Following the recent launch of the new internet top-level domain .London and of the buydomains.london website for SMEs to obtain their .london domain names, Ben Crawford, CEO of buydomains.london parent company CentralNic has launched a campaign to get more London businesses online, and address the current lack of web connectivity and engagement for small businesses within the UK's capital city.
YouGov has predicted that over 75% of London's 841,000 SMEs will fail to register for a .London domain name before the 31 July deadline, after which businesses outside London will be free to register the names (Federation of Small Businesses).
CentralNic and buydomains.london CEO Ben Crawford commented: "London has the potential to be the global capital of the 21st century - to the immense benefit of Londoners, and importantly SME owners. The fact that so few London businesses have their own websites is therefore a lamentable lost opportunity for London's SMEs to participate in the internet revolution."
"Having your own website is not only the gateway to doing business globally," Crawford added. "It's also increasingly become the key to doing business locally, as London residents and visitors armed with smartphones and tablets now use the internet to look up a shop's address, to find a tradesman, book a mini-cab or order a takeaway. Small businesses in London need their own websites just to keep their existing customers, and to have any prospect of winning new ones."
Buydomains.london, an official partner of Dot London, has launched the campaign to run throughout July 2014, aiming to "Get London businesses online". All London-based SMEs that sign up for a .London domain name via buydomains.london will receive a free professional one-page .London website. The benefits of this free website will allow the registered businesses to publish free content online with no prior technical or internet content experience. Ben Crawford hopes that this campaign will encourage more London SMEs to get online, and improve their marketing potential by kick-starting their online presences. This campaign is being launched by London-based CentralNic plc through a strategic partnership with British web design company BaseKit.
