securing other similar domain extensions? If not, why not?
Here are a few points you might to think about:
Revenue loss
Does your business name contain words that are commonly spelt incorrectly? Is there another way of spelling it that potential customers might use instead? A good tip is to try typing the name yourself as fast as possible, and seeing if any extra letters end up in the final result.
For example, let’s say your business is called Lawrence Bakers. You might have registered the domain name lawrencebakers.co.uk to go with this. But some people spell Lawrence as Laurence instead. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to register laurencebakers.co.uk as well? That way, you won’t lose any business from people who type it in using that variation. You should even consider acquiring the singular version as well, as that could also be a common misspelling.
Reputational damage
If you only register your domain name in a few extensions, you are increasing the chance of a malicious individual registering it in other extensions and trying to profit from your good name. This is a practice known as cybersquatting.
The best case scenario is they will register the other extensions and then contact you to see if you want to buy them at an often exorbitant price. At worst, they will create a fake copy of your own website and use that to deceive your customers, leaving you out of pocket and causing huge damage to your reputation. That’s the last thing you want to happen!
Brand recognition
The simple fact is that the more types of domain extensions you register for your business, the greater the chance of someone finding you. You should absolutely get the “heavy hitters” such as .co.uk and .com, but if you add others like .org and .biz to your portfolio then you’ll be greatly expanding your potential reach.
Which domain extensions should you consider?
There are a huge selection of possible domain extensions available to register, but which ones should you look at first? To help you decide we’ve put together this shortlist of the top six ones we think you should consider first.
.com
The biggest domain extension on the Internet. Over half of all websites use this extension and it’s often the default one that consumers type when they’re manually trying to locate a website. Just open the web browser app on your smartphone and bring up the on-screen keyboard. Chances are you’ll have a button which automatically adds “.com” to the end of what you’ve typed.
Register your .com domain today.
.co.uk
If you’re trading in the UK then you definitely want this one. Whilst it may not have the global reach of .com, it exerts a powerful influence on UK shoppers. If they’re searching Google for products and they see a .co.uk website come up in the results, they’ll know there’s a good chance that business is based in the UK. Therefore it will probably offer faster delivery and better prices than a .com website, which may be based overseas.
Register your .co.uk domain today.
.biz
Looking at this domain extension, the first thing that probably comes to mind is business. That makes this a great one for any business to register after .com and .co.uk. Its popularity is increasing and it can be used to create a snappier and more memorable domain name for any business.
Register your .biz domain today.
.net
The second most popular domain extension worldwide. It was originally just used by network providers, but has become more mainstream over the years and is now seen as an alternative to .com. It does still have a strong association with the technology industry though, so if you’re in the IT sector you should definitely think about registering one of these.
Register your .net domain today.
.uk
This is another one to grab if you’re trading in the UK market. It’s shorter, so is more suitable for being displayed on literature such as business cards, TV screens or the side of vans. An example of this is train operator West Midlands Railway, whose website is located at westmidlandsrailway.co.uk. As that can be rather long to display in print, they use the shorter version wmr.uk in most of their advertising and electronic displays.
Register your .uk domain today.
.org
Whilst this domain extension is commonly associated with not for profit organisations or community groups, rather than commercial businesses, its popularity means that it’s a good idea to snap it up for your brand to stop a cybersquatter from doing so instead. With a redirect on it to your main website, it’s another possible method that consumers can use to find you.
Register your .org domain today.
Find your perfect domain
Secure your domain in other extensions and you’ll extend your sales reach and protect those most important of business assets – your brand and your reputation.
Want to know more?
You can visit The Hub for tips on starting your business with a domain name, a business email, and a website. You can also download free insightful e-books there.
