the domain
The .eu domain name extension is available to half a billion Europeans in 27 countries – so who is using it?
Plenty are it seems – current statistics show 3.24 million active .eu name registrations. The country with the largest number of .eu registrants is Germany, with nearly 1 million registrations. Next is the Netherlands with 424,000 active registrations, followed by the United Kingdom with just over 316,000.
The total number of registrations at the end of Q1 2010 represented an increase of 6.8%, or 207 266 registrations compared to the total number at the end of Q1 2009.
During the first quarter of this year, 20 722 domains out of 3.25 million were traded (changed hands), approximately one domain out of 157.
A brief history of the .eu domain extension
The European Council began discussing a single top-level domain for Europe in 1999. EURid, the European Registry of Internet Domain Names, has been managing the .eu top-level Internet domain under contract to the European Commission since May 2003. The extension was added to the Domain Name System in March 2005 and general registrations began in April 2006. EURid now has approximately 900 accredited registrars throughout the world.
As is the case with some countries, such as Australian domains only being available to residents or organizations with an established presence in Australia, only individuals and organizations residing within the European Union are eligible for a .eu name.
Even as a resident, certain .eu domain names have been reserved for use by EU Member States, candidate countries, members of the European Economic Area and European Union institutions and cannot be registered by other parties.
What is a Domain Name? Your domain name is your web address. Just as we have street addresses for our home, domain names are addresses for our websites. This is the identity of your website, its home, its place to live on the web so to speak.
In order for someone to find your business on the web, you need to have a domain name. Buying a name is not hard to do. All you have to do is pick the right name for your company keeping in mind that buying a domain name requires much forethought. Buying domains can help your business growth but can also kill your business if you don’t buy the right name that reflects the product or criteria of your companies needs. Buying domain names is quite easy if you follow a few simple rules of thumb. By making sure you do your research, use good judgment that the domain name will identify with your business, you will have a successful domain.
One of the first things to do when you check into buying a domain name is to find out how much the domain name is going to cost or how much it will cost to register a domain name you already have in mind. You should be able to successfully register your domain name for $10 and under per year. You can register your domain for as long as you see fit, but it is always advisable to make a long term commitment and buy a domain name for at least 5 years.
I would suggest only buying that consists of letters even though numbers and hyphens are allowed. By using more characters, a mixture of letters, numbers and hyphens, you make your domain to become hard to remember. Thus, you may possibly be pointing potential clients to competitors with similar domain names. You are allowed up to 67 characters when buying domain names, but you really should keep it short. The shorter the domain name, the easier to remember.
One other way to buy domain names is to resell it in future. Not always are you buying a domain name to benefit your company, you may want to check into buying domains to resell and make a profit.
Here are a couple tips for buying cheap names for resell:
1. Research before registering the domain name
2. Look to buy names that are going to be easily related to markets that you can turn around and sell easily
3. Make sure that any domain name that you buy is free of trademark infringements
4. Once you buy the domain name, make sure that it is marketed and registered
5. Make your domain name stand out
6. Resell your domain name once it has been appraised
Either way, regardless of whether you are buying a domain name to promote your business or if you are trying to make a business buying and selling names, most rules apply to both. You need to do your research before you buy any domain name for whatever reason. Make sure that the name you choose is going to benefit the need. Keep in mind that most companies that sell names also provide other services as well, such as web hosting and domain buying. You may have a one stop shop at the click of your finger if you do proper research.