New London Domain

Earlier this year the .London domain was available to trademark owners and Londoners but on the 9th September 2014 the .London domain will be available to everyone so if you work or live in London and are thinking of registering a domain it would be wise to do so before the 9th of September as many will get snapped up on this date.

Never before has the UK seen a city referenced domain so this is a great opportunity for businesses that operate in and around London or for businesses that wish to market themselves outside of London using the domain to strengthen their own brand if London is relevant to what they offer.

Some businesses that are based in the capital but provide their services nationally or internationally are using the opportunity to have a separate .London website developed so that they can offer a more personal service to their local clients or customers.

The release of any other UK city based domains has not been announced as far as I am aware but perhaps this is something that we might see in a few years time if the .London domain proves to be a success which even at these early stages seems to be the case.

So Should I Register .CO.UK, .UK or .London?

There are now 3 great domains to choose from for UK individuals and businesses which are .co.uk, .uk and .london. If you live outside of London and do not offer your services to this area then the .London domain would not be a wise choice. I am sure the domain will be used by SEO’s to try and capture more London related searches as they have been doing this with other domains for years but it is best to be as genuine as possible if you wish to build trust from your clients, customers and associates.

If you do live or work in London then the .London domain is an excellent option but would probably be best suited for businesses that are offering their services to this area only. I would also not be surprised if Google begins to show .London domains to searches made within the area and to choose not to show these domains in their search results as much as .co.uk and .uk domains for people searching outside of the capital. This is just a prediction which is not based on any facts but is something that would help Google improve relevance in their searches so I would not be surprised to see this in a few years time.

So if you are based in London but offer your services across the UK then a .co.uk or a .uk would probably be the best option. You can also read an article about .CO.UK vs .UK here.