The battle for .uk or .co.uk
It’s been an interesting 12 months for the new .uk domain. Have more people started using it? No, not really. Are more people going to start using it? Probably not.
Most of the big domain sales I’ve seen this year have been for the .co.uk version of the domain with future rights to the .uk. The combination of a .co.uk with a .uk is still the most desirable by businesses, this doesn’t seem to put them off buying and using the .co.uk on it’s own.
I am also seeing one of the biggest domainers offloading their .uk stock and letting it drop while maintaining registration of the .co.uk version of the same domain.
New extensions
Lots of new domain extensions coming will make the marketplace a lot more diverse. Whether we see companies making a move from a .co.uk to a new extension will be interesting for 2018. Judging by the extortionate pricing of some of the new extensions I expect many people will stick with a .co.uk.
Increase in domain and branding “packages”
Instead of selling just a domain name, domainers are starting to include logos and branding with the domain as a package. This can include a website design and in some cases a full eCommerce integration. I see this gaining more popularity in 2018 as domainers look to add value to their product and customers see great value in a “ready to go” domain and web site package.
“Brandable” terms will become a valuable commodity
The value of “brandable” terms will significantly increase as dictionary terms get rarer on the open market. These are words that make sense, but are not necessarily grammatically correct. e.g. Newtrition.co.uk for a nutrition company or Namastay.co.uk for a Yoga retreat.
If you have any comments or predictions for 2018, then please leave them below. I wish all my customers and visitors a very happy New Year. and here’s to a prosperous 2018!