Hi Michael
I don't think there's any difference at all between .com and .org.uk,
and certainly not in wider public perception (which is the important
thing...). You'll probably hear some noise around the fact that .com is
considered US or commerce based, but I think that's legacy noise rather
than anything with any real bearing to where we are today. The "uk" bit
of your domain may still be considered important, though, but again
that's really personal preference rather than anything else. As someone
who does this stuff all day I do have a tendency to look at a domain and
say "ooh, a UK based company" but to be honest 1) having that domain
doesn't mean it's true and 2) Most people won't even look at the address
bar - they'll just go for the first result in Google...
At the end of the day, the SEO and findability of your site is way, way
more important than the domain name, and that's where your question
raises some danger flags. Moving a domain name is a dangerous business
if you've already established a good page rank and SEO. At the end of
the day if the only thing you're changing is the TLD (the .com / .org.uk
bit of your domain) then the question really is - if it ain't broke, why
fix it?
If instead the change is universal - as your email suggests - and you're
actually renaming the whole brand, then my vote is that it doesn't make
any difference at all - go with something short and memorable before the
TLD and whichever your preference after it. Make sure you have a
sensible procedure for managing the change, though - redirects,
communicating the change, only marketing one url, etc etc...
Cheers
Mike
Ps. It'll cost you a little more each year for .com. May or may not be a
consideration :-)
________________________________
Mike Ellis
Solutions Architect
Eduserv
[log in to unmask]
tel: 01225 474300
fax: 01225 474301
www.eduserv.org.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Michael Comiskey
Sent: 27 November 2007 14:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: The use of .com domain for UK museums
Hi all
I have an enquiry about how .com addresses are regarded by museum
professionals and the general public.
I have heard that my organisation is moving to the use of a .com suffix
(away from org.uk)as part of an overall name change.
Are there any UK museums using .com as part of their main organisational
web address or for email addresses (as opposed to trading companies or
shops)?
If so, why was a .com chosen?
Michael
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