Hello I own and run a gift website that has a .co.uk domain. I was wondering if it would be worth buying the .com domain of my website name if I want my site to become an international player. Or with the correct optimization will my .co.uk domain be able to rank well in other countries?
I think you should go ahead and buy a .com domain. It will probably make it easier to rank higher in other countries search engines and gain you more exposure.
deffinatly go for the .com even if you are only planning to stay in UK. I myself are from UK and when i search for websites i always search for them under a .com domain as its so popular!
i would keep both actually, the com and uk and also you should get all the other ext as well anyway you look at it cant hurt for branding, also invest in a mobi or mobile site as well since most people are on the go.
If you have reputed brand and are planning to concentrate world market then go and get .com version for your domain name. Try to implement all SEO tactics and build power unique content for .com version. All the best....
its always worth it mate you might aswell before someone gets it and what you can do it re-dirct the .com to your .co.uk site
Is this a serious question? I would buy the .com. I would have bought .com /.net / .ccTLD as soon as I started the site to make sure that I dont lose any potential customers.
.com get preference in SERP so if you didn't buy it and someone else takes it you will loose alot more then the cost of .com, .co.uk will get preference in UK only but not worldwide.
Yes this was a serious question! the co.uk was free but the .com is owned by an american company that trades domains, last time i spoke to them I got a price of $2000 which is alot of money to me, As Im just starting out! Well it looks like a unanimous answer. Thanks for all your responses. I'll have to try and knock them down on the price alot though... Does $2000 seem reasonable?? I've never brought a domain name before so I have nothing to compare it to.
Well, i think you phrased the question wrong, as we though that the .com was avaiable. If someone wants to sell you it for $2k, you have to think if you business is even worth that and you can easily make that money back.
I would definately go with .com. It has been around longer and people are more likely to type in .com if they don't remember your domain name.
Possessing the .com version is always a good thing. There are dozens of reasons, the most important is that if you have the .com, your rival can't capitalize on the name. $2000 looks pretty high, unless your website generates big bucks, I don't recommend purchasing it.
you should register it before someone else does. after all you can redirect the visitors from .com to your co.uk site
I'd plug for a .com, especially if you are targeting a global audience. A .com will give you more credibility.