Updated on 17 Aug 2026
Every domain registration starts with a decision – business idea, a rebrand, a new project. At Fasthosts, we've helped UK businesses get online for over 25 years, and when you look at the data behind those decisions, there’s some interesting patterns.
We've pulled together our domain registration data from 2025 and 2026 to see what UK businesses are choosing, when they're choosing it, and what's changing.
Whether you're registering your first domain or thinking about expanding your online presence, here's what the data says.
British businesses back British domains
Look at the data and one thing jumps out straight away – just how strongly local identity shapes registration choices. In 2025, nearly 2 in every 3 domains registered at Fasthosts carried a UK extension.
Combined, .co.uk, .uk, .org.uk and .me.uk accounted for 64.5% of all registrations. That's a long way from the global picture, where .com dominates at around 50% of all registrations worldwide.
Here's how the full 2025 breakdown looked:
For UK businesses with a primarily domestic audience, this makes a lot of sense. A .co.uk or .uk domain immediately signals local credibility. Customers know they're dealing with a British business. That trust signal carries real weight, especially for SMBs competing against larger, more anonymous alternatives.
.co.uk leads, but .uk is catching up fast
While .co.uk held a commanding 52.1% share in 2025, the newer .uk extension has quietly built a firm 11% slice of the market. And in 2026, it's accelerating.
In the first half of 2026, .uk registrations grew 53.8% year-on-year. This is the fastest growth rate among the established extensions, and its share climbed from 10.8% to 13.7%.
The choice between .co.uk and .uk is essentially a brand decision. Both carry the same renewal price with us, both signal British identity, and both are widely recognised. .uk simply offers a shorter, cleaner format that's resonating more with businesses who want something modern.
.com is growing – and that's worth paying attention to
.com has always been the global standard, but its growth among UK businesses in 2026 is notably strong. Between January-June 2026, .com registrations were up 42.1% year-on-year, pushing its share from 24.2% to 28.2%.
That's a significant move for an established extension. It suggests that more UK businesses are thinking beyond domestic audiences. This could be branching into international markets, building products with global appeal, or simply recognising that .com still carries a universally understood trust signal.
If your ambitions stretch beyond the UK, pairing a .co.uk or .uk domain with a .com is a smart way to cover both bases.
The mix is shifting in 2026
Overall demand for domains remains strong during the first half of 2026 but the growth isn't evenly spread. The table below shows how domains are performing compared to last year.
.co.uk is still the dominant extension in absolute terms, but its share of the overall mix has dropped 8.4 percentage points in a year. That's not a sign of decline, volume is up, but it does reflect the fact that UK businesses are broadening their options rather than defaulting to .co.uk as the only choice.
When do UK businesses register domains?
The timing data reflects something consistent about how businesses actually work.
Domain registrations in 2025 were heavily concentrated in the working week, which isn't surprising, but the specifics are worth knowing.
Wednesday was the busiest single day at 17.3% of weekly volume, with Tuesday and Monday close behind. Weekends dropped sharply, with Saturday and Sunday together accounting for just 18.7% of the week – roughly 42% below the weekday average.
In 2026, the picture is very slightly shifting. Weekend activity has ticked up to 20.5% of weekly volume combined. That could reflect a growing number of sole traders and side-project founders registering outside business hours. But the core pattern holds. If you're thinking about a domain name, midweek is when most UK businesses act on it.
January is the biggest month by some distance
Seasonality in domain registrations follows business planning cycles closely. January 2025 was the single busiest month – 34% higher than December.
The new year effect is real and consistent. If businesses are going to start something new, launch a project, or finally act on that idea they've been sitting on, January is when it happens. April was the second-busiest month, suggesting a spring uplift as businesses accelerate into the new financial year.
August and December were the quietest months, reflecting the predictable impact of summer holidays and the Christmas slowdown.
The 2026 data shows growth in every month, but May (+35.9%) and June (+31.6%) have seen the steepest year-on-year acceleration – suggesting the momentum is building rather than plateauing.
The domain you choose says something about your business
So what does all of this mean in practice? A few things stand out.
For UK-focused businesses, .co.uk and .uk remain the strongest choices. They signal credibility, local identity, and trustworthiness to British customers. The data backs up what many business owners already feel instinctively.
For businesses with international ambitions, .com is growing in popularity among UK registrants for good reason. It's the globally recognised standard, and pairing it with a UK extension gives you the best of both worlds.
For ecommerce businesses, .store has seen remarkable growth in 2026 – up nearly 487% year-on-year. An expressive extension that tells customers immediately what you do can be a smart complement to a more traditional domain.
On timing – if there's a domain name you've been thinking about, don't sit on it. The data shows that business domain registrations cluster around exactly the moments when everyone else is also planning ahead – January, the end of Q1, and the run-up to Q4. Midweek, during business hours, is when competition for names is at its highest.
What happened to .net?
One extension worth flagging is .net, which saw a 58% drop in registrations January-June 2026 – its share falling from 1.4% to just 0.5%. Historically popular with technical and networking businesses, it's facing real pressure from more descriptive alternatives and a higher renewal price. If you're currently on .net or considering it, it's worth thinking about whether the extension still communicates what you do.
The one to watch – .ai
While .ai didn't register meaningful volume in the 2025 Fasthosts data, globally it was the breakout extension of the year – growing 62.6% year-on-year and climbing from #18 to #14 in worldwide rankings. That growth is now starting to reach UK businesses too, and it's not hard to see why.
Originally the country-code domain for Anguilla, .ai has become the go-to extension for AI startups, machine learning projects and tech brands worldwide. If artificial intelligence is at the core of what you're building, a .ai domain says it immediately, before a visitor has even landed on your site. It's short, instantly recognisable and carries real credibility in the tech space.
It's also good for SEO. Search engines index .ai domains just like any other established extension, and the relevance of your domain to your niche can give your rankings a genuine boost in a competitive space.
We offer .ai domains from just £30 for the first year – and because .ai requires a minimum 2-year registration, you're looking at £150 in total (£30 for year one, £120 for year two). With free transfers, unlimited email forwarding and full DNS control included, it's a straightforward way to stake your claim in the AI space.
Find out more about .ai domains at Fasthosts.
Ready to find your domain?
Whether you're starting out or expanding, the right domain is one of the most important decisions you'll make for your online presence. Search our full range of extensions – including .co.uk, .uk, .com and plenty more – and find the one that fits your business.
If you need a hand deciding or have a question about our domain registrations, give us a call on 0800 0612 153 or message us via live chat. If you’ve got a domain with another registrar and would like to transfer it over to us, you can do so quickly and easily right here.
