Choosing a Domain Name in Ireland
What is a domain name? It is your internet address, i.e. www.yourname.com, www.yourname.ie and so on. It is unique and once registered it can be used by nobody else.
.com or .ie?
In Ireland there is national domain name, ending with .ie. If your business operates mostly in Ireland, it makes sense to register .ie domain. Why? Because websites using national domains tend to rank better in search engines for searches made from this country.
If your business also operates internationally, it makes sense to register both .com and .ie domains.
What my domain name should be?
It depends on what you are trying to achieve. If your brand is well-known and is likely to be searched for or just typed into browser’s address field, go for your brand’s name.
If you are not recognised brand, it would make more sense to include a keyword in your domain name. Keyword is something likely to be searched for. If you sell carpets, your domain name could be www.yournamecarpets.ie
Including a keyword in domain name helps your position in search engines.
Of course, www.carpets.ie and www.carpets.com would be the best, but more than likely they are gone long ago. There would be extremely difficult to find available one-word domain nowadays, especially when it comes to .com
You are likely to be forced to settle for something like www.kellys-carpets.ie unless you are selling something really unique.
Another consideration is length of the address. If you have to give it to somebody over the phone, the longer it is, the more difficult it is going to be.
If you expect people to type your address, say from a leaflet or business card – it should be something they can easily do.
What is needed to register Irish domain?
You need to have registered business name or be trading as sole-trader. In the latter case domain should be your own name, or reasonably close to it.
You can also register domains referring to the subject of your trade, like mentioned www.carpets.ie – this is perfectly acceptable.
Cost considerations
Irish domains are more expensive to register. However, by registering the domain with one company and hosting it somewhere else you can save some money, but is it worth the hassle?
What about .net and .org?
While they seem to rank equally well as .com but they are perceived as lower value and in fact they have lower re-sell value.
