More than one in six Irish SMEs lose their domain names before registering their companies and 68pc of small business owners in Ireland fail to register their domain names prior to launching their businesses, a new survey by domain name registrar Register365 suggests.
What’s more, 16pc of Irish SMEs who have lost their domain names have had to settle for names not even related to their companies!
When it comes to social media, 32pc of Irish SMEs have registered their company’s name with Facebook and Twitter, but 44pc admitted they have registered with neither.
Sally Tomkotowicz, customer acquisition marketing manager for Register365, suggests small business owners in Ireland cannot afford to wait months to register their companies’ names.
“Irish business owners need to realise how important their domain name is to the success of their business,” Tomkotowicz said.
“With so much of today’s business conducted online, your domain name is as important now as your telephone number, so it is a significant oversight not to check for this first. Customers and potential customers will search for your website address every day, so not owning the domain could become a real issue.”
31pc of Irish SMEs register domain names prior to business launch
The survey did reveal some positive findings, however. Thirty-one per cent of Irish SMEs surveyed did register their domain names prior to establishing their businesses, with 25pc of businesses stating they built their websites before launching their businesses.
Thirty-five per cent of small businesses even registered multiple domain names to protect their company’s name or expand their business.
Tomkotowicz added that businesses need to look at their online profiles to gain competitive advantage wherever they can, ensuring they own their company name in as many domain names and on as many social media platforms as they can.
“This report reveals that a quarter of SMEs surveyed are taking big chances with their brand identity – waiting months after they’ve registered their company name to find out if their can get their name as a .ie or .com and many taking even longer to design and launch their final website,” Tomkotowicz said.
“I can’t impress upon businesses how important it is to take ownership of your company name before it’s too late.”
