Popular domain extensions

Frequently asked questions about our domains

• How do I buy a domain extension?

  If you’re wondering how to buy a domain name, you’re in luck because you’re in the exact right place to do that here on LCN. Whether you’re looking for a domain extension for your business, your hobby, or for personal use, securing a short and memorable address is a great place to start, and luckily for you, it’s a simple thing to do. In fact, it’s as simple as 1-2-3:

  1. Search, and you shall find.
     Using the availability checker at the top of this page, search for the right domain name. Pick a good one, a name that describes what you do, a name that matches your business name or your actual name, or one that will work well in your branding.
  2. Choose the perfect extension.
     The last part of a domain name is the TLD; this stands for Top-level Domain. Some of the most popular TLDs are .com, .co.uk, and .uk – these will almost always work for websites and emails used in the UK. But the domain you want may not be available with those extensions, so always check out what other options you have. If your business is a tech start-up, consider .tech or .net. If your website is a personal blog about gardening, consider .blog or .garden. And if you’re looking for a domain to use for email, perhaps .email or .me will work for you.
  3. Buy your domain.
     And that’s it; all there’s left to do is complete your purchase… sorry if you were expecting the third step to be beefier!

• What can I use my domain name for?

  Once you’ve bought your domain name (see above just how easy that is!), there are several things you can do with it.

  Use it for a website: If you need a website and know how to create one yourself, just order Web Hosting alongside your new domain name.

  If you need a website but don’t know how to build one, take a look at our Website Builder package.You can create an all-singing and all-dancing website for your business, personal online space, or blog in just a few steps.

  Use it for email: If you’ve registered a domain name to use for email, order our Email Hosting package. This gives you the option to have a great, memorable email – think me@myselfandi.online or whatever you would like.

  Don’t use it: But if you don’t need a personalised email or a website because you just wanted the domain name so nobody else could have it or because you want to use it for something at a later stage, just do nothing with it, that’s cool too.

• What are the 5 most common domain extensions in the UK?

  The ultra-short answer to this question is this (in order of popularity): .co.uk - .com - .uk - .org.uk - .online. But where there’s an ultra-short answer, there’s usually a longer and, in this case, interesting answer, so allow us to waffle on a little.

  The .co.uk tops the list of the most used domain extensions in the UK. That probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but it might raise an eyebrow or two that it tops it with a nearly 55% share! That really shows how what we see is what we aspire to, and as the .co.uk happened to gain traction from the beginning, it has just been self-perpetuating, making it more and more popular in this country.

  Next on the list is .com, with just over 25%. This domain extension is the most popular globally, so it’s no surprise that it would be in the top 2 of this UK list. Number 3 is .uk with 12% of the total, showing us that it really does matter in this country that we share with our customers and fans where we’re from.

  Number 4 and 5 on the list, .org.uk and .online, each has just 1% of the total domain names bought in the UK.

• What domain extensions are best?

  That depends on why you’re asking. From an SEO point of view, no domain extension is better than others, as Google web-crawlers don’t differentiate between them.

  But from a branding or business perspective, it does matter, as with the various extensions, you have a chance to show what kind of entity you are, what markets you serve, what the subject of your website is, or what business you’re in. This is where ccTLDs and new gTLDs come into their own, and when you choose the right one, it can really work for you.

• Can I use upper-case letters in my domain name?

  Domain names are not case-sensitive, so regardless of whether your visitors type YourWebsiteName.co.uk, YOURWEBSITENAME.co.uk or yourwebsitename.co.uk, they’ll be able to reach you.

• Why are some domain extensions more expensive than others?

  When searching for the perfect domain name using our domain search tool, you will see the list of the various domain extensions (like .com and .online), and you will no doubt have noticed that there are very different price tags on these. Some will have been free, which will be due to our promotions and offers, but what’s the reason behind the different costs of domain extensions? Let’s explore that here.

  Each of the TLDs (the last part of the domain names, like .com and .co.uk, which stands for Top-level Domain) are controlled by registries, companies that operate the running of the domain name suffixes.

  The registries charge registrars (that’s companies like us who offer domain names to businesses and individuals) an amount per domain name, and the amount they charge vary from registry to registry, and from domain to domain.

  So, the price we (the registrar) charge you (the end-user), depends on two things: 1. What the registry charges us - and the price they charge will depend on their circumstances and operational costs. 2. Whether registering the domain name requires any extra support or has specific time-consuming requirements.