GoDaddy, the world's largest domain name registrar and web hosting company, now has over 1 million .UK domains under management.
GoDaddy announced the milestone earlier this month. According to the press release GoDaddy put they claim to have 25% of the .UK domain market. Nominet stats put the entire .UK space (.co.uk, .me.uk, .org.uk, .uk) at over 10 million domains. Isn't 25% of 10 million 2.5 million domains? 🙂
The .UK domain extension is the country code top level domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom. The .UK extension is widely used in the United Kingdom for personal sites to large corporations.
Something important to point out is most of the .UK registrations with GoDaddy are for .CO.UK. A well known .CO.UK domain investor pointed this out to me. Likely the GoDaddy press release was written by an American.
Back in 2014 Nominet, the .UK domain registry, introduced the the shorter and more direct availability of .UK domains. As of August there are 10,031,000 third-level .UK domains, meaning .CO.UK, .ORG.UK, and .ME.UK. Nominet shows .UK domains to 612,733 .UK domains. It is important to note that .UK domains registrations have been going up. Third-level .UK domains numbers are going down.
It's not entirely clear though if people are defensively registered the corresponding .UK domain. Nominent is givingi .CO.UK registrants Right of First Refusal (RofR) to buy the matching .UK domain to their .CO.UK domain(s).
GoDaddy Surpasses 1 Million Registered Domains in the United Kingdom
10/06/2016
Accelerates UK Market Growth as More Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses Go Online
LONDON, Oct. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY), the world's largest cloud platform dedicated to small, independent ventures, today announced that it has registered its 1 millionth .UK (1) domain in the United Kingdom. As more UK entrepreneurs and professionals decide to turn their ideas into reality, they are choosing GoDaddy to establish a successful online presence. In fact, an estimated 25 percent (2) of Britain's most popular domains are now registered through GoDaddy.
Every day in the UK, new domains are registered by individuals starting new ventures, established firms planning to launch new products and software developers ready to launch the next must-have smartphone apps. Both .co.uk and the most recent .uk domain extensions represent two strong elements of recognition in the UK and abroad, offering an element of national pride and trust. Entrepreneurs are demanding more from their digital technology providers as they seek to make their mark and GoDaddy is committed to developing innovative solutions that meet these needs and help grow Britain's SME industry.
On achieving the milestone Andrew Low Ah Kee, Executive Vice President, GoDaddy International, said, “Reaching 1 million .UK domains demonstrates the value GoDaddy brings to customers by helping them create powerful digital identities. What is even more exciting to us than the milestone itself is the fact that we've grown our .UK domains under management by over 50% in the last 24 months. Our organic growth is a reflection that our purpose-built product and exceptional customer care resonate strongly with the UK market. We're committed to growing our UK business and are excited to continue supporting the digital revolution taking place in the UK.”
Russell Haworth, Managing Director at Nominet, the official registry for UK domain names, commented: “It's a significant achievement to reach a million .uk and co.uk registrations, and the rate of growth is impressive. Like GoDaddy, we are committed to making the case for more businesses having their own space online, helping create new opportunities for us all.”
Localized Products for UK SMEs
The 1 million domain milestone reflects GoDaddy's unwavering commitment to help UK customers build and manage their online presence. This includes offering entry-level businesses affordable and easy to use do-it-yourself (DIY) solutions to make the first step of going digital less daunting.
As GoDaddy customers succeed and grow into larger businesses, its product line scales up with them. GoDaddy offers a full range of virtual, dedicated and cloud servers as well as comprehensive security and productivity solutions. GoDaddy also empowers the growing community of UK web developers and designers to scale their services through time- and money-saving tools like site monitoring and client management, advanced hosting, and a dedicated rewards program.
While GoDaddy seeks to help first-timers establish a unique online presence, it also offers practical and impactful solutions to experienced digital marketing practitioners and addresses many of the most difficult challenges that businesses face when they go online, such as security, brand building, social media, and online marketing.
Dedicated, Local Customer Support
GoDaddy's portfolio of purpose-built products is complemented by a dedicated team of customer care experts who deliver award winning customer care. GoDaddy opened its customer care centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2014, giving its UK customers the added advantage of working with specialised support teams located locally and in the US. With a direct phone number available 24 hours, 7 days a week, customers receive personalized assistance as they create their digital presence.
About GoDaddy
GoDaddy powers the world's largest cloud platform dedicated to small, independent ventures. With more than 14 million customers worldwide and more than 63 million domain names under management, GoDaddy is the place people come to name their idea, build a professional website, attract customers and manage their work. Our mission is to give our customers the tools, insights and the people to transform their ideas and personal initiative into success. To learn more about the company, visit www.godaddy.co.uk.
1 .UK domains refer to the ccTLD domains of the United Kingdom: .co.uk, .uk, .org.uk and .me.uk
2 Based on external and internal information available for the most popular selling domains in the UK, including .UK domains and .COM domains.
