.com versus .ie

Wantobe

I hope this is in the right forum.

I was thinking of registering a .ie name for a business. The .ie name is available but there is a .com name registered already. The business would only be available in Ireland- but the .com name is for a similar business in the US- is there any issue registering a .ie name for a similar business?

Say for example I wanted to start a letting agency and decided on the name lettings.ie but lettings.com was taken in the STates and it was a letting agency in the states, would that be in anyway a problem?

Would I have to search to see if the name was registered as a trademark or something like that?

tombull82

should be no problem, go ahead an try reg it. If there is a problem then the IEDR wont let you have it.

Wantobe

Thanks tombull. Just don't want to go to the expense and trouble of registering a .ie name and then have a company in the states sue me!

Axwell

There wont be any issue with it providing you have the necessary paperwork, registered business etc. The .ie domain can only be got by a company or business registered in Ireland, .com is open to anyone.

The only thing is that people when they hear your letting companies name might stumble on the .com by mistake when searching for you if they arent sure of the address. It might be a better move to try and get a domain where both the .ie and .com are available, however it should be obvious the other letting company is based in the States to anyone looking.

r0nanf

Be careful about losing traffic - the average joe will always input .com, don't presume they'll go changing the suffix after a wrong result. Example:

In Naas there's this new fangled "all inclusive" church thing, called www.dv8.ie. I drove past a few months ago and searched online (thinking they were some cult) and put in www.dv8.com by accident - turns out that's the "worlds biggest sex toy superstore"....

Get a unique url, and reister the .com, .ie, .org and .net suffixes. It's essential imo

Wantobe

Axwell wrote: »

The only thing is that people when they hear your letting companies name might stumble on the .com by mistake when searching for you if they arent sure of the address. It might be a better move to try and get a domain where both the .ie and .com are available, however it should be obvious the other letting company is based in the States to anyone looking.

Good point. Have to think about that.

r0nanf wrote: »

In Naas there's this new fangled "all inclusive" church thing, called www.dv8.ie. I drove past a few months ago and searched online (thinking they were some cult) and put in www.dv8.com by accident - turns out that's the "worlds biggest sex toy superstore"....

LOL. That's hilarious.

Axwell

Id agree to try and get as many of the domains as possible but priority would be on getting the .ie and .com, I wouldnt let it stop you if you cant get the .net or whatever especially if the site they have isnt in something related. But its important not to put yourself at a major disadvantage from the outset picking something that already has a .com in the same business area. Straight away you will struggle in Google when it comes to SEO as they will appear under most of the same terms on the results page either above or below you and people will click on to their site thinkings its you or vice versa.

BnA

If you are only going to be trading in the Irish Market, I would definately go for the .ie domain. I think it makes you look more legit. Maybe that's just me though because I know that any fool can register a .com in the morning whilst for a .ie it is a bit more trouble so it looks like you are a more serious business. However, since most people wouldn't know that, I'm not sure how much difference it would make to Joe Soap users who wouldn't really know the difference.

I would agree with the other posters though who advised caution about registering the .ie when a .com already exists that does something similar, even if it is in a different country. You really would be in danger of losing traffic to it.

The ideal solution IMO is to find a .com that is suitable and free. Register it and then register the .ie of the same name as well. I would market the business under the .ie name, but have the .com address pointing to the same site.

The Guvnor

I was asking about .ie domains last week.
Not exactly the same as your query but there is useful info in there from industry types such as blackknight:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055702608

John McG

Most Irish people click on "Go to Google Ireland" and www.google.ie gives a higher search ranking to .ie domains.


Just to add - it's best to try get a .ie and .com if you can. Use the .ie as the primary site and redirect the .com to the .ie

The Guvnor

I would disagree with using the .ie as the primary domain John.

On the basis that whatever most people do online could successfully be marketed at the very least into the UK as well thereby leading me at any rate to feel (right or wrong) that a .com or .eu would be a better option.

However it is highly likely that the .com name one desires is gone - leaving the .ie the only option and I will say if based in Ireland, despite where your sales may be it would be advisable to tie up the .ie domain for the venture.

Axwell

I would disagree with using the .ie as the primary domain John.

On the basis that whatever most people do online could successfully be marketed at the very least into the UK as well thereby leading me at any rate to feel (right or wrong) that a .com or .eu would be a better option.

However it is highly likely that the .com name one desires is gone - leaving the .ie the only option and I will say if based in Ireland, despite where your sales may be it would be advisable to tie up the .ie domain for the venture.

The OP is talking about an Irish based business therefore a .ie is his priority, by getting the .com also he is avoiding the possibility of confusion with another business of the same name and also for its benefits in Google. If the .com is gone the option of only taking the the .ie domain is a bad choice, I would look for a domain where the .com and .ie are available as you are just losing out on traffic from people going to the .com of your .ie domain if its not yours. When it comes to it you want to try and get as many of them as you can however I feel the .eu never really took off and isnt a big use. If I had a business primarily aimed at the UK I would be looking to secure a .co.uk before any other domain such as .com or .eu

John McG

The domain name should also have the keywords associated with your business in it rather than the company name. E.g. letandrent.ie housetolet.ie hometolet.ie are all available...

John McG

John McG wrote: »

The domain name should also have the keywords associated with your business in it rather than the company name. E.g. letandrent.ie housetolet.ie hometolet.ie are all available...

What's your thoughts on a keyword based domain name if you intend to have your own brand(s) also ? Register a domain name in the shape of your brand or just go with the keyword domain ?

John McG

Deleted User wrote: »

What's your thoughts on a keyword based domain name if you intend to have your own brand(s) also ? Register a domain name in the shape of your brand or just go with the keyword domain ?

If you are relying on the website as a sales/marketing tool, it's highly recommended to have keywords in the domain name for SEO purposes. Makes it easier to get a higher search ranking. You can also buy your company name as a 2nd domain and point it to the keyword based one.


BTW, this info (and the earlier point about Irish only companies using .ie instead of .com) is discussed in these books:
Search Engine Optimization Your visual blueprint for effective Internet marketing - Kristopher Jones
Search Engine Optimization An Hour a Day - Jennifer Grappone
Search Engine Optimization for Dummies - Peter Kent
Search Engine Optimization - Harold Davis
Search Engine Optimization Bible - Jerri Ledford

All recommended reading if this topic interests you. The last one by Jerri Ledford is top of that list imho.

Great thanks a lot, have a big and growing interest in Internet marketing and SEO.

Appreciate the book list.

MOH

John McG wrote: »

Most Irish people click on "Go to Google Ireland" and www.google.ie gives a higher search ranking to .ie domains.


Just to add - it's best to try get a .ie and .com if you can. Use the .ie as the primary site and redirect the .com to the .ie

It looks at the IP address too though, so a .com hosted in Ireland will count as Irish. And you can also specify a target country in Google Webmaster Tools, which seems to help with ranking for Ireland (for Google only, obviously).

But definitely try to get the .ie and the .com