Hyphenated .co.uk domain or new .co domain?
Hyphenated .co.uk domain or new .co domain?
Author
Discussion

AnimalMother

Original Poster:

1,548 posts

256 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all


What do you think is better, a hyphenated .co.uk domain or new .co domain?

e.g.

my-company.co.uk

johndoe@my-company.co.uk


mycompany.co

johndoe@mycompany.co



I think the .co looks better, but worried some people might think its a typo and think it should be .co.uk or .com


AndrewEH1

4,922 posts

183 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all
I'm not a fan of hyphenated domains personally, I feel it'll lead to someone going to the wrong domain!

Although the .co is pretty new so people might think it is meant to be .co.uk

.co.uk or .com not available without hyphens?

mikelima

60 posts

125 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all
AnimalMother said:
What do you think is better, a hyphenated .co.uk domain or new .co domain?

e.g.

my-company.co.uk

johndoe@my-company.co.uk


mycompany.co

johndoe@mycompany.co



I think the .co looks better, but worried some people might think its a typo and think it should be .co.uk or .com
I had a .co domain and was forever having to correct people as they always wrote ,uk at the end. I'm sure a lot of emails didn't get delivered as a result.

davepoth

29,395 posts

229 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all
.co is the national domain for Colombia, which could get confusing.

PixelpeepS3

9,050 posts

172 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
and .tv is for Tuvalu but channel5 (uk) still use it.. (five.tv)

with .co too many people are unfamiliar with it and it sounds too much like existing, established domains.

what about a phrase that explains your business instead?

like if you're a cleaner have TouchingCloth.co.uk or something smile

AnimalMother

Original Poster:

1,548 posts

256 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all

My thoughts exactly, and no a non hyphenated .co.uk is not available.


Thanks for the feedback on the .co, you have confirmed my fears.



SpeckledJim

34,395 posts

283 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all
I'd bite the bullet and go for something else.

.co.uk and .com are what you really want (need)


If you're happily doing business at .co, and someone has the matching .co.uk and .com you've volunteered yourself for hassle, inconvenience or worse.


jammy-git

29,778 posts

242 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all
I don't think it's that bad a deal, you generally need to spell out a domain name (unless you're incredibly lucky) to people anyway, so I can't see much difference in telling them there is a hyphen there or that it's "just .co on the end".

Coming from someone running a web development business with a .company domain!

surveyor

18,705 posts

214 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all
I went hyphenated many years ago. It's a pain in the arse as I seem to have the longest email address in the world...

Beetnik

578 posts

214 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all
Don't go down the hyphenated route - it b*ggers up searche engines making you hard to find.

jammy-git

29,778 posts

242 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all
Beetnik said:
Don't go down the hyphenated route - it b*ggers up searche engines making you hard to find.
Huh?

LDN

9,314 posts

233 months

Thursday 24th November 2016
quotequote all
Hyphenated won't bugger up search engines: it shouldn't!

But in both cases; hyphenated and .co - you will find that mistakes are made, by customers and clients. Consider going for your company name and then 'uk' after it... so mycompanyuk.com

That would be my advice having messed with domains for many years now.

Lexual

513 posts

243 months

Friday 25th November 2016
quotequote all

both my websites are hyphenated, can't say that its caused any issues.. if anything its easier to read and make the words out better than with no spacing at all.

And how often does anyone need to fully type out a website or email address these days? you either click a link or reply and then they're remembered in your address book and browser anyway..

I wouldnt click on a .co if I was looking for a UK business..

RM

686 posts

127 months

Saturday 26th November 2016
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Hyphenated is fine, if and only if you also have the non hyphenated to redirect to it. This is especially true if the non hyphenated is in use elsewhere. As one said, direct access to the website (so someone typing in your domain name) is typically smaller than access via search. If you don't own the non-hyphenated then you'll potentially lose some type ins. If the non hyphenated is in use then you'll lose some search too.

Of course if the non hyphenated is not in use now, but you don't own it, there is nothing to say it won't be in use tomorrow.

The .co basically has the same problem.

Think laterally, see if you can come up with a .co.uk or .com

anonymous-user

84 months

Saturday 26th November 2016
quotequote all
Try to make your URL short, as som advertising platforms have character limits and people don't remember long ones properly.

I'd avoid '.co' on it's own for the reasons mentioned above (I'd tend to buy it only to protect my brand and redirect to my .com or .co.uk.

If a lot of the .co.uk or .coms you want are taken, think whether it's the name you want to go with. If there are similar named businesses in your business sector using the established suffixes, you may be at risk of Passing Off, which would bring its own problems.

To solve the problem think of untaken names (also check companies house and trademark databases to avoid conflicts). Using initials can be a way around it, for example The Local Curry House could be tlch.co.uk, and so on. Don't do this if your business is called Cumbria Oven Cleaning Knowledge.

mdianuk

2,893 posts

201 months

Monday 28th November 2016
quotequote all
As a resident domain expert (I guess), stay clear of .co to avoid confusion. See if you can register or acquire the .co.uk, or even the .uk. The .com is of course the best regardless, but pretty much everything is registered and at crazy prices regardless of meaning. Not keen on hyphens, so try adjusting the name to suit. I don't check this section of PH often, so give me a shout if you need any pointers, ideas etc.