rpking - 10:03 am on Jun 22, 2001 (gmt 0)

We currently run two web sites, a .com and a .co.uk. The two sites offer similar content, but are seperate independant sites. In a few months, the plan is to merge the two services.

A big decision lies with the domain name, which to keep? A choice seems to have been made to keep the .co.uk address. I think that this is a bad decision, because although we are a well known UK brand, I believe a major reason to trade on the web is the potential of international clients. A regional domain name could be seem as a barrier to overseas customers.

Aside from these issues, I have been promoting the .com name now for the past year, over which time search engine traffic and links etc. have risen well.

I'm worried that as engines become more and more regionalised, only the .com will continue to achieve prominance across the bulk of international engines. I'm worried that a .co.uk address will be confined largely to UK engines, and ignored by German, French etc. etc.

What is the current line of thinking on this, and the potential future issues?