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.
Interview: Inspiring social change with ‘Uplifting Gifting’
In June 2013, Nominet Trust, the corporate foundation of Nominet (the .co.uk registry), launched their search for The Nominet Trust 100 – a collective of the 100 most inspiring social technology innovations from around the world.
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.
Nominet Awards deadline extended – last few days!
Last month we gave you a heads up about the pending closing date of the Nominet Awards 2012 being April 12th… well if you missed it you are in luck. The deadline has been extended by a few more days and entries now close on April 16th (on Monday). So don’t delay, get your application together and in over this weekend.
Win a new iPad!
10 million .uk domain owners can’t be wrong. As we reported last month Nominet recently announced that over 10 million .uk domain names have now been registered proving its continued popularity. As the UK’s largest registrar of .uk domain names we are proud to promote the .uk domain extensions too, so how about this for an offer from Nominet: If you register or renew your .uk domain name between now and 26th April you will automatically entered into a prize draw to win a brand new iPad – being dubbed the iPad3. Further information and terms and conditions can be found at http://www.agreatplacetobe.co.uk but effectively you don’t need to do anything special just register a new .uk domain name. So what are you waiting for?
.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.
Have you got your Nominet Awards nomination in?
There’s less than a month left for entry submissions to the Nominet Internet Awards so what are you waiting for? The annual awards recognise and raise awareness of UK businesses, charities, individuals and public and private sector organisations that are making a difference on, or through, the internet. Every year the awards highlight the great work that embraces the web and finds solutions to the challenge of making the internet a secure, open, accessible and diverse experience for all. Last year’s winners included the Silver Surfers initiative that helped older people to get online, a web TV station aimed specifically at young British dads and an online tool to help schools review their own e-safety policies. If you think you have a project worthy of a nomination details about how to enter can be found here along with a full explanation of the categories. Don’t delay too long though entries need to be submitted by 12 April 2012 after which they will be reviewed by an independent panel of judges. The winners will be announced at the annual awards ceremony on 5 July 2012.
.uk Industry – Nominet by Numbers
Nominet has launched its first edition of The Domain Business, an industry report from the .uk registry on the exciting state of the domain name industry – and there are some interesting statistics. Did you know? .uk is the second largest ccTLD (9.7 million domain names) Nearly 1 in 4 of .uk business websites are e-commerce enabled 43% of .uk domains in use are for business websites 5% of those .uk websites are just a single page The uptake of .uk domains continues to rise (growing at over 8% per annum) as does the global domain name population (now at 218 million). Despite the uk economy suffering crisis the .uk economy seems to be competing very well, emphasising the role online business will play in helping the economy improve and stablise. As well as more pie-charts, bar and line graphs than we’ve since we were at school, the statistics are backed up by some incisive comments from those inside Nominet and experts in the domain name field. If you are thinking of riding on a domain trend, or simply interested in the quirks of what seems to work best in terms of domain names, The Domain Business is well worth a read.