In the world of domains, there is a very small but very powerful subset of domains that is important and rising in numbers. It is extremely important because if this subset that we will talk about, is used well, it can have a huge impact on your business when it comes to online presence and marketing.
We are talking about ccTLDs, short for country code Top Level Domains. If you want to talk about this term, ccTLD, it is a version of Top-Level Domains but with a twist and flavour of a country. Allow us to explain.
As you all know, a domain is an address in nature and a domain name is the address of your brand’s website which when searched for, takes you to the website one intends to look for. With a domain that has a country code, the benefit of having an address of your country is emphasized in the name of website, rather the domain name, itself.
For instance, let us take this domain name – www.bookyourshelf.in (only used as an example and not a real site or business we are promoting). This example is that of an online bookstore which deliver books to your doorstep. But it has a .IN domain in the ending which is the ccTLD of India. With this, the consumers can understand that this website belongs to India and they are doing business or about to do so with the Indian end of the business (if at all they have branches in other countries).
In essence, a ccTLD displays the nation in which a website is registered for both users and search engines, after registering a domain name. This extension represents a dependent territory or in most cases a sovereign state in addition to a nation where this location is located.
Business of all shapes and sizes utilize the ccTLD as a strategy to brand their business in the country they want to do business in. Though a .COM could be their mainstay, the usage of ccTLDs has several benefits with respect to international branding as well as SEO that can be a potential magnet in attracting the right customers. So, as a business or an entity connected to the world of online business and marketing, this article will seek to full fill your thirst for understanding the meaning of ccTLD, ccTLD domains and its uses and benefits. In case you want to know more, please keep reading as you are.
ccTLD: A clinical definition
A country-specific top-level domain (ccTLD) designates the website’s nation or location. Internet visitors may learn the location of the entity behind a website with the use of these “country code” TLDs.
TLDs are an essential aspect of a company’s identification because they make up a significant portion of its URL. A business may wish to get a website with a ccTLD if it wanted to dress up its URL in a way other than “.COM.” If you are still wanting to know how different a TLD is from any ccTLD, you can read about the same here.
ccTLDs help consumers find and navigate to information more easily by personalising and localising content that could otherwise be overlooked and making it simpler for search engines to cache. While some nations do not let companies based outside of their borders to use their ccTLDs, some are highly prized for artistic purposes—for example, spelling out a phrase rather than ending with .COM
This makes us wonder in what cases and situations can the ccTLD be leveraged?
ccTLD: A use case scenario
1.Allowing access to the same content in several languages and nations
Choosing a ccTLD that points to one of its main commercial locations might help a multinational corporation localise its online presence, whether formally or informally. For instance, an American business that conducts a lot of business in India would probably want to have both an English-language website ending in.com and a Hindi-language one with a URL ending in.in. The other scenario is as valid: an Indian business looking to grow into the UK may target a domain ending in.co.uk, or even.eu for the European Union.
2.Limiting access of a website’s content to a particular nation or region
Let’s say a business that speaks English wants to promote itself and its ideas to the Spanish-speaking market, especially in Spain. That business may purchase a .ES ccTLD and utilise that domain name to build a dedicated website with content tailored to the needs of Spanish-speaking users. When it comes to building an audience and promoting a message, doing this shows a desire to meet people where they are.
3.To serve a brand’s style or to spell a name
It is an exception, but mind you, some countries allow some brands and companies to utilize their ccTLDs. Why would someone wish to take this action? Let’s say a big shoe retailer wants to buy www.sho.es to use as its new, extremely memorable website address. In theory, it might be able to buy these vanity URLs without really being associated with the nation to which the ccTLD belongs, but remember this- international regulations differ.
Benefits of using ccTLDs
1.Targets your audience specifically
There is no rule that says a business in China has to use the.CN ccTLD. If you want to attract people from a particular country, you can use other ccTLDs as well that are relevant to that country. In this case, if you want to work with Africa, you should use their domain name with their country code. Let’s say you run an online site, an online store, or some other kind of service for people in another country as part of a foreign business. You can reach people in Armenia even if you’re not there by using the.AM ccTLD.
2.Builds loyalty and trust among audiences of that geography
Like we said before, ccTLDs make people loyal to local businesses. You don’t have to live in that country to sign up for a ccTLD. But if you use a ccTLD, it will target your local areas. As was already said, websites with their own local ccTLDs are getting more trust and confidence from local markets.
3.It gives you a lot of room to be creative
With a few smart moves, the ccTLD can be used in a very clever and unique way. The ccTLD for Belgium is.BE, which is used in the website subscri.be. Or, Armenia’s ccTLD.am is used in the website “eli.am uzum,” which means “I want more.” This is great for your marketing because if you only have a .COM domain, your service won’t stand out as much. But with the ccTLD, you can come up with something special like food.ie or beach.es to get more people and make a great first impression. Instagram.com might have been instagr.am if it had been using an Armenian ccTLD.
4.More people can use ccTLDs than.COM
In case you want to get a domain name, picking a ccTLD can be a good choice if you wanted a .COM extension but the domain name you wanted wasn’t available.
With more than 150 million domain names registered till now, a .COM is generally a domain that people choose when they register. But because it’s so popular, there aren’t many of them available. If you want to keep a professional image and still have a good choice of domain names, a ccTLD is a good choice.
5.ccTLDs are SEO friendly
By using a ccTLD, you are informing Google that your company is focused on the specific nation to which that extension is issued. Google looks at the ccTLD of your website because it signals to search engines that your site is specifically meant for a certain nation and helps them pick the ideal target audience for a page.
By employing ccTLDs, you may focus the content of your website to a particular market and country without relying on geotargeting—a tactic that is often helpful for websites using gTLDs that are unaffiliated with any one nation.
6.ccTLDs are shorter than many TLD extensions
As previously said, ccTLDs are the smallest domain extensions available because they are just two letters long! This might be a huge benefit, especially if you don’t want to link a lengthier TLD with your brand name since it is quite lengthy.
Customers and visitors will find it easier to remember and to put on business cards if your website URL is brief!
In the end
We would like to say just one thing. With a ccTLD domain you have the liberty to still go for a .COM domain and have a ccTLD domain name that can be in tandem. It can only strengthen your website’s domain authority and also give particular country’s customers the understanding that the brand is aligned to their problems and needs.
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