Shorter and Simpler – will .uk domain benefit your business?
Today, Nominet has announced its plan to proceed with the shorter .uk domain extension following its second consultation period. The change will be the most significant advancement to the .uk domain market ever and will allow more than 10 million existing customers a shorter and more unique equivalent of the current .co.uk. There is no doubt that this change is a landmark one for businesses in the UK. There has been a shift in how businesses want their domain names to work for them – with shorter extensions becoming more popular than ever. The announcement of the .uk will bring businesses in the UK into line with France (.fr) and Germany (.de) with a simpler domain extension. The .uk extension will open up space for people and businesses to buy the domain that they want and they might have missed out on previously. What’s more, when launched businesses need only make a small investment in this domain to further enhance their online brand. The news is also a positive one for the UK’s digital economy and further highlights the support for small businesses in the UK. The domain name market is currently undergoing a major transition as new gTLD’s are set to market and the release of .uk will open up space for people and businesses to buy the domain that they really want. What’s more those businesses that have already purchased the .co.uk domain name will be offered first refusal on the shorter equivalent. So here is a breakdown of the changes Web addresses ending in .uk rather than .co.uk will be available from the summer of 2014 Businesses will be able to register shorter simpler alternatives to .co.uk The move brings the UK in line with Germany and France Nominet will announce a launch date in early 2014 We will be offering our customers the chance to extend their domain portfolio with a .uk gTLD. See if the .uk domain version of your website is available. The combination of a shorter extension alongside the trust of the ‘.uk’ brand will bring about the extension of choice within the market, further enhancing the opportunities for those businesses who want their own online space. Over the coming months we will be in consultation with Nominet and we are committed to making sure we keep everyone up to date with any changes in advance of the launch date announcement.
What the .uk?
This week Nominet announced a three month consultation on a new top-level domain (.uk) that could soon be available alongside the long established and highly popular .co.uk extension, but what is it all about? The wider TLD market As discussed on this blog previously the liberalisation of the top level domain market by ICANN is set to further expand the potential options for domain name purchasers, but with the obvious availability advantages will come potentially great confusion for the consumer. The .uk would be designed to combat some of that and provide a trusted and accepted standard for UK based businesses, giving greater clarity to potential visitors. More stringent checks means more authority The current .co.uk registration requirements are very wide, you don’t even need to have a UK address, meaning that the system is potentially open to abuse. Under the .uk system every registrant would need to have a valid UK and this would be regularly policed and checked. Coupled with a digital signature and a supporting trustmark, those operating .uk domain names would immediately be identifiable as rightful owners of the domain and UK-based. Visitors to .uk domains would also be able to do so in the knowledge that all .uk domains will be safe to visit, subject to daily monitoring for malicious software and viruses. The aim is to give a boost and advantage to legitimate British businesses Shorter for Social Sharing As anybody writing a Twitter message will know, in the modern era the extra three characters for a message afforded by a .uk over a .co.uk domain can be crucial to getting your message across. In the era of social search where full URLs potentially win over shortened links, so a brand operating from brand.uk could have a massive competitive advantage. Not just another domain So in fact, with the tighter security, more shareable nature and the more stringent ownership rules, the .uk in it’s initially proposed form is one of the most innovative and exciting domains for many years. Rather than being just another domain to add to your portfolio, it is a domain that immediately would make a statement to customers, competitors and those within your own business. If you are committed to safe, secure business and being proud of your British base then the proposed qualities of the .uk domain are likely to prove incredible value for less than the cost of a decent three course meal for two. Certainly at 123-reg we are fully behind the current proposals and looking forward to seeing how the plans develop. That is what this consultation period is about though to gather feedback and thoughts of those it most effects… you. So if you do have concerns of even words of support, your input into the consultation would certainly not be wasted.
How domain names get made
With ICANN’s recent liberalisation of the domain name market, there will soon be lots of new domain name extensions to choose from. Good news if you’re aching for a domain name ending in .transformers or .website, which are just two of the many new domains proposed. As this new era of domain names dawns, it seems a good moment to look into just how new domain names come into being. Who creates them? And how long do they take to set up? It depends on the kind of domain Brand new domain name extensions don’t just spring into life overnight. A lot of planning and preparation goes into a domain name launch, from technical work to manage registrations to a marketing push so potential buyers know about the new domain. The exact process for creating a new domain depends on what sort of domain name extension it is: If it’s a country code domain, like .uk (the United Kingdom), .in (India) or .be (Belgium), it’ll be administered by that country’s government. In practice, the government usually appoints a separate organisation, which has the knowledge to do this effectively. In the UK, that organisation is Nominet. If it’s another domain name, like .info, .xxx or .org, it’ll be handled by ICANN, the organisation with overall control of the domain name system. For most new domains now, ICANN’s role is to approve new extensions and assign them to an organisation which has applied to handle the launch and registrations. Once a domain name has been approved, the organisation responsible for it must put in place systems to handle all the complicated technical stuff that has to happen in the background. This means creating a robust registration system (so people can actually buy a domain), handling expiry dates, renewals and ensuring that everything works properly. Making a domain name available Now, let’s assume everything’s in place and the domain name is about to hit the market. Typically, there are three stages to the registration process: Sunrise. This stage gives trademark holders a chance to register their domain names first. The idea is that they get the chance to protect their brand early. Often, the sunrise period will allow trademark holders to block registration of domains containing their trademark. This means they don’t have to worry about remembering to renew and manage lots of domains, but still ensures nobody else can use them. Landrush. At this point, it’s possible for anyone to bid for a domain name. The process is different for different domains, but what usually happens is that you can apply to register a domain name. At the end of the landrush period, domain names are allocated appropriately. If there’s more than one applicant for a domain name, an auction is held. Landrush enables you to pay a bit more to secure particularly attractive domains. General availability. This is where the new domains become available on an ongoing basis. Anyone can take their pick of remaining domains, and it’s first-come-first-served. If the domain you want is available, you can register it there and then. Not every domain extension release follows this process exactly. But most of them follow a similar pattern. What if you miss out? If you have your eyes on a particular new domain name, get in there early when it’s released – especially if you think there’ll be competition. Landrush is your best chance to secure the name, although you may have to pay more than at general availability. If you miss out altogether and can’t find any alternatives you like, you can always source a domain name in other ways. There’s a thriving secondary domain name market, where individuals and businesses buy and sell domain names. In fact, we’ve recently introduced a premium domain registration service, which gives you access to many domain names being sold on the secondary market. Just look for the premium domains box to the right of your domain name search results (see image). Two-letter domains As a general rule, the fewer letters in your domain name, the more memorable and easy to type it is. Two-letter domains are like gold dust. They’re hard to find and only a few companies – like O2 and BT – have really been able to use them. But now you can register two letter domain names ending in .uk.com – and they cost from just £199. To see what’s available, just search for a two-letter domain using our search tool. Looking for a domain name right now? See the cheap domains we offer. Want to know more about domains? Feel free to check out our comprehensive domain name guide.
Why short domain extensions are better
We live in the world of social media and we have to do everything we can to adapt. This is a world where over 400 million tweets are shared every single day and each message has no more than 140 characters. If you’re using Twitter often, you know how difficult it is to convey your message in so few words, don’t you? When every character counts… There are some methods you can use to save up space and get more words in. One of them is to get a two letter domain such as .co, .tv, rather than a three or four letter one. A short domain extension is easy to remember and social because you can squeeze more in your tweets. Also, the number of people using mobile devices to navigate on the Internet is increasing by the minute, so this is another reason short domain extensions are an excellent solution. Using branded shorteners Many big companies started using a branded shortener when they discovered the benefits of short domains. Twitter, for instance, has registered t.co to convey the idea that every character counts. Now t.co is one of the most used domains on the web and it currently ranks 22 on Alexa. Not long after, Google also registered g.co, the official URL shortcut just for Google websites, Cisco got cs.co and Starbucks started using sbux.co. Why did so many of the big brands choose .co domains? Because it’s short, generic and easy to remember. Also, it’s similar to .com but not as popular just yet, which means the chances of finding your favourite domain name available are higher. For a limited time only, you can buy .co domains on 123-reg for just £14.99 for the first year instead of £29.99. That’s a fantastic 50% saving that’s hard to pass, especially with such a cool domain like .co, so go grab yours today.
ICANN finally reveals all but what next for gTLDs?
So today, after months of build up, the odd system failure and plenty of hype, we finally learned who had applied to run their own generic top level domain and what they were after, but what does it all mean? Well, 13 June 2012 will forever be a milestone in the history of domain names and for certain the internet’s addressing system will never be the same again. Until now, whatever the prefix combination the suffix extension choice was limited to just 280 ccTLDs and more importantly a mere 22 “generics”, that is about to change wholesale. The new gTLD application window opened on 12 January 2012 and closed on 30 May 2012. ICANN received over 1,900 applications from around the world, but reveal day was just that, just revealing who had applied for a gTLD and what they had applied for, just stage one in a long process. Of note though looking at the ‘revelations’ online retail giant Amazon made 76 applications including .cloud .drive .shop .store & .mail, Microsoftmade 11 applications mainly based on their existing product names such as .hotmail .azure .bing .docs .skype .office & .xbox and Google put in a whopping 101 applications including .gmail .google .gmbh .web .shop .search & .youtube. There will certainly be a number of disappointed applicants however, as where more than one applicant is seeking the same gTLD their application fee is absorbed and they then have the ‘opportunity’ to outbid the competition for that name, set to make the application even more expensive. 13 applicants have made an application to .app, 11 each for .home and .inc, even .bog has 9 vying for it’s ownership and the far from short .restaurant has 4 applicants in the mix.Perhaps more surprisinly only one applicant has lay claim to the potentially lucrative .abc and The British Broadcasting Corporation will be expecting .bbc will be granted to them being the only applicant and also worldwide rights holder of the abbreviation. There are a number of bizarre gTLDs being sought too, especially given the price-tag for the application. .sucks and .wtf may well become the future domains for those bizarre and wonderful things that make the internet such a vibrant community, but quite how, when, why and where .dog and .duck are likely to repay their investment is probably more open to discussion. Perhaps noticeable omissions are .facebook and .twitter but that probably says more about their owners self-belief than business acumen or desires for world domination. One potential new gTLD does however remind us of what actually this was all about. .domains has just one applicant, who are probably as shocked by that as everybody else looking on. Now begins the lengthy Evaluation periods, including background screens on application, evaluation panels and a whole host of tests, hoops and requirements to met. Even if ICANN is to hit its original schedule these phases are likely to take months even years if there are objections and appeals, so in reality the great change to the internet is a long way off, but the way ICANN and its panels scrutinise the applications in this stage could have a very big impact on the future development of the internet. Too lenient and ICANN risks losing credibility, too harsh and it risks the wrath of some of the world’s most powerful businesses, who have already invested a great deal of time, effort and money in applying for a new gTLD. We will be keeping an eye on how things develop and keeping you updated but we are also interested in how you feel about the whole concept? Are you surprised at the popularity of the new gTLD procedure? Do you think it will have a massive impact on the internet of the future?
How long does it take for my website to get indexed?
Creating a great website nowadays is child’s play. Getting it indexed by most search engines is where it gets tough. I have a website, now what? Having your website online is not enough. Search engines can take a while to crawl and index your website. You must submit it to their index manually. This way you attract the search engines’ attention to your newly created website. I’ve submitted my website. Nothing happened. If you take into consideration just how many websites are submitted on a daily basis it is understandable why days may have passed without your website featuring in search engine results pages. How can I make the indexing process faster? There are some things you can check/fix in order to make sure your website can be crawled and indexed: Your pages must have a 200/OK server response Make sure you have actual content – although pictures and videos might be perceived as content for your users you also need to have text on your pages. Crawlers can’t see inside videos but they can definitely see the text. Don’t complicate your links – use simple HTML for the links on your pages. Don’t overcomplicate things by using JavaScript based events. Manually submit your website – if you think your website is ready then you can start submitting it to various search engines. Help your website get discovered – try talking about your website on other sites. Keep in mind these need to be relevant to your own website’s topic. Try finding only the quality websites that are both popular and reliable. With just one link placed on such a website you can ensure a faster indexation. My homepage is indexed but my other pages are not You can finally see your homepage listed in a search engine but where are the rest of your pages? There are several possibilities why your website hasn’t been completely indexed: You haven’t properly interlinked your pages – the crawler can’t get to every page of your website. In this case you should change the way your pages are linked to each other. Until you do that you should create a sitemap file that contains all your pages. When the crawler visits your site it will be looking for this file before crawling your website. You accidentally blocked the crawler’s access – you’ve disallowed the access to certain sub-directories from your robots.txt file or added the noindex tag on some of your pages. Check your robots file and see if you added any extra lines. Also check the pages you can’t find in search engines and see if these have the right server response or if they have a noindex tag in their source code. Robots.txt, sitemaps and server responses. I don’t know what does those are! Do not panic if you feel it is getting too technical for you. If none of the above makes any sense then you can simply use a service that will submit your website to search engines. 123-reg has its very own SEO software called Search Engine Optimiser which can help you get indexed. The best part? You don’t need any technical knowledge to use it. What will your software do for my website? Automatic submission It will save you some time by automatically submitting your website to hundreds of search engines – imagine doing that manually, it would take forever. By having your website indexed by so many search engines you will get worldwide exposure. Website improvement You don’t need to know SEO to understand what problems your website might have. The detailed SEO analysis of your website is clear, concise and easy to understand. By fixing your website’s issues you can get better ranks and more traffic. Competitor research See how well your website is doing in search engine results pages compared to your competitors. Personal control panel You don’t need to download or install anything. Your control panel is online which means you can access it from any device and any place. See the full list of Search Engine Optimiser features for more details and please come back and tell us how you think our SEO software can help improve your website’s visibility.
Commuting the message – why domains are so important
I am sat on a London Underground tube train on my way into London as part of the commuter morning rush-hour. I don’t do this journey often now but 15 years ago it was part of my daily routine. Boy has it changed! Back in the day, we (myself and fellow commuters) would sit staring into space, out of the window or into each others eyes. Sometimes a few would scan a paperback novel and the odd newspaper but mostly it was a time to reflect about the day ahead – or the heavy night before. Nowadays WE are all connected! Standing (the overcrowding issue hasn’t really changed) here tapping away on my tablet, I look around and think that an alien landing on earth for the first time seeing this scene may believe us humans are actually powered by electronic devices. All bar three people on this crowded train carriage, from what I can see, are plugged in, absorbed or certainly engaged with an e-reader, a tablet, an mp3 player. I can even see one guy turning contortionist as he attempts to type on a full-size laptop with less arm room than a corpse in a coffin. Even those flicking through the pages of he free commuter newspapers are all plugged in with headsets into another device hidden about their person. Some fight with reception as we dip in and out of tunnels and they optimistically attempt to continue their mobile phone conversation. It’s a modern world! Then I look further at our surroundings. The adverts in the carriage, the branded clothing worn by my fellow commuters, the bags they carry, the buildings flashing by outside the odd overground bits of our journey, there another wave of technology is becoming day-to-day with few consciously realising. Back in the day, I would probably have been one of a few on that train with a domain portfolio. Many probably hadn’t even used the Internet! Nowadays the domain name is as vital as your formally adopted name – indeed some even think more important! Domain names are everywhere…and quite rightly too. I am an information junkie and a domainer but I know I am not alone in getting excited when I see a new domain name, perhaps with a catchy ring to it, or an intriguing description built in. One of my domaining regrets is letting a batch of off-the-wall domains expire when I had a domain cull, because nowadays it seems the quirkier the name for a business the better, especially if it includes an animal. So back to my commuter train. You see, full domain integration into our daily lives is not far away. You can already have a full range of personal domain names, some people have even tattooed that onto their physical being in some form or other. On your way to work you will probably ‘see’ tens of domain names but you may not take them all in. Domain names are very close to becoming a commuters norm as the electronic device has, but domains will become more powerful, especially for businesses. They will stand alone, with the catchy, memorable ones becoming etched on the minds of commuters, while many more will also be accessed during the commute via one of the multitude of connected devices the commuters handle. So there has never been a more important time than now to secure your domain name. Commuters love them, kids love them, even business entrepreneurs love them, so make sure it is your domain they are loving. A commuter train is not exactly the most obscure location for a domain name to be promoted, but is there anywhere in the modern world yet untouched by domain name fever? We’d love to hear the most unique place you have used or seen a domain name promoted.
.UK is the place to be
Last week the .uk registry, Nominet, announced that it had surpassed the landmark of 10 million domains to re-inforce its position as the world’s second largest country code registry. Here at 123-reg , as the UK’s largest .uk Registrar we are very proud to have played and continue playing such a big role in the importance and value of .uk domain names. The strength and brand benefit of using a .uk has never been stronger…and it continues to rise. As we reported last month multi-year registration periods come into effect from 1 May 2012 for .uk domain names, making it easier to secure your domain for longer. We love the statement a .uk makes and the immediate attraction and esteem it has amongst our customer base and we think you should too. A .uk domain defines your business at being at the heart of the fastest growing internet economy so why not show that off? Secure your next batch of .co.uk domains now with us from just £2.79 per year.