Welcome to Find It Friday in which we help you find the answers to your how to blog questions.
The Question
This week Aine Casey asks us the following question:
Would love to know the answer to the question when setting up a website for a company operating in Ireland, is it better to use .COM or .IE
The Answer
If both are available, I would recommending registering both as many people will presume the domain name has a .com ending and may type that in automatically. The .ie will signify that you are an Irish company.
However, do bear in mind that your business may expand and you may wish to target consumers or companies abroad so it is always good to have a .com address if it is available.
As far as I am aware, one will be the principal address so if .ie is the principal one and someone types in .com, it will automatically divert to the .ie address which will demonstrate you are a company operating within Ireland. Check this is done correctly with your web developer so the SEO effects aren’t spread across the two domains.
Some will recommend registering a variety of domain names, for example, registering a .eu domain too.
If the .com of your chosen domain name isn’t available but the .ie is, then by all means register it as a .ie. If someone is googling your business name from Ireland, google should provide the .ie company first in any case. My only qualm is when someone knows the url but presumes it is a .com and comes to the wrong site (I’ve done this with other businesses in the past).
I hope that helps.
Do you have a question on how to blog effectively?
Leave a comment below and we will be happy to help you find the answer.