Hi, if it is not possible to have mybrand.co.uk, mybrand.org.uk, etc (domains already registered), would the CentralNIC alternative, mybrand.uk.com or mybrand.gb.com rank as well on UK search results as the .uk domains, when hosted on UK server ie can a well optimised widgets.uk.com rank above widgets.co.uk on UK local search results or is the local cctld always preferred?
Thanks

Personally I'd avoid .uk.com or .gb.com and consider something like mybrand-uk.com

I'd assume Google will generally rank .co.uk higher for UK search results, but if you did the correct SEO I don't see why .uk.com could not appear higher.

Hyphenated domains are always a bad idea.

The ideal solution would be to get the co.uk but I'd go with the uk.com or gb.com if that wasn't an option. From pure branding perspective the strings "uk" or "gb" would probably work well for users if you're targetting the UK.

We've registered a couple of them in the last few months for a new project, but we haven't had a chance to make full use of them yet.

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I disagree. If people are thinking about 'yourbrand' then the first, second, or third domain they try won't be yourbrand.uk.com

I think you'd have to work a .uk.com domain a lot harder to compete with official TLDs. You'd have to really push the ".uk.com" in your advertising.

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On another subject, today for the first time I think, I saw a ".travel" domain used in a TV ad. I'm sure it would get more recognition and visits if it was a dot-com.

We're talking about a scenario where you can't get the co.uk

Avon cosmetics uses a uk.com successfully

And you're missing my entire point. As I already said, we're talking about the scenario where you want to push the "uk" factor but can't get the co.uk

It's the same with the Japanese market. The restrictions on co.jp make it almost impossible for a foreign company to get a domain, so using a Centralnic name makes perfect sense

.travel has been plagued by issues:

Tralliance in Trouble - .travel could die

The registration process is so complex that it puts a lot of people off, but as it's a sponsored TLD that's more or less to be expected

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Odd - you'd think they'd have used uk.avon.com

If mybrand.co.uk wasn't available, then I would try mybranduk.com before mybrand.uk.com

As for .travel, what were they expecting!? I think it's a ridiculous TLD which is too long and had no chance from the start. ICANN hired a independent group to look at the potential of .travel, then ignored its findings and approved the TLD anyway.

...the downside to this IMO, is that if your name ends with an "s" (in our case) eg homes, powertools you will have homesuk.com or powertoolsuk.com (suck) or worse, consider chef or elf. Even with or without hyphens this may not be a positive thing for branding strategies.


There is little doubt that having "uk" in domain does help UK targeted marketing efforts, but I think most UK customers will either default to mybrand.co.uk or mybrand.com if they are typing in to an address bar and are unlikely to remember hybrids or unfamiliar extensions, search results though are still the issue, competing against an optimised .co.uk with either a .com/.net on home turf will probably take a good deal of SEO and know how.