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Do I need a uk domain?

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After the recent launch of .london domains, today saw the turn of the much-heralded .uk.  All hugely exciting, especially if your primary business is selling domain names (note that almost ALL the excitement came from domain resellers).

However, a good question to ask is "Do I need one?"

The short answer is probably not, but it's quite cool, not terribly expensive and will look a bit trendy/cutting edge for the next 6 months.

If you've already got a .com, .co.uk and a few others, and you're anxious to protect your brand identity and your business is UK-specific, then it's not a bad idea.  Otherwise, I wouldn't bother, and here's the reason why: domain names are being opened up to include hundreds of different domain suffixes.  Where it used to be that all you had to get was .com/co.uk, or .org/org.uk, now there are going to be dozens and dozens and dozens of the bloody things.

Seriously, the list is huge. I was tempted to type them all out, but I lost the will to live.

Personally, I think this is a terrible mistake by the internet authorities.  It smacks of a money-making exercise: think of the thousands of domain names that Coca Cola will going to have to buy to protect its brand name.

Don't feel you have to rush to a decision: if you have a .co.uk, you've got an automatic five-year reservation on the equivalent .uk, so no-one else can sneak in under the radar and grab it from under your nose.

All that aside, if there's a domain that's specifically relevant to your business, then it's worth considering, but I'd still grab the primary .com/co.uk, or .org/org.uk as well.

As always, if you're not 100% sure, feel free to ask.

 

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