.co.uk is the Internet domain of choice for 60% of UK marketers, an independent online survey has found.

1/11/2007

60% of UK Marketers Choose .co.uk As Primary Web Addresses
Brand Protection, Locality and Trust Listed as Key Choice Factors

.co.uk is the Internet domain of choice for 60% of UK marketers, an independent online survey has found.1 The survey showed that of those companies that maintain a .co.uk domain, 83% have chosen it as their primary domain.

Age difference

The research indicates that .co.uk domains are proving increasingly popular with young marketers with 62% of respondents between the ages of 24 and 44 choosing .co.uk as a primary business domain. By contrast 45% of marketers over the age of 45 opted for .co.uk. The younger the age group, the more likely they are to prefer a .co.uk as a primary domain with 9 out of ten opting for the local preference.

Protection, locality and trust

When asked about their reasons for choosing a .co.uk address over a third of all respondents (36%) cited brand protection as their first priority. For those aged 24 to 34, this figure rises to 44%.

Other key drivers included the emphasis of the local nature of their business (31%). Additionally, over a quarter of respondents opted for .co.uk as a primary domain because of the perceived trust levels over and above that enjoyed by other domains.

Michael Johnson, Marketing and PR Manager for Vonage, a world leading broadband telephone services provider with 2.4 million customers in the US, Canada and the UK argues: "It is important for us to differentiate our offering to our growing number of UK customers. We registered a 'local' address as soon as we could as we think it's important that customers can quickly and easily identify with a .uk address - we are closer to home for them should they need service, support, or advice."

Lesley Cowley, Chief Executive at Nominet comments: "These findings are particularly interesting to us. The majority of UK businesses recognise the strength of the .co.uk domain not only from a brand protection, but also from a trusted brand perspective. What is even more encouraging to us is that preference for .co.uk is stronger with the younger respondents, showing that the new generation of marketers and their companies value .co.uk above other domains."

Notes to Editors

About Nominet

Nominet UK is the national registry for all Internet domain names ending in .uk.  Its purpose is the careful and impartial management of this central database, providing stability, security and accessibility for all users of .uk domain names. Nominet is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. It has members not shareholders, pays no dividends and its charges only cover its running costs. Anyone with an interest in the Internet may become a member. Nominet has over 2,800 members representing all areas of the Internet industry and is recognised as the .uk domain name registry by the Internet industry and the UK Government. It is not a governing or regulatory body, but provides a public service for the .uk namespace on behalf of the UK Internet community.

For further information, please contact:
Katie Judge / Gemma Griffiths at Racepoint Group
Tel: 020 8752 3200
Email: nominetuk@racepointgroup.co.uk   

1 273 marketing professionals were surveyed by Tickbox.net. The survey was conducted: 01 / 08 / 2007 - 15 / 08 / 2007.

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