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SELLING .UK DOMAINS

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Background to .uk domains

Background to .uk domains

What is .uk?.uk is the latest addition to Nominet’s series of United Kingdom domain

extensions, sitting alongside .co.uk, .org.uk, and the rest of the .uk family.

The official launch date for .uk domains is 10 June 2014 but your existing .co.

uk customers can pre-order their .uk with guaranteed success through Heart

Internet whenever they like before this date.

Key dates and definitionsLaunch date: 08:00hrs on 10 June 2014

The reservation period for existing customers who already have a .co.uk, .org.uk,

.me.uk, .net.uk, .ltd.uk or .plc.uk runs up until 07:59hrs on 10 June 2019.

Domains registered before 23.59hrs on 28 October will have rights to the

equivalent new .uk domain, provided there was no other corresponding .co.uk,

.org.uk, .me.uk, .ltd.uk, .plc.uk or .net.uk registered.

All .co.uk domains registered after 28 October 2013 and before the new .uk

domains are launched will also have rights to the .uk equivalent, as long as there

is no clash with any existing domains in the following situations:

Where there are two or more domains with the same website name, the .co.uk

will be offered the .uk equivalent. Where there is no .co.uk, the .org.uk will be

offered the new .uk equivalent. Where there is no .co.uk or .org.uk the .me.uk

will be offered the new .uk equivalent.

Proud to be .uk

The release of the .uk domain name is the biggest change to the .uk domain

since it began, opening up choice and huge opportunities for UK website owners.

The .uk extension is concise and puts the focus on the company’s brand name to

create a great first impression. This domain also provides a new space for online

businesses to develop their identity and success and showcase these changes to

their online community.

This guide will provide you with all the information you need to know about .uks

as well as a range of ideas and tips to help you sell them to your clients.

Proud to be .uk

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Right to reserveNominet has defined certain rules for .uk domains to dictate who is entitled to

them across a range of circumstances:

• New registrations of .co.uk domains made before 08:00hrs on 10 June

2014 (provided that no other equivalent .org.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, ltd.uk or

.plc.uk exists) will get the rights to the new .uk domain.

• After launch on 10 June 2014 any new registrations within the .uk family (e.g.

in .co.uk, .org.uk etc.) no longer get automatic rights to register the new .uk

domain. So these new .uk domains become available for anyone to register. 

• Anyone wanting a new .uk domain, where there are no existing domains

with rights, will simply be able to register the new .uk domain.

This advanced is available if either you or your customers want to find out who

has first rights for particular domains.

Extra information• Domains must be continuously registered to retain the rights to the new .uk

- however, if a .co.uk with rights is not renewed between now and 10 June

2014, then it re-gains the right if it is re-registered prior to 10 June 2014.

• If a user has the right to register a new .uk domain then that right will move

with the domain, if the user transfers their domain to another person, as

long as it remains continuously registered.

• All rights to new .uk domains will cease if an existing domain is not renewed.

For more information on .uk domains, take a look at the official .uk launch

website.

Background to .uk domains Key .uk selling points

Key .uk selling points

.uk domains offer a fantastic range of benefits for website owners targeting a UK

audience:

Build a foundation of trust Domains with the .uk extension are not only respected globally, but are the

preferred choice of web users from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and

Wales, helping users to create a great first impression with visitors from these

regions.

Snappy and concise.uk is the shortest extension possible; it’s faster for smartphone and tablet users

to type. This also gives the domain a punchy feel, puts a strong focus on the

brand name and makes it highly memorable for users, increasing the chances

for website owners to receive more traffic.

Compliments existing registrations If a user already has a .co.uk, .me.uk, .org.uk, .or even .com, .net or .org domain

name, a .uk sits perfectly with them and provides flexibility in terms of extra

websites, URL shorteners, or redirects.

Protect personal or company names Registering a .uk version of an existing domain name allows users to stay

in control of their personal or company name, ensuring that squatters and

competitors don’t take advantage or trade on that name.

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Key .uk selling points .uk marketing ideas

Target the UK

A .uk domain helps website owners to strengthen their position and space in the

UK market and for UK visitors whilst enjoying the authority that comes with using

UK search engines.

Highly diverseWhether you’re launching a business or personal website, a .uk domain name is

always a great option. This also means that if your business or project changes

direction, your .uk will still be relevant.

To find out more about our .uk domain names, take a look at our dedicated

domain extension page.

.uk marketing ideas

.uk is a great domain to market to your customers and here are some fantastic

ideas that you can use to raise awareness and let your customers know why they

should buy a .uk domain.

Update your websiteWhen you start selling .uk domains, you want to be sure that your site has been

updated to reflect this, so it’s best to do a quick audit to check what design, copy

and messaging on your site will need an update to avoid confusion and hassle

for your visitors. For example, if you have a pricing table listing domains that you

already offer, make sure that you add an instance for .uk domains before you

start selling them.

You could also design a banner about .uk domains for your homepage or related

product pages to create even more awareness that you’re selling them.

Create a dedicated .uk pageBuild a product page dedicated to information about .uk domains to take

advantage of search engine rankings for .uk domain searches. It’s best to set this

up sooner rather than later so you can get in before the competition to push

yourself towards the top of search results for your targeted keywords.

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.uk marketing ideas .uk marketing ideas

Send a stand-alone email

Sending a stand-alone email to your customers is a highly effective way to draw

attention to the fact that you’re selling .uk domains. Use this email to summarise

the features and benefits of the domain and, if you’ve written a blog post or

chosen to create a dedicated page for .uk domains on your site, provide a link

to these pages so your customers can find out more. If you have a sales phone

number or email address, you could also put this in at the end of the email so

your customers can contact you directly if they have questions about buying a

.uk from you.

To increase the chances of your email being opened, craft an effective subject

line for it. Use a verb for the first word and make sure that the subject is

compelling and concise. Examples of these subject lines could include ‘Pre-order

your .uk now’, ‘Get your perfect .uk’ or ‘Buy your .uk today’.

An intriguing image is also important to encourage people to read the email so

make sure you include one that’s high quality and clearly communicates the

message that your customers can now pre-order .uks from you.

For more tips on writing effective emails, read our blog post that lists 14 articles

to improve your email marketing.

Put a story in your newsletter

If you send out a weekly or monthly newsletter to your customers, include a

story encouraging them to pre-order .uks. Depending on what other content

you’re planning to put into your newsletter, give your story about .uks a

prominent position as the first or one of the first stories to increase the chances

that it will be seen and read.

If you’ve also chosen to write a blog post about .uks or if you’ve dedicated a page

of your site to this domain, be sure to link to these pages at the end of the story

to allow users to find out more information about how the domain can provide

value for them.

Write a blog postIf you have a blog or news feed, writing a blog post can be a really effective way

to tell your customers about .uk domains.

Let them know how you’re pricing .uks and give them all the information about

buying with you and the domain itself that they’ll need to buy with confidence.

For example, let them know about the key dates within the .uk domain’s release

and the rules regarding rights to .uks listed in the previous section of this guide.

Be sure to communicate the benefits their new domain will bring them as well to

further convince them that a .uk will be valuable for them; you can use the ones

we’ve listed previously in this guide under ‘Key .uk selling points’ for inspiration.

Give your post an eye-catching, high quality image that clearly communicates the

post’s message to get people to click through and, once you’ve published your

blog, be sure to share it across your social media channels to spread the word

even more.

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.uk marketing ideas Heart Internet domain names

If you want to repeatedly raise awareness that you’re selling .uks, you could write

a series of blog posts that focus on different aspects of the .uk domain in more

depth. If any of your customers have asked questions about .uk domains you

could write a blog that provides a detailed reply for them and anyone else who

might have wondered about that issue, you could write list-based posts relating

to domains or the UK, interview people about the release of the domain and

create a post that rounds up these different blogs in your series.

Update your social media imageryYou could update your social media imagery to show your followers and friends

that they can now buy .uk domains from you. It’s best to keep the imagery on

your social media channels simple by keeping your copy and/or messaging

concise and using a clean image that stands out.

Run a competitionEveryone loves having the opportunity to win something, so why not put

together a competition about .uks to get people interested in them? Examples of

competitions you could run include entering people into a prize draw if they buy

a .uk or ask a UK-related multiple choice question and give a prize at random to

one of the people who answered correctly. You can promote your competition

on your site, through your blog, by email, on social media or all of these together;

it’s up to you.

Heart Internet domain name

• Domain Privacy – Keep personal details – such as names and addresses -

private in WHOIS look ups.

• Great value anytime renewals – We don’t inflate renewal prices or place

restrictions on when users can renew domains or how long for, making life

easier for our customers.

• One-click Google Apps – Forget about lengthy instructions and installation,

and set up Google Mail, Talk, Calendar, Docs and other Google applications

for .uk domain names directly from within our control panel.

• Simple redirects – Forward domains to other URLs straight from our

control panel – no hosting required.

• Free Heart Internet transfers – It’s free to move domains between Heart

Internet accounts.

• Complete DNS tools – Change name servers and configure DNS records

easily from our control panel. All A, AAAA, CNAME and MX records can be

altered, and users can also create SPF and SRV records.

For more information about .uk domain names, check out our dedicated domain

extension page.

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