By Business & Finance 
The .ie domain is the preferred online address for businesses in Ireland. It is the only online address that is 100% Irish, and enables you to reach out to local and international audiences to sell your products and services online 24/7.
IE Domain Registry is the national registry for .ie domain names. It is responsible for the management of Ireland’s official internet domain, .ie. IE Domain Registry began in UCD in 1991, and was spun out in 2000 after quickly growing during the boom years of the dotcom era.
David Curtin, CEO IE Domain Registry, notes that there are now 280,000 .ie domain names, with 2018 being the most successful year to date, with more than 50,000 new .ie domain registrations.
Having a .ie website address marks out a website or business as identifiably Irish. This allows businesses communicate to local consumers that you or your company are based in Ireland, and also on a global basis, given the goodwill towards ‘Brand Ireland’ and the excellent reputation of Irish businesses on the world stage.
IE Domain Registry checks and validates every .ie applicant’s identity and connection to Ireland which ensures that .ie is a trusted domain.
Optimising online trading
Research by IE Domain Registry shows that SMEs and micro businesses with e-commerce capability remain in the minority, despite consumers’ appetite for online shopping growing.
IE Domain Registry launched its Optimise Programme in 2011, to assist and empower small businesses in creating e-commerce websites. Over the last seven years, IE Domain Registry has worked with 170 SMEs to plan, develop and implement significant web enhancements and e-commerce capabilities to their existing websites. It has been hugely successful in helping business owners implement online strategies and achieve their goals by professionalising their offering to compete with the likes of Amazon.
In 2017, the programme was revamped, taking a sectoral approach, helping selected enterprises from a particular sector on their digital journeys. Each participant on the programme undergoes a focussed digital healthcheck. It measures the performance of a participants business under the headings of Branding; Design; UX Usability; Content; E-commerce; Coding; Mobile; SEO/AdWords; Social Media and Email Marketing. A detailed report is provided outlining recommendations, so that participants have a roadmap for improving their online presence and e-commerce capability. They are given access to the LEO Trading Online voucher scheme, which offers financial assistance of up to €2,500, with training and advice to help small business trade online.
For more information, visit www.iedr.ie
