Is this site doomed?

Are .co.uk sites as good as .com sites?

[mal4mac]

Has anyone experience of developing a .co.uk site and a similar .com site? I am wondering if having a .co.uk site cauases severe damage to your chances of world-wide success.

I have had SOME success selling to US customers from my .co.uk site, but I'm wondering if moving my best products to a .com site would improve matters.

[sem4u]

I think a .com would be better but there are other factors to take into consideration as well:

Shipping charges to the USA (if you are in the UK)
Willingness to buy from an overseas company.
US/UK spelling differences.

[diamondgrl]

I'm not sure about any issues about whether, say, Google surfers will be more likely to find you, but I can tell you from my own personal experience as an American that I always click off .uk ecommerce sites. No particular bias against the Brits except that I figure I can always get what I need from a US company and pay cheaper (or no) shipping. I'm sure most other US shoppers would be the same.

[kodaks]

I think that the .com sites are better, because they are easier to type in and more people are used to them.

[Essex_boy]

We're all doomed in the long run

[Raymond]

I concur.

[jweighell]

I have a .co.uk site, but I only sell in the UK. It is impractical for a number of reason for me to ship outside the UK so I have no plans to expand to anything else.

If your site is entirely focussed for the UK, then I would say a .co.uk site is far better than having a .com site.

UK users (or any web users outside of the States) do not know if a .com is a global site or a US only site. A .co.uk is instantly recognisable as serving the UK.

[bekyed]

Nope,

We have several .co.uk sites that ship worlwide every day with no qualms, and 40% of our orders are from europe and the US

We get calls from the USA as well to place orders on our website, I think personally its how the individual feels about your site and whether they have confidence in your products, terms etc.

Bek

[JonR28]

Just make sure you include an option for a USD amount, americans are way to lazy to think about conversion rates and when we see GBP. I have a great example of a UK store that does this properly if you PM me.

[pete_m]

I completely agree with jweighell - if you're solely serving the UK market, use the .co.uk suffix.
Trust is important in ecommerce: my guess is that users will trust a website more if it is obviously in the UK. (Of course, anyone anywhere can buy a .co.uk, but that's another issue).

If you're international, should you have two separate sites? Why not have the best of both worlds - a .co.uk site for the UK, and a .com site internationally (or solely for the US). I've known site owners who have done just that - they reckon that optimimum site design is slightly different for the UK and US markets. More "save $$$" signs for the US, apparently (although I think this is anecdotal evidence, rather than strictly scientific!)

At the very least, you could automagically show USD on the .com and GBP on the .co.uk

[bekyed]

I agree on some pointers, but having a .com and a .co.uk in googles index can be seen as duplicate content and can get you a penalty, unless the sites are completely different and on different IPs
Google does not distinguish between .co.uk and .com, unless with the dotcom you use a robots text to keep google out and just concentrate on the pay per click and other search engines that do not contain your .co.uk domain

Yes we have currency converters on all of our websites so our european and international friends feel comfortable knowing they will not be duped by their credit card company after they have placed their order.

Bek