.co.uk V .com

which to turn to?

[creative craig]

I have a client who I am designing a site for, who imports cars from Japan and then sells them on from the UK.

The site will not be a full e-commerce site as they will need to either call or email in to get further information.

Can anyone give any information on what they think would be a better choice, .co.uk or .com?

Craig

[ukgimp]

If your market is UK based I would go for the co.uk. For me it adds confidence when I am buying unless I know the name. No chance of it ever getting filtered either, which cant be said for the com or other tlds.

[edit_g]

I'd go for .com - simply because a lot of people will try companyname.com before they'll try companyname.co.uk - although I am starting to see this change in recent months.

Why not get both?

[creative craig]

He is under the impression that a .com looks a more trust worthy site than .co.uk and that is his reason for wanting a .com

Craig

[engine]

Not all search services use a smart domain filtering process therefore, you're at their mercy.
If you're targeting the UK, use the .co.uk and get the .com to point to it. The .co.uk will show up in both global and uk serps.
By acquiring the .com, too, it serves the clients purpose and protects their investment from squatters.

[Edwin]

Get both and point them at the same IP. Submit the .co.uk to UK-based search engines, the .com to US search engines. That way you get the best of both worlds.

[cornwall]

>>If you're targeting the UK, use the .co.uk and get the .com to point to it. The .co.uk will show up in both global and uk serps.

Whilst I agree with that, I would say that if the registered name is complex as in "keyword1-keyword2-keyword3" then the dot com tends to be a better bet for your lead as it at least cuts the final bit to "dot com" rather than "dot co dot uk" when being handed out on the phone or in advertising

[creative craig]

No it will be his company name, this is my first real client ;) so I dont want to stuff this up at my first attempt!

I will get both, well I tell him that it would be for his best interest to get both :)

Craig

[universalis]

Definitely get both names, and use a 301 redirect from one to the other. Use one name exclusively. You can debate forever whether .co.uk is better than .com or vice versa, but there is no real answer. If the client prefers the .com, then I would go for that.