Top Level Domain names

The Guvnor

Hi guys,

Just wondering which would be considered the most important TLD's to take assuming they were available?

My view is:

.com
.net
.co.uk (if selling to UK is important)

After that I am confused lets say.
.eu never really clicked did it and .ie is only for the domestic market.

Just curious is all as to what others think?

jmcc

The Guvnor wrote: »

Hi guys,

Just wondering which would be considered the most important TLD's to take assuming they were available?

My view is:

.com
.net
.co.uk (if selling to UK is important)

After that I am confused lets say.
.eu never really clicked did it and .ie is only for the domestic market.

Just curious is all as to what others think?

The .ie is the essential TLD for any Irish business.
The .com is secondary but necessary for global marketing.
The .co.uk is actually the second biggest ccTLD in Ireland after .ie and it may well be larger than the Irish .net footprint.

The .eu might be worth registering as a long term hold but it is a desert as regards development and usage. It has replaced .com as the domain of choice in Eastern Europe so if you are selling into that market, then register it (that's if your domain of choice it hasn't been cybersquatted/cyberwarehoused already). In real terms, there's only about 8K Irish .eu domains and usage of these domains is low.

I'm updating the Irish ccTLD and TLD website survey data at the moment so the December figures should be up in the next few days. The survey shows how Irish hosted domains are used as regards websites:

http://whoisireland.com/iecctldsurvey.html
http://whoisireland.com/irishsitessurvey.html

The curious thing is that the most recognised ccTLDs in Ireland are .ie and .co.uk. Most people I've asked have never heard of .eu ccTLD. The reason for .co.uk's recognition is the fact that people watch UK television channels and read UK publications.

Regards...jmcc

The Guvnor

Thanks J,

Very interesting information.
I will be registering a few .ie domains but the website focus will always be via .com or .eu. The .ie for ourselves would be more to have it and use a redirect to the .com.

Thanks again.

Liam Byrne

The Guvnor wrote: »

.co.uk (if selling to UK is important)

I'm confused. You think .co.uk is important enough to list, but you say as an afterthought that

The Guvnor wrote: »

.ie is only for the domestic market.

In my mind, a .com should be used for international businesses (including "selling to the UK") and the country-level TLDs should be available only to companies trading specifically within that juristiction.

Using a .com for a domestic setup is OK, but having something like a .com and a .co.uk doesn't make sense to me.

The Guvnor

I think most online businesses based in Ireland would have an eye on the UK market place. We certainly feel that whilst there is good business to be had in Ireland both North & South there is far more to be had on mainland UK.

Fortunately for us the .com was available but nowadays you have a far better chance of a .co.uk being available than a .com.

I do agree Liam that the .com should be for all international business but having the other domain names cannot hurt and can at the very least be used as redirects to the main website?

Liam Byrne

The Guvnor wrote: »

I do agree Liam that the .com should be for all international business but having the other domain names cannot hurt and can at the very least be used as redirects to the main website?

I'm not completely convinced; there's nothing worse than going to a supposed ".ie" site and then having to choose your location or change to/from a foreign currency.

To me, country-level domains imply a commitment to those markets, so the site should be specifically developed/aimed at that market.

The Guvnor

That's a very good point Liam. One I had not considered. A bit more work and potential cost but it should be done, now that I think about it.

I have to say I have not had it happen to me yet, has it happened to you often mate?

Liam Byrne

Have had to cater for it on one or two sites to a small extent, but the main reason that I'm conscious of it is from using other sites that have bugged me.

Adobe's used to be dire for it, offering no option but to pay in Sterling at one stage, despite it supposedly being a .ie; and the forced-entry postcode forms bug me too.

The Guvnor

I've seen that issue with the postcode on a lot of UK sites. I know they are not .ie's but it does highlight a lack of understanding and the limitations of their sites software/design.

So bad on some sites that some guys could not order and gave up!