I read some people don’t get it. Yes, I’m talking about 2nd level .UK, the alternative to the longer 3rd level extensions .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk. There have been discussions for a decade to introduce .UK and finally, we seems to be near the call to action by Nominet. I’m not surprised that it takes a bit longer to convince Brits. Most people don’t like changes and prefer when it stays the same for decades, centuries… or even more. That’s one of the reasons why it’s taken over 10 years to change – which is equal to a century in Internet age. And 3-rd level domains are exactly that, a century away from most other European countries.
If you still don’t get it and need some justification of why Nominet have to launch .UK, here are some points for you to write down..
• Easier to remember: Come on. Using just .UK is way easier than remembering if it should be .co.uk, .org.uk or .me.uk.
• More professional: It surely looks more professional with .UK. Perhaps even a wider range of international brands would consider using .UK in adverts if it was available. Today. .com is very common in London advertising (tube, cabs adverts, billboards etc).
• Quicker to type: Do you realise this can save millions of hours a year.. You can probably visit a few more websites every day thanks to how quick it goes to type .UK instead of .co.uk OR .org.uk OR .me.uk.
• Sexier: A short ccTLD looks sexy. At least if you’re into domain names and the beauty of letters, characters and words 🙂
• Happier people: A shorter domain extension would make it more convenient to type in British domains. I’m sure people would be happier if most addresses were .UK instead of .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk
• Shorter email addresses might save millions of hours every year?
• Shorter website addresses gives a more efficient Internet.
• 2nd level domains are standard in Europe. Over 95 % of European countries use second level domains as their first choice. Foreigners often don’t get the extension of The United Kingdom since they don’t have 3-rd level domains in their own countries. Being different online means more errors and less recognition internationally.
• To offer choice to both new and existing registrants.
• To respond to the potential impact of new gTLDs and the increasingly challenging market conditions
• Strengthen .uk, by creating demand through a new product and keep .uk relevant.
• To fulfill Nominet’s public purpose by attracting people to a trusted .uk namespace.
• To enable Nominet to continue to invest in protecting our infrastructure and providing excellent systems and customer service.
• Increase consumer confidence through validation and verification of registrant contact details.
• Time to modernize: Give Brits a simple and short alternative that’s easy to remember. If you don’t like it, stay with your current 3rd level domain name. Nominet will continue to support them.
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