As of April 2010, the .UK domain extension is the fourth most popular top-level domain worldwide, after .com, .de and .net. However, it is prohibited to register a domain name directly under .UK (ie. domain.uk) and a second-level domain (ie. domain.co.uk) must be used.
The .co.uk domain is the most commonly used second-level domain used for the .UK extension, followed by .org.uk.
Registrations for the .co.uk domain names are on a strict first-come, first-served basis. There are no territorial restrictions - registrants do not need to have any connection to or physical location in the UK. Likewise, while the .org.uk is for organizations, there are no restrictions on registering domains.
There are two ways to register your .co.uk (or .org.uk) domain name:
- direct with Nominet (the governing authority of the .UK domain extension)
- via a Nominet Member (ie. Doteasy.com)
The registration fees for a .co.uk or a .org.uk domain name cover a period of two years (regardless of where you registered the domain). This means your registration payment gives usage rights over the domain name for 2 years. A renewal fee is payable for each subsequent 2-year period.
Registering Direct with Nominet vs. Registering via a Nominet Member
While you can register your .co.uk domain directly with Nominet, they actually recommend that you register your domain name through a Nominet member. For one, Nominet does not offer web hosting services, so you will need to seek web hosting elsewhere separately.
Nominet offers their members a discount on registration fees. This is why many Nominet members can give you a more economical rate on .co.uk registration rates, and in addition to registering the domain name, they will usually be able to offer services such as web hosting.
For example: Registering directly with Nominet = £80 + VAT + cost of web hosting Registering via Doteasy.com = US$40 (with Basic Web Hosting service included)
