Choosing your domain name is one of the first decisions you make for a new business, and one of the hardest to change later. After picking the name, the next question is the ending: .co.uk, .uk or .com?
.co.uk: the familiar choice
.co.uk has been the standard address for British businesses for decades. UK customers instantly recognise it as a British company, which can build trust if you sell to people in the UK. Most of the obvious short names are long gone, though.
.uk: shorter, and newer
.uk addresses, without the “co”, became available in 2014. They’re shorter and look modern, and say “UK” just as clearly. Some people still type .co.uk out of habit, which is why many businesses register both.
.com: the global choice
.com is the most recognised domain ending in the world. If you sell internationally, or plan to, it avoids looking like a purely local business. But the good .com names are scarce, and UK customers sometimes trust a .co.uk more for a local service.
Does the ending affect Google rankings?
Not directly in the way people often think: Google doesn’t treat one ending as better than another. But country endings like .co.uk and .uk do tell search engines your site is aimed at the UK, which can help in UK searches. A .com can still rank well in the UK; your content, location details and links matter far more.
Our recommendation
- Selling mostly in the UK? Use .co.uk or .uk as your main address.
- Selling worldwide? Use .com as your main address.
- Either way, register the other main endings too if they’re available and point them at your main site. It stops someone else taking them, and catches visitors who guess.
Tips for choosing the name itself
- Keep it short, and easy to spell when you say it out loud.
- Avoid hyphens and numbers. They’re hard to say over the phone.
- Check it isn’t someone else’s trademark before you build a brand on it.
Find your domain name
Honest domain pricing: your renewal price matches your registration price.
