Marketers opt for .uk as top domain

The survey, conducted by domain registry Nominet, showed that of those companies that maintain a .co.uk domain, 83% have chosen it as their primary domain.

Age difference

The research indicates that .co.uk domains are proving increasingly popular with young marketers with 62% of respondents between the ages of 24 and 44 choosing .co.uk as a primary business domain. By contrast 45% of marketers over the age of 45 opted for .co.uk. The younger the age group, the more likely they are to prefer a .co.uk as a primary domain with 9 out of ten opting for the local preference.

Protection, locality and trust

When asked about their reasons for choosing a .co.uk address over a third of all respondents (36%) cited brand protection as their first priority. For those aged 24 to 34, this figure rises to 44%.

Other key drivers included the emphasis of the local nature of their business (31%). Additionally, over a quarter of respondents opted for .co.uk as a primary domain because of the perceived trust levels over and above that enjoyed by other domains.

Michael Johnson, Marketing and PR Manager for Vonage, a broadband telephone services provider with 2.4 million customers in the US, Canada and the UK said: “It is important for us to differentiate our offering to our growing number of UK customers. We registered a ‘local’ address as soon as we could as we think it’s important that customers can quickly and easily identify with a .uk address – we are closer to home for them should they need service, support, or advice.”

Lesley Cowley, Chief Executive at Nominet comments: “These findings are particularly interesting to us. The majority of UK businesses recognise the strength of the .co.uk domain not only from a brand protection, but also from a trusted brand perspective. What is even more encouraging to us is that preference for .co.uk is stronger with the younger respondents, showing that the new generation of marketers and their companies value .co.uk above other domains.”