UK Registrars Archives → The Domain BusinessThe Domain Business

Introduction

Our registrars are vital to the integrity and success of the .uk registry, being the interface between ourselves and the registrants of the 10 million+ .uk domains.

We work with all our registrar partners, providing the technical systems and support needed to help maximise their business while at the same time enhancing the .uk experience for our registrants. As well as technical expertise and support we also pro-actively share any relevant information and insight that might benefit their business.

Nominet comment

Eleanor Bradley
Chief Operating Officer

Working closely with our registrars is an integral part of the success of the .uk registry and in the last twelve months we have stepped up our support of the channel introducing various tools and initiatives to help grow their business.

Co-branded marketing activity and a successful co-marketing programme have ensured we have been able to deliver a compelling brand proposition, get our branding front of mind with UK internet users and make a strong case for users to invest in a .uk. Added to this are additional tools and services which have been introduced to help our registrars understand and grow their businesses, from the availability of market intelligence in our Business Intelligence tool to the adoption of multi-year renewal periods (MYRP) which opens up more choice to the end user.

As we approach the launch of the new gTLDs later this year we know our registrars will have an increasingly challenging and diversified product offering and we are committed to working with them to ensure the continued success of .co.uk and .cmyru.

Nominet

Report snapshot

54% of domain renewals are prompted by registrar reminders

Nominet

Renewals Research

What prompted you to renew your .uk domain name?
I received an email reminder from my registrar.	54.%
I received a reminder in the post from my registrar.	0.4%
I received an invoice from my registrar.	4.5%
I received an email reminder from Nominet.	4.9%
I visited the keepyour.co.uk web site.	0.1%
I checked my registration certificate.	0.5%
The domain name stopped working (suspended).	0.9%
I monitor my domain names closely so do not need reminders.	2.4%
I looked up the renewal date using a WHOIS service.	0.5%
Personal reminder from a friend or colleague	0.5%
The domain name renews automatically.	26.8%
Other	3.6%

Recent qualitative research into .uk domain renewals has shown that in the majority of cases, registrar actions can secure the renewal. 27% of renewals are driven by an auto-renew function and another 54% are prompted by registrar reminders that the renewal is due. Of all the renewing registrants surveyed just over 2% actively monitored their domains and were aware of renewal dates showing that the registrant needs registrar support to manage their domain. Here at Nominet we are reviewing our communications with the registrant around renewal and would urge registrars to optimise theirs too.

Preferred renewal periods

When questioned about preferred periods for renewal the two most popular choices were five years or lifetime, each being the favoured period for just over 30% of respondents. This preference has so far not been seen in actual renewals; since we introduced Multi Year Renewals Periods (MYRP) in May 2012 we’ve seen that 84% of all renewals have been for a two year period and another 13% for single year periods with the remaining 3% being for periods of two years plus. Ensuring that registrants are fully aware of the different renewal period options open to them and encouraging longer renewals should help drive more long-term renewals.

Source: Nominet registrant renewals research

Multi-Year Renewal Periods impact on the register

New Registrations

Multi Year Renewal Periods (MYRP) were introduced to the .uk registry in May 2012 and early results have shown that this is driving a growing proportion of short-term registrations. We have yet to see how these single year registrations perform at renewal, but given the trend of younger domains having lower renewal rates (see The UK in Detail page for more information) they could be subject to lower renewal levels. To counter this, we recommend close communication with these registrants prior to the expiry date to encourage early renewals.

Source: Nominet

Registrant Data Update Window

At Nominet we strive to provide a world-class registry for .uk and minimise any fraudulent domain name usage. A key element of this is ensuring that the information we hold for each and every one of our 10 million+ domains is accurate and up to date. To this end we are constantly reviewing the information we hold for each domain and identifying where there may be missing information or anomalies in the data we hold.

In May and June last year we ran a trial of a Registrant Data Update Window which enabled registrars to update any records that we had identified as being inaccurate or unable to be validated by third parties. This trial was successful in improving our overall data quality and so we have re-opened this window for a six month period, running until 6th August 2013. During this time a list of any domains that we have not been able to validate will be available to all registrars through our Web Domain Manager (WDM) and these records can be updated via Standard-EPP, the Automaton or directly in WDM.

We are urging all our registrars to assist us with this project so we can ensure the integrity of our register and maintain the high levels of trust and confidence in the .uk domain space. If you would like any more information on this project, please visit http://registrars.nominet.org.uk/registration-and-domain-management/data-quality

The Best Customer Experience in the country (nearly)

Our busy Customer Services Department are here to help you and your business and in 2012 they dealt with over 80,000 calls and 25,000 emails.

To ensure we are delivering the best possible service we conduct an independent customer satisfaction survey each year, using an external specialist research company. We target our two primary customer groups: our registrar partners and our domain name registrants. Each year we select 25,000 registrants and 200 registrars who have used our service and invite them to complete a web based survey. We’re delighted to report that last year our registrar satisfaction index was 92% and our registrant satisfaction index was 88%.

We also run real-time satisfaction surveys and invite registrars and registrants to give us immediate feedback about their recent contact with Customer Services. From the real-time satisfaction results, we contact any dissatisfied customers to find out if we can resolve their issue or hear their suggestions on how we can improve our services.

Last year we were finalists for the second year running in the UK Customer Experience Awards. These awards celebrate and promote excellence in customer experience across a broad spectrum of industries and we were delighted to receive recognition for our team. Unfortunately we were pipped at the post by Abel and Cole but are determined to reverse this result in 2013.

Dispute Resolution Service update

2012 was a busy year for our Dispute Resolution Service (DRS), dealing with a total of 818 cases in the course of the year, an increase of +16% year on year.

More cases are raised in the areas of retail and banking than any other sector and collectively amount to just under a third of all cases. In the last three years around 20% of all cases were retail-related and a further 10% were from the banking sector. Of all the big name brands that have been subject to disputes in the last 12 months, the top 5 were all retail or banking related: Karen Millen, Coast and Swarovski on the retail front and Barclays and Natwest/RBS from banking.

Looking in detail at the closed cases, over a third (37%) saw no resolution which means the complaint was judged invalid or was withdrawn/not pursued by the complainant. Just under a third (28%) were resolved either directly by the parties themselves or through our mediation service and the remaining 34% were resolved using our panel of independent experts.

Results of resolved DRS cases 2012

The vast majority of resolved cases (88%) resulted in the domain being transferred to the complainant, with just 8% of cases seeing the respondent retain their domain.

The busiest months for new DRS cases were March, April and July, each accounting for around 10% of the year’s cases. November and December were the quietest months as registrant focus was firmly fixed on Christmas e-commerce.

Source: Nominet

.co.uk is going on the road

We are taking .co.uk on the road as part of our 2013 integrated marketing campaign, to further raise awareness amongst SMEs and entrepreneurs within the UK.

We will be at various events across the country including the Business StartUp Show in London in June and MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival in Sheffield in September. A full list of the events we’ll be attending can be found here: http://registrars.nominet.org.uk/marketing-tools-and-events/events/co-uk-events

If registrars are in the area please do come along and visit us, or alternatively if you are exhibiting yourselves we would like to explore any cross-branding opportunities with you. We have developed a .co.uk branded range of promotional merchandise for such events which are available for registrars to order for their own use. If you are interested in ordering any materials or would like to discuss any cross-branding opportunities, please contact us at uk.brand@nominet.org.uk.