Domain names

All University-related websites should use sub-domains of the 'manchester.ac.uk' name.

Sub-domains should be as descriptive as possible of the University activity/department they represent, for example www.alc.manchester.ac.uk or www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk.

For systems, the sub-domain could have format nameofsystem.manchester.ac.uk, for example documents.manchester.ac.uk

Websites and blogs developed on the University's Wordpress platform will get a sub-domain of the formats: sites.manchester.ac.uk/nameofsite or blogs.manchester.ac.uk/nameofblog.

Microsites developed on the Staffnet website will get a sub-domain of the format: www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/nameofsite.

Sub-domains of the manchester.ac.uk domain (such as www.xxxx.manchester.ac.uk or xxxx.manchester.ac.uk) will require authorisation from the the Directorate of Communications, Marketing and Student Recruitment. Faculty-related sub-domains will also require the approval of the respective Faculty digital team.

In cases in which a website is a joint venture or collaboration with an external organisation, an external domain can be used (for example www.royce.ac.uk).

For requesting sub-domains of the manchester.ac.uk domain and external domains go to:

• Manchester sub-domains and external domains registration (IT support system)

Marketing URLs

Relevant pages on University-related websites can use alternative shorter URLs – called marketing URLs – as a direct way to get to them. Marketing URLs can be used on promotional/marketing materials both on digital media and printed publications.

Marketing URLs for digital media 

If using a marketing URL on digital media that redirects to the corporate website or another external-facing University website, the marketing URL should have either of these formats:

• www.manchester.ac.uk/xyz
  • Example: www.manchester.ac.uk/arrival
  • This marketing URL may redirect to a page on the central domain such as www.manchester.ac.uk/folder/abc/xyz  or a subdomain such as www.subdomain.manchester.ac.uk/folder/abc/xyz or sites.manchester.ac.uk/nameofsite or external-facing content on other sub-domains such as documents.manchester.ac.uk.
  • It requires approval from the Division of Communications, Marketing and Student Recruitment
• www.subdomain.manchester.ac.uk/xyz
  • Example: www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/courses
  • This URL should only redirect to a page within the same subdomain such as  www.subdomain.manchester.ac.uk/folder/abc/xyz
  • It does not require approval from the Division of Communications, Marketing and Student Recruitment

If using a marketing URL that redirects to an internal-facing website, the marketing URL should have format:

• www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/xyz
  • Example: www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/our-values
  • This URL may redirect to pages within the Staffnet site such as www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/folder/abc/xyz or internal-facing content on other sub-domains such as documents.manchester.ac.uk.
  • It requires approval from the the Division of Communications, Marketing and Student Recruitment

To obtain a marketing URL or change the destination of an existing marketing URL with either of the formats above:

• email marketing-url-request@manchester.ac.uk, or 
• send a request using the Marketing url request form (IT support system)

Before requesting a marketing URL to use on digital media, please check the up-to-date list below. In cases where the marketing URL you need, or a similar version, already exists, consider using the established marketing URL before asking for a new one. If you want to change the destination of an existing marketing URL, please contact the digital team that 'owns' that marketing URL (usually the team that updates the website the marketing URL redirects to) before making your request.

• List of marketing URLs

Marketing URLs for printed publications 

The University has acquired the licence for T2M for creating marketing URLs to be used on printed publications such as prospectuses, leaflets, posters, pop-up banners, etc. The format for these marketing URLs is:

• uom.link/xyz

Find out how to create marketing URLs for printed publications.

Marketing URLs best practice

Marketing URLs used on digital media and printed publications should ideally be a single whole meaningful English word, or multiple words, which can be separated by hyphens for clarity. They should comply with the following principles:

• Be all lower case and avoid any punctuation except a hyphen where necessary (no spaces, dots or underscore characters).
• Only use acronyms and abbreviations if they are familiar to the audience.
• Clearly convey the specific facet of the University the website represents.
• Be memorable (a long memorable word is better than an abbreviation that is hard to remember).
• Be a folder not a filename, to avoid users having to worry about file endings (eg use www.manchester.ac.uk/xyz not www.manchester.ac.uk/xyz.html or www.manchester.ac.uk/xyz.htm).

For more information on marketing URLs please contact milena@manchester.ac.uk