Feel like you might be missing something?
Show you mean business with a UK domain for your website or email address.
Building trust and awareness for your business is crucial to success. Here’s why you should take your business online.
Of customers will only use a business they find online if it has its own website.*
Of people feel a professional-looking website makes a difference when selecting a company.*
Of people wouldn’t trust a business that uses a free email address.*
*2021 Trust & Awareness survey conducted by Yonder on behalf of Nominet.
Here are four good reasons why you should choose a domain that ends in .co.uk or .uk for your
website and professional email.
Trust
When buying online, 70% of people prefer to click on a UK ending domain name. UK domains are well known and are considered trustworthy and reliable, so it makes sense to associate your business with a UK domain.
Safety
Your customers will feel safer doing business with you. 91% of people in the UK associate websites ending in .co.uk with safety… and they’re right to feel that way. That’s because the .UK namespace is protected by Domain Watch, an anti-phishing initiative which helps keep businesses and individuals safe from cybercrime.
Highly recognised
Quickly, easily, and proudly connect to your British identity and customers will recognise you as a British business trading in or through the UK.
Public benefit
The UK domain family is a force for good in the UK’s digital economy and global internet community. We’re committed to improving people’s lives through technology and pledge around £5m every year to supporting initiatives that help to achieve this goal.
Choosing your domain name, selecting a registrar and creating your website is quick, simple and straightforward.
Try to make it simple, reflective of your current business, with scope for development. When you’ve picked the perfect name, check it’s available using our ‘Find a Domain’ search box.
Next review the search results, and you’ll see a range of registrars that offer your domain (a registrar is the company who looks after your domain name for you). Think about how you want to build your website and what features you’ll need to help you decide which one to choose. Then work with your registrar to get the right package to meet your needs.
You’ll have a variety of options depending on your expertise, confidence, time capacity and budget. Create something from scratch, use a templated design, or ask a company to design and host the site or inbox for you – it’s up to you.
That’s it! Now your website’s up and running, it’s time to get the word out. Share with your customers, post on social media, create blog posts and collect email subscribers to start sending traffic to the site.
Rest assured, the online world is not as intimidating or challenging as you might think.
Having a professional website and email address may be more important than you realise. A website will give you an online presence, greater discoverability via organic search, connect your social accounts under one name in one location, and showcase products/services – all while providing more convenient and accurate information that attracts customers.
Have a website to showcase your shop – you may not sell online but it will help customers find you in order to visit your shop.
UK domains come at a small cost relative to traditional business expenses. Domain registrars (the company who looks after your domain name for you), website platforms and web hosting services often have low-priced package deals, bundles and special offers you can take advantage of.
Wouldn’t you rather promote your own brand instead of another company’s when you send emails on behalf of your business? Having a professional email address that matches your brand creates a much better impression when communicating with potential customers and suppliers, and 33%* of people won’t trust a business that uses a free email address.
*2021 Trust & Awareness survey conducted by Yonder on behalf of Nominet.
The process can be a lot easier than you might think. There are many simple step-by-step guides on the internet to help you get your website up and running. Some website providers will do the technical work for you, and many website builders are designed to help newcomers create a great-looking website. There are even free website templates you can simply drop your content and images into.
We appreciate that your time is precious. But creating a website can be a simple process and doesn’t have to be too time-consuming, if you have the right tools, resources and guidance. While you’ll need to update your website now and again once it’s online, it doesn’t need to take up all your time. There are many platforms designed to make it as easy as possible to maintain your site – setting aside a little time each week is a great way to start.
Let your customers be the judge of that. You might be surprised how much content you can generate about your business, once you get started. As well as the essentials (opening hours, location, contact details) you could tell the story of how you got started, and showcase reviews from happy customers. Visual content is increasingly popular online, so a gallery page to showcase your products and events is a good way of attracting more business.