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.co.uk domain only for UK business

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Guth

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I have been thinking about starting a small web design business for years, but have never got around to it. I do alot of freelance work, and often work on sites like freelancer. I sometimes make decent money and its always steady income which is great for me at the moment with no full time job.

However, I want to set up my own website to serve as a portfolio firstly then perhaps later to start a small web design business from home.

Problem is that people buy up every single decent domain name they can think of and sell them for a fortune. However, they seem to only but .com's and every good business name I think of is always taken with .com

Although, there are a few good ones I like that are available as .co.uk, so my question is; is it ok for a UK business to have a .co.uk domain only? I would obviously check that the .com version didnt lead to a competitor. The other thing is, does this put you out of the question for international work?

Ideally I would like the .co.uk and .com but the good .com domains are up to ?50k some of them. Im looking to pay about ?20 for my domain lol

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sagum

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As long as the domain name is short and simple, it doesn't matter what suffix it has on the end of it... well apart from .xxx ;-)

Unless he actually does freelance erotica images/movies/website work :)

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Phouchg

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As long as the domain name is short and simple, it doesn't matter what suffix it has on the end of it... well apart from .xxx ;-)

NICs of certain countries (.ca and .ee come to mind, there's many more) do have restrictions - like, for residents only, for registered companies only and/or various third-level rules.

.co.uk doesn't have any restrictions, though.

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Guth

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Well, I always had in mind that I would find one I liked and just buy the .co.uk but when I started reading articles on domain names they all say to get the .com because if you tell someone your business name but not your domain, chances are they are gonna type in www.yourbusiness.com and the majority will try the .com. That could send them to a competitor.

However, every single good name I think of is taken as .com so Im leaning toward just going for a .co.uk and perhaps if I make it big I could buy the .com :laugh:

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Charisma Veteran

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As long as the domain name is short and simple, it doesn't matter what suffix it has on the end of it... well apart from .xxx ;-)

I disagree, the xxx suffix will get him LOADS more traffic!

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sagum

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NICs of certain countries (.ca and .ee come to mind, there's many more) do have restrictions - like, for residents only, for registered companies only and/or various third-level rules.

.co.uk doesn't have any restrictions, though.

The UK's SLD do have restrictions.

You can register a UK domain as a personal site and opt out of providing your registered details in the whois information for the domain. However, if you're a charity, business or sole trader you're required to provide a UK registered VAT or business number and the whois information must contain the registered business address.

Also, UK businesses who trade online must provide full address for contacting on their website.

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Phouchg

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The UK's SLD do have restrictions.

You can register a UK domain as a personal site and opt out of providing your registered details in the whois information for the domain. However, if you're a charity, business or sole trader you're required to provide a UK registered VAT or business number and the whois information must contain the registered business address.

Also, UK businesses who trade online must provide full address for contacting on their website.

Hmm, Nominet says there isn't. But then again I haven't actually tried to register any nor am I from England, local laws are unknown to me, so your word carries more weight, I guess.

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MikeChipshop Member

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Well, I always had in mind that I would find one I liked and just buy the .co.uk but when I started reading articles on domain names they all say to get the .com because if you tell someone your business name but not your domain, chances are they are gonna type in www.yourbusiness.com and the majority will try the .com. That could send them to a competitor.

However, every single good name I think of is taken as .com so Im leaning toward just going for a .co.uk and perhaps if I make it big I could buy the .com :laugh:

Wouldn't worry about it. Most of your visitors will come direct from Google (other search engines available!). If you're predominantly going to be doing business in the UK then go with a .co.uk, if you intend to take it global, get a .com.

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Mike

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The UK's SLD do have restrictions.

You can register a UK domain as a personal site and opt out of providing your registered details in the whois information for the domain. However, if you're a charity, business or sole trader you're required to provide a UK registered VAT or business number and the whois information must contain the registered business address.

Also, UK businesses who trade online must provide full address for contacting on their website.

That all depends on if a portfolio site counts as being a site for a business. You also cannot be required to provide a VAT number because there is no requirement for tiny businesses to register for VAT so not all businesses/sole traders will be registered for VAT

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Guth

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Wouldn't worry about it. Most of your visitors will come direct from Google (other search engines available!). If you're predominantly going to be doing business in the UK then go with a .co.uk, if you intend to take it global, get a .com.

This is good advice. I guess it doesn't matter how good your website/business name is, if you have a crap portfolio and no referrals then you wont get any work. Also I guess that [something]web or something[studio] are just too overdone and cliche.

I saw a design company called Bright Cherry and I really liked that. Think I will go with something along those lines, rather than trying to make it specifically related to design/web.

Going along those lines also makes it more likely I will get the domain I want

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sagum

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Hmm, Nominet says there isn't. But then again I haven't actually tried to register any nor am I from England, local laws are unknown to me, so your word carries more weight, I guess.

Quite true. It looks like they no longer make it a requirement to have a registered company. I just logged into nic.uk and checked by trying to one of my domains.

While its still true that business can't opt-out, it is optional for them to provide a registered name. They also have a non-UK residential opt-out registration now too.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention... It makes a few things quite interesting now.

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Guth

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.co.uk doesn't sound appropriate for a freelance web designer.

Just get a .net, or something.

The only thing is that although I am freelance just now, at some point Id like to register as a propper business, then a .co.uk would be best?

Maybe I could get both I guess and go under the .net for now.

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Guth

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Register both.

These days domain names aren't as important as they used to be.

Best of luck with your business.

Can you elaborate on what you mean please?

Im just going to go with something that is easy to spell, understand and is available. I like the word personalised but its rather long and the Americans spell it personalized lol

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Shiranui

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Keep it short. On the other hand, as you know, people rarely type website addresses anymore - they just search for everything - so length doesn't really matter. Choose whatever you think would look nicest on your shiny new business cards, and then focus on some SEO.

But you know all this anyway.

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