I have a choice between buying and using a .uk.com with exact match keywords. Or a .com with “uk” after the exact match domain name followed by .com. So, as an example, it is either:
Which one would rank best? And which one would you choose to use and why? I have never seen a .uk.com ranking before. But I am also not sure about UK after the domain name.
If you’re targeting the UK (which I presume is your reason for the domain choices) and you pick a UK-specific domain, Google will automatically assume you’re targeting the UK and show results accordingly. If you’re using a generic domain like .com, you can set your geographical preference in Google webmaster tools. So from that point of view, it makes no difference.
You need to find out who owns the uk.com domain if you are going to get a sub-domain from them. You need to find out if the owner is someone you can trust,
CentralNic, the global domain name registry, allows registration of domain names at the third
level under .UK.COM, eg EXAMPLE.UK.COM. To find the whois record for a .UK.COM domain, please
use CentralNic’s whois server, WHOIS.CENTRALNIC.COM or go to https://whois.centralnic.com.
UK.COM is owned and operated by CentralNic, the world’s longest-running commercial domain name registry, and the only registry to launch two new domain extensions in 2010. 15 years of continuous 100% availability has made CentralNic the global domain name registry with the best track record for reliability and security.
.uk.com domains are commonly offered by registrars in the UK.