Hosting Ireland customer wins IEDR’s top €10,000 prize

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Hosting Ireland was delighted to learn that one its customers was the first prize winner of the .IE Domain Registry’s (IEDR) recent competition to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Finlay Motor Group scooped a massive €10,000 from IEDR and intend to use their winnings to enhance the SEO of their website, and develop new interactive features such as a video chat app to make it easier for customers to shop online with them.

IEDR devised the competition to provide .ie domain holders, including businesses, individuals or community groups, with the opportunity to win a one-off cash prize to improve their online presence. Entrants were asked to tell IEDR the main benefit of having a .ie domain name in no more than 15 words.

Final Motor Group impressed judges with their entry: “Recognition of Irish company address and that we are local.

Will Harrison, Hosting Ireland’s Technical Director said: “We’re so pleased for Finlay Motor Group. €10,000 will enable them to make an already very successful website even better with the introduction of 360 degree tours of their showroom and vehicles. Exciting stuff for them!”

Not only does 2020 mark 20 years in business for .IE, it’s also the year that has seen a huge spike in .ie registrations as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. During April to October 2020 there were 39% more .ie registrations than the same period last year.

For more information visit: https://www.weare.ie/competition/

Why you shouldn’t let your developer host your web site

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The Coronavirus lockdown made apparent something that has been developing for years: the future of most businesses is digital. Many will dispense with costly offices and high street shops entirely. Those that don’t will still depend heavily on digital operations to win and retain customers.

That means more small businesses are now looking to buy or extend their websites, but many know nothing about the technologies, the market, the workload or the costs. Inevitably, many will choose a product that seems to bundle everything they need – design, coding, hosting, the domain name and IT support. Convenient it may be, but is it wise?

Why most businesses need a developer

HyperText Mark-up Language (HTML) is the language on which the Web is built. It was prototyped in about 1980 and from the outset was intended to be easy to learn. It was designed for non-IT people by a non-IT scientist (a physicist) so that everyone could easily format digital documents before sharing them.

As collections of online documents got bigger, content management systems were developed. To extend its capabilities, scripting languages were added. Nevertheless, they were still designed to be simple for ordinary people. That was the whole point. Everyone could afford the negligible cost of a little server space and domain name. There were hackers, but they were enthusiasts, not criminals.

E-commerce changed everything. Now there are huge competitive pressures to design complicated sites and optimise their delivery over the network. The general public now thinks of the internet and web design in the same category as rocket science and brain surgery. As a result, they tend to leave it to “the experts” instead of asking a few relevant questions.

The map is not the territory

The main thing businesses must appreciate is the difference between a website and the network it runs on. Really it is obvious: you wouldn’t buy a car built by Balfour Beatty and drive it on roads built by Tesla. Road building and car making have few transferrable skills. Nor do networks and websites.

And that is an understatement. Successful digital enterprise depends upon a host of specialist skills that have little to do with one another. Ideally, they should begin with business analysis and market research, proceed through template creation and graphic design, HTML and back-end programming, followed by content creation, SEO and traffic analysis. In-operation performance also depends on server configuration and network maintenance.

If you ask a company if they can provide everything the majority say yes – why turn down business – but is that even possible? Even Fortune 500 companies rarely do everything under one roof.

Inevitably, one-stop-shops often resort to a simple solution – they outsource. Often this takes the form of supplying off-the-peg website designs, outsourcing the actual hosting, and setting everything up with factory defaults.

What isn’t included in an all-in-one contract?

Surprisingly quite a lot of things. Understanding what you are getting and not getting is always harder if all your services are bundled together.

Vital components are often charged extra or have to be renewed at escalating costs. These include elements such as the domain name, shopping cart, security certificate and backups. You can be charged for fonts, plugins, updates and hacking protection.

Expect to change your mind

Some customers discover that’s not easy either. Emergency repairs or vital changes to the website often incur a charge, as may exceeding your bandwidth, changing to a different tariff or moving to a different server.

As time goes by, your understanding of how your website works (and doesn’t work) is bound to improve. Markets are always changing and so must your business. Consequently, there will inevitably be things you need to change. Customers are often surprised to find their “developer” is reluctant to do re-development. Selling off-the-peg solutions doesn’t vouch for their coding expertise.

Unlucky customers who want to migrate to a cheaper host, faster server, or more helpful IT desk sometimes encounter another problem. Because your services are bundled together, you may not be able to change one thing because of your commitment to another. It’s akin to wanting a cheaper gas tariff when you are locked into a combined fuel contract, or cheaper calls when you are tied to a combined broadband-TV-phone deal.

If you let your developer buy your domain name for you there is also a fair chance it belongs to them, not you!

In conclusion, don’t keep all your apples in one barrel. Preserve your freedom to change your host and your developer independently and you will spare yourself a great deal of trouble and frustration later. As a bonus, each of them will be better skilled at what they do and all the more motivated to provide the best possible deal.

Everything you need to know about choosing and buying a domain name

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The internet is an ever-growing environment, with over 350 million registered domain names now in existence. Thousands of new domains are registered every day, with individuals and businesses alike increasingly turning to creating a website for themselves. If you’re new to making a blog or website, you might be finding the terminology tricky and the question of needing a domain name confusing. Here’s what you need to know when it comes to domains and how to buy a domain name for your website.

What is a Domain Name?

The domain name is typed as the URL for people to visit your blog or website directly from a browser address bar. This address is a unique identifier for your particular site. Upon entering it into the web browser, a request will be sent to the Domain Name System (DNS), a server network. These servers will search for the name servers that are associated with that domain name, forwarding the request to those servers. The associated servers are essentially computers that are managed by your hosting company, and as such, the host will forward the request to the computer that stores your website, known as a web server. From here, the web server will retrieve the web page and all associated information and then send the data back to the browser.

So in short, the domain name is your website’s address, with the web hosting being your website’s accommodation. In order to create a website, you’ll need both of these services, which you can buy together or from different companies. If you purchase them separately, the domain name settings need to be edited and the Name Server information, which specifies where user requests are to be sent, needs to be forwarded to the hosting company.

Different domain name types

Various extensions are possible, with .com or .co.uk being particularly popular. The likes of .net, .org, .info and so on are also options.

ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is responsible for creating domain name policies and granting permission to Domain Name Registrars to sell domain names. It’s the registrar that will sell the domain name and manage the likes of transfers and renewals. You, as the owner of a domain name, take responsibility for advising the registrar where to send the requests and for renewing your domain’s registration.

Considering the sheer volume of registered domains, choosing a name may mean that the ideas you had were already taken. As such, finding a domain name could involve a little additional thought to come up with something that works for you. Generally speaking, avoiding numbers and keeping the domain short and easy to spell are good guidelines to go by.

The ins and outs of domain name purchase

The next question is, how to buy a domain name? For either a website or blog, you can buy a domain name through different registrars online, from some of which you can also purchase hosting. Buying both services from the same company reduces the need for changing name server settings and results in a more convenient process for the website owner.

Once your domain is registered, you’ll have the ability to make subdomains yourself. A subdomain is a child domain under your main domain name, for example, blog.yourdomain.co.uk.

Should you change your mind and there be unforeseen circumstances that negate the need for your website, some registrars will allow the cancellation of the domain registration or for you to let it expire, although refunds are rarely given so it’s best to check the refund policy if you are concerned that this may apply. If the auto-renew feature isn’t turned on and you don’t manually renew, the name will expire after the registration period.

You can also choose to move your website over to a different domain name by pointing the domain name to your hosting server, allowing you to potentially keep both names pointing to your website. Keep in mind that search engines could deem this to be duplicate content, affecting your website’s search ranking.

It’s also possible to sell your domain name or to sign up with an additional Domain Privacy service to show proxy details rather than your personal information if you are concerned about your data privacy.

Buying a domain name is a pivotal step in setting up your website, and once you know the basics it becomes less complex and daunting than it may initially sound. Choosing a reliable provider for both your hosting and domain name services will take the hassle out of set-up, leaving you to work your creative flair, starting by deciding on your website’s domain name.

Hosting Ireland bags ‘Guaranteed Irish’ membership.

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At Hosting Ireland we’re delighted to announce we’ve been awarded ‘Guaranteed Irish’ membership. ‘Guaranteed Irish’ represents 300+ homegrown and international businesses operating in Ireland and is a national symbol of provenance and trust that is highly recognised by Irish consumers.

Will Harrison, Hosting Ireland Director, said, “We’re so proud to be ‘Guaranteed Irish’ – we’re an Irish business and we’re here to help Irish businesses. Having this powerful symbol represents our commitment to the Irish market and our dedication to supporting Irish jobs and providing online products and services to the Irish public. We want to continue to help the online market grow and help local businesses and individuals to achieve their ambitions online.”

Speaking on the announcement of Hosting Ireland’s new membership, Guaranteed Irish CEO, Brid O’Connell says: “We are delighted to welcome Hosting Ireland as a member of Guaranteed Irish. The Guaranteed Irish symbol helps consumers and businesses to identify products and services that are better choices for communities across Ireland. We only award the symbol to companies which provide quality jobs, support local communities and are committed to Irish provenance.”

We’re #AllBetterTogether.

Alongside Hosting Ireland, the IE Domain Registry (IEDR) are also members of ‘Guaranteed Irish’, and in partnership, we recently launched a radio campaign to promote .ie domain registrations.

For the duration of the campaign, individuals and start-ups can get a .ie domain name and a free website builder for a year for just €4.95. The campaign is featured on Newstalk and the GoLoud app and we hope it helps to raise the profile of the .ie domain extension as the domain of choice for Irish residents.

Buy your .ie now and get your business online in time for Christmas!

In partnership with guaranteed irish you can bag yourself a .ie domain name for just 4.95 and get a free website for a year when you do so.

.ie Domain Profile Report  2019

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Ireland’s country domain .ie grows 40% in five years, fuelled by registration rule change, Brexit and social network limitations…

– Total .ie domain database at 273,156 at end of H1 2019, up more than 8% year-on-year; majority registered by businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs

– Demand for .ie brand drives 75% increase in number of .ie domains offered for private sale

– Growth in .ie registrations from Great Britain suggests ongoing ‘Brexit effect’ as companies move to secure online assets in Ireland

– “Significant growth” in .ie database driven in large part by removal of ‘claim to a name’ registration requirement, says IE Domain Registry CEO.

The total .ie domain database grew by 8.3% in H1 2019 compared to the same period last year, and by 39.7% compared to the same period five years ago, according to new figures published today in IE Domain Registry’s biannual .ie Domain Profile Report.

At the end of H1 2019, there was a total of 273,156 .ie domains, compared to 252,222 at the end of H1 2018 and 195,440 at the end of H1 2014.
There was a small year-on-year decrease in new .ie registrations (-5.9%), but this a direct result of the ‘post-liberalisation cooldown’ trend.

In March 2018, IE Domain Registry ‘liberalised’ .ie registration rules by making it easier and faster for people to register a .ie domain by removing the requirement for registrants to prove their claim to their desired .ie domain (evidence of a connection to Ireland is still required). This resulted in an unprecedented surge in new .ie registrations in the H1 2018 period; registrations have since returned to normal levels.

Business, UK and county registrations…

The .ie domain remains an extremely popular way for Irish businesses to demonstrate their authenticity and trustworthiness to local and international customers: 80.2% of the total .ie database is comprised of companies and self-employed entrepreneurs, up 4% year-on-year.
New .ie registrations by individuals grew by 26.4% year-on-year, which speaks to the growing trend of using websites to build a permanent,
personal space on the internet, free from many of the limitations of social networks. Further illustrating the value of the .ie domain, 240 domains were offered for private sale in H1 2019, up 75% from 137 in the same period last year. A .ie domain can be registered by an international party provided they can prove their connection to the island of Ireland. British-registered .ie domains make up 42% of the 24,009 domains registered abroad. While the post-liberalisation cooldown trend also affected new registrations from Great Britain, comparing H1 2019 registrations to H1 2017 registrations shows an 18.9% surge, indicating an ongoing ‘Brexit effect’.

Derry recorded the largest increase in new .ie registrations in H1 2019 (+30.3%), albeit from a low base, followed by Laois (+28.5%) and Roscommon (+15.6%). Leitrim recorded the largest decrease (-43.5%) in new .ie registrations.

IE Domain Registry insight…

Commenting on the Domain Profile Report, David Curtin, Chief Executive of IE Domain Registry, said:

“The total .ie database has grown significantly over the last five years, and particularly since March 2018 when IE Domain Registry removed the ‘claim to a name’ registration requirement. This change made it easier and faster for people with a connection to Ireland to secure their domain of choice.
.ie remains the digital gold standard for Irish businesses, entrepreneurs, communities, and individuals that want to build or enhance their online presence. For Irish businesses that sell online, .ie represents authenticity and trustworthiness, factors that are hugely important for e-commerce and consumers’ peace of mind. For individuals, a .ie domain has benefits over a social media presence, particularly in terms of control over content and reach, which many social networks restrict as they continue to change their algorithms.
Positive increases in domain resales indicate a growing global recognition of the intrinsic value of the .ie brand, while the long-term growth in .ie domain registrations from Great Britain suggests that more British businesses are securing their online assets in Ireland ahead of any potential Brexit-related migration.”

Other .ie facts…

– 39.3% of .ie websites had SSL (security) certificates at the end of H1 2019, a 58.5% increase year-on-year. Google now downgrades search results for websites without SSL certs.
– 39 .ie domain names have a fada, a 39% increase year-on-year.
– .ie domains for sale for over €50,000: sl.ie, baby.ie, sunhotels.ie, billionaire.ie, and blockchain.ie.
– Deleted or expired .ie domains available for purchase: 1922.ie, Sk8.ie, P45.ie, SlowCooker.ie, FiveMinutesofHeaven.ie, Flog.ie, and ShoppingIreland.ie.
– The five most visited .ie domains: Google.ie, Donedeal.ie, Daft.ie, Independent.ie and RTE.ie.
– The busiest day ever for new .ie registrations: 699 new .ie domains were registered on 21 March 2018, the day .ie liberalisation was implemented.

For full report visit ‘IE Domain Profile Report’

ENDS

IE Domain Registry Annual Report and Review 2018

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Liberalisation of .ie registration rules and strong marketing campaigns drive 8.3% increase in IE Domain Registry turnover.

IE Domain Registry turnover increased from €3.06 million in 2017 to €3.32 million in 2018.

– The company experienced a 60% increase in year-on-year net growth of the .ie domain registry
– In 2018, IE Domain Registry spent over €200k on customer services and digital advocacy for Ireland’s micro-businesses and SMEs
– 2018 was a year of policy development: Alternative Dispute Resolution Process developed and refined, liberalisation launched, GDPR implemented
– David Curtin, CEO: “Liberalisation of .ie domain registration rules has made it easier and faster for citizens and business owners to have an Irish online identity, connect with their communities and sell to local and international markets.”

IE Domain Registry, the company that administers and manages the .ie country domain, reported strong financial results today in its 2018 annual report.
Turnover increased by 8.3% from €3.06 million in 2017 to €3.32 million in 2018. Net growth in .ie domain registrations increased by 60%. IE Domain Registry recorded an operating profit of €147k (2017- €186k) and ended the year in a strong financial position with €3.9m in Members’ Funds. As a company limited by guarantee, it must rely on its own financial reserves as its only source of capital.
IE Domain Registry’s overall financial position remained solid in 2018, with an expansion of its role as a digital advocate for Ireland’s micro-businesses and SMEs.

Key achievements
.IE GROWTH
• IE Domain Registry saw exceptional growth in domain registrations in 2018, with 51,040 new domains registered, an increase of 29.1% YoY (2017- 39,523).
• The total .ie domain database recorded 259,815 active domains by the end of 2018, up 10% on the previous year.
• This buoyant performance was generated by marketing and promotional activity of the company’s accredited Registrar community, particularly around the time of the liberalisation of the registration rules.
• The company’s liberalisation policy, implemented in March 2018, makes it easier and faster for citizens and business owners to register a .ie domain. The change has facilitated a significant expansion of the .ie namespace.
• Following a year of preparatory work, IE Domain Registry implemented changes to ensure compliance with the new GDPR regulation in May 2018.

RESEARCH AND OUTREACH
• The company published a single edition of its flagship research, the SME Digital Health Index, which analyses and measures the digital health of Irish SMEs. This was the first year of the report in its new, annualised format, which surveyed 1,000 SMEs rather than 500 twice yearly as per previous reports.
• IE Domain Registry launched the ‘Digital Town’ initiative in 2018 to celebrate and highlight the knowledge, use and understanding of the internet among citizens, businesses and communities. Gorey, Co Wexford was selected as the 2018 Digital Town.
• As part of Digital Town, local and national business experts provided free advice and digital demonstrations to Gorey’s business owners, community groups and citizens on all matters digital, including general digital skills, e-commerce, website development and mobile video.
• 2018 also marked the eighth year of IE Domain Registry’s OPTIMISE programme. As part of the programme’s sector-based approach, the company partnered with the Design & Crafts Council (DCCoI), Retail Excellence and the Irish Hardware Association to develop the digital presence and e-commerce potential of 40 SMEs in the design and craft, hardware and retail pharmacy sectors.

FUTURE OUTLOOK
• The work of the IE Domain Registry’s Policy Advisory Committee will continue in 2019. The alternative dispute resolution policy, announced in May and launched in July this year, will provide an easier and more affordable service for citizens and small business owners who wish to contest ownership of an .ie domain.
• Internationally, IE Domain Registry continues to respond to developments impacting ccTLD registries, in particular EU regulations on the Digital Single Market and the recent expansion of the global namespace by 1,212 new gTLD competitors (with 27 million domains under management) by the end of 2018.

COMMENT
David Curtin, Chief Executive of IE Domain Registry, said:
“IE Domain Registry is in robust financial health. With ongoing emphasis in 2018 on strategic execution, the management team was particularly successful in achieving net growth of the .ie registry, continuous improvement in customer services, and a strengthening of the company’s role as a digital advocate for Ireland’s micro-businesses and SMEs, through its research, events and direct funding initiatives.
“2018 was an exceptional growth year for the company, with 51,040 new registrations, a 29.1% increase when compared to the same period in 2017. This growth has been powered by the liberalisation of .ie domain registration rules, a change implemented in March 2018. It’s now easier and faster for citizens and business owners to get an .ie domain, connect with their communities, and sell to local and international markets.
“Accredited Registrars are essential partners in promoting and marketing .ie. The exceptional growth in 2018 is due to their energy and commitment to grow and develop the .ie namespace as an online identity for Irish business, residents and citizens.
“Through research like the SME Digital Health Index, initiatives like Digital Town, and direct funding through the OPTIMISE programme, IE Domain Registry continued its work in 2018 to promote excellence in SMEs’ use of websites and e-commerce, and greater uptake of digital technology in general.
“Our Policy Advisory Committee is continuing its work this year. The alternative dispute resolution policy will provide an easier and more affordable online service for citizens and small business owners to contest .ie domain ownership through a ‘Fair Play and a Fair Hearing’ system. Other policy initiatives will be undertaken, with the objective of improving cybersecurity for the .ie namespace and developing this digital national resource.”
ENDS

Read the full IE Domain Registry 2018 annual report.

Read the full IE Domain Registry 2018 ‘Annual Report’

Great .IE and .COM Domain Name Offers for May & June ’19…

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Due to the success of our .ie domain pricing in April we’ve now extended the pricing for May and June, so you can still get that .ie domain you’ve always wanted for just €4.95 plus vat.

There’s even more good news as now we’re offering .com domain names also for €4.95 plus vat. So now you can get either a .ie domain or a .com domain and SAVE€€€!

Why not protect your valuable brand and get both, ensure no one else uses your unique trading name or brand. In fact you could even include Europe with a .EU domain name and get even more protection.

Just think, a .ie, .com and .eu domain all for just €11.85 plus vat! Beat that!

So go on, get your perfect ‘Domain Names!’

For more domain name offers visit ‘Offers.Domains’

*Subject to availability and Registrar registration rules.

WordPress and Litespeed – the Perfect Partnership!

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Faster WordPress performance with Hosting Ireland & LiteSpeed

Here at Hosting Ireland, we definitely understand our customers have a need for speed. That’s why we invest in the best hardware and software technology to make sure the websites we host can work as fast as possible.

Hosting Ireland provides LiteSpeed for free to our customers when they purchase one of our optimised WordPress hosting packages and we’ed like to tell you a little more about Litespeed and how it improves your WordPress installation.

Our WordPress packages are hosted on servers running the lightweight and efficient LiteSpeed webserver. Built by LiteSpeed themselves, the LSCache plugin for WordPress is tightly integrated with the web server which enables significant performance improvements by caching at the web server layer.

Optimised WordPress hosting is a great choice for your WordPress installation…

The great thing about WordPress hosting is that it allows you to get your website up and running very quickly, and you should be able to get a great looking site even with no prior experience, and definitely without needing to do any coding.
As you get more experience and delve a little deeper into the inner workings of WordPress, you can use your knowledge to extend and improve your site, it’s one of those things where your site can grow with you and your business.
If you’re just getting started with website technology, WordPress makes it easy to do all kinds of things. Even normally complex things like e-commerce can be simply achieved using WordPress plug-ins. This saves you time, money, and ultimately problems.

How LiteSpeed does its job…

LiteSpeed works by indexing and caching the content of your WordPress site and providing faster access to the most needed resource assets. By serving content locally, from your own server, you’ll get a huge reliability boost and because you’re using the LiteSpeed cache, it will most likely result in a speed increase as well.

What you need to put LiteSpeed to work for you…

Actually all you need is one of our WordPress hosting packages (Standard, Premium or Developer), and there’s absolutely no effort required on your part. When you setup your WordPress site Litespeed will be there ready to go. It’s a hassle-free and simple system that works tirelessly in the background keeping your site loading optimally.

LiteSpeed Cache for WordPress is unprecedented power for sites…

Every WordPress site that uses the LiteSpeed Cache plug-in to communicate with the LiteSpeed Web Server (LWS) will notice dramatic improvement in page loading times.
More than half a million sites are already using this technology to improve the performance of their web pages and the experience of their site visitors.

Automates tedious chores and keeps your site primed…

One of the best things about LiteSpeed for WordPress is that it has so much automation bundled into it. Tasks that you would normally need to spend a lot of time on can now be handled for you automatically, freeing you to do more important things with your time.
It can, for example, automatically minify all your HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other text based server assets. This can be turned on or off, according to your preferences, but this can squeeze out that last drop of performance to push your PageSpeed score from 99 to 100.
Another really interesting feature is that it can consolidate all your JavaScript and CSS files. This can provide an advantage by reducing the total number of individual HTTP requests made, and also helps avoid code duplication. It’s just a small boost, but it can make a big difference in the overall score of your site, potentially affecting your page rank in a positive way.
Even though you should do your best to optimise your images manually before uploading them to the server, LiteSpeed for WordPress will also automatically check your images and apply any necessary additional optimisation that may be possible to eke out.

Pushing the edge of the speed limit and beyond…

LiteSpeed is already helping make websites among the fastest on the Web, and it’s only going to be getting better as time goes by.
Right now, LiteSpeed uses a technology called HTTP/2 Push to predict what the browser needs and get things ready to serve up before the browser requests them. HTTP/3 will be taking this to the next level, and that’s going to be happening very soon.

Try any WordPress hosting package from as little as €3.95 plus vat per month, if you’re not entirely happy within the first 30 days we’ll give you your money back! That’s our promise…

For more information see our range of WordPress Hosting packages.

New .ie domain registrations jump almost 30% in 2018 following registration rule change…

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Latest .ie Domain Profile Report reveals insights into make-up of .ie database, including growth of regional .ie registrations, the oldest .ie domains, and the most expensive

51,040 new .ie domains registered in 2018, up +29% on 2017; the total .ie database increased to 262,140, up +10%

Border, Midlands and West region counties, such as Roscommon and Laois, recorded significant growth in new .ie registrations, with Leitrim recording highest percentage growth overall (+65.5% YoY)

28% of all new .ie registrations in 2018 were by individuals, suggesting the growing popularity of .ie for personal branding purposes

New .ie registrations from Great Britain increased by +28% in 2018, possibly indicating a Brexit-related migration of business to Ireland

‘Ireland’, ‘design’ and ‘care’ are some of the most frequently used words in .ie domain names in the database

IE Domain Registry CEO: “The .ie brand remains distinct on the local and world stages… In an era where people’s trust in the online world is more important than ever, that reliability is crucial.”

51,040 new .ie domains were registered in 2018, up +29% on 2017, according to the latest .ie Domain Profile Report, published today by IE Domain Registry, the company that manages Ireland’s country domain, .ie.

The total .ie domain database recorded 262,140 active domains at the end of 2018, up +10% on the previous year. Net growth for 2018, which measures .ie additions and deletions, was up +60% on 2017.

IE Domain Registry attributes the large year-on-year growth to the registration rule change implemented in March last year. It is now easier and faster to register a .ie domain. Applicants only need to provide one document to prove identity and a connection to Ireland; this ensures the .ie namespace remains authentically Irish. Returning customers do not need to re-submit any documents and can avail of a new ‘FastPass’ system.

The .ie Domain Profile Report – key findings

Key Facts


81% of all .ie domains in the total database are owned by businesses or the self-employed, indicating a national understanding of the value of digital business and marketing.

In many Border, Midlands and West region counties, new .ie domain registration growth was higher than in Dublin. Leitrim recorded the highest overall YoY percentage growth in the country (+65.5%). Laois experienced growth of +43% and Roscommon +33%.

In 2018, 28% of all .ie domains were registered by individuals, up +120% on the previous year. This suggests a positive impact of the relaxation of .ie registration rules to allow nicknames and geographical names, along with the rising popularity of .ie for personal branding purposes.

There was a +59% increase in the number of .ie domain names registered by international users (3,439). Interestingly, the number of .ie domain names registered from Britain increased by +28%. This may suggest that some British-based companies are looking to Ireland in an era of Brexit uncertainty.

Dublin registered the lion’s share of new .ie domains in 2018 (20,353, or 43%), followed by Cork and Galway.

‘Ireland’, ‘design’ and ‘care’ are some of the most frequently used words in .ie domain names in the database.

Some of the earliest .ie pioneers have had their .ie domains for more than 20 years: they include tipperary-water.ie and esb.ie.

Some .ie domains command a high price: music.ie, baby.ie, creation.ie, files.ie, and internet.ie are all for sale for €50,000.

The number of .ie websites with SSL security certificates increased by +37.9% quarter-on-quarter (Q3 vs Q2 2018) after Google Chrome introduced a new feature that warns users about potentially unsafe sites.

Comment:

David Curtin, Chief Executive of IE Domain Registry, said:

“2018 was a record-breaking year for .ie, and much of that success is owed to the registration rule change. In short, the change has worked, and last year’s figures bear that out. We’ve made it easier and faster for people and organisations to register a .ie domain while still maintaining the most integral aspect of the brand—the need to prove a connection to the island of Ireland.
“Last year, we achieved net growth of 60 percent, powered by a surge of registrations at home and abroad. Businesses and the self-employed continue to use their .ie websites to reach out and sell to new customers, and now increasingly individuals are registering their own .ie domain to secure, develop and build their own personal brand.
“Importantly, much of .ie’s growth is happening outside of Dublin, including the Border, Midlands and West region. There, many counties actually achieved higher overall growth in .ie registrations than the capital. As many of these .ie domains are registered by businesses, this upwards trend is also a good indicator of regional economic growth.
“The .ie brand remains distinct on the local and world stages. It is a managed space that is identifiably, authentically Irish. In an era where people’s trust in the online world is more important than ever, that reliability is crucial.”

ENDS

*All data refers to period up to 31 December 2018.
For further information, download the full .ie Domain Profile Report 2018.