Looking for a way to show the people of Wales your business is the one for them? Or are you looking for a way to show the world you’re proud of your Welsh heritage? Or do you just want to create a website that expresses your love for Wales?
If you find yourself answering yes to any of these questions, then the .cymru and .wales domain extensions could be just what you’re looking for. (And read on to discover how you could snap up a .wales or .cymru domain for as little as 99p.)
Not sure what a domain extension is? It’s the bit that comes at the end of a website’s address, so it’s the “.co.uk” in “123-reg.co.uk”.
And just like the .co.uk lets people know that 123 Reg is associated with the UK, the .cymru and .wales domains can let people know that you and/or your business are associated with wales.
The .cymru and .wales extensions were launched back in 2015 and they’ve proved a hit, with over 21,000 domain names registered using the extensions so far.
And the extensions have proved popular among some big hitters, with the Football Association of Wales and the Welsh government using the .cymru and .wales extensions respectively.
It just goes to show that if you opt for a .cymru or a .wales domain you’ll be in excellent company.
So how do you go about getting a domain using one of the Welsh extensions?
Well, the process is relatively straightforward – you’ll need to register your chosen domain name with a domain registrar such as 123 Reg.
But first, you’ll need to make sure that the name you want is available, you can do this by conducting a domain name search.
On the 123 Reg domain search page, you can simply enter your chosen name followed by your chosen extension, eg “example.wales”.
You might find that the name you want isn’t available for your chosen domain extension, you can either try searching for a different name or, if you’re absolutely set on a particular name, you can see if that name is available to buy in the domain aftermarket. (Note: Domain names available in the domain aftermarket tend to sell at a significantly higher price than standard registration, so you could end up paying hundreds or thousands of pounds to secure the domain you want. Bear this in mind when choosing your domain.)
You’ll also need to make sure that your chosen domain name isn’t in breach of anyone’s intellectual property (meaning trademarks and such like). You can run a trademark search for the UK here.
Once you’ve found a domain name you like, it’s a simple case of adding it to your basket and checking out.
Plus, you can currently register .wales and .cymru domains with 123 Reg for just 99p (+VAT if applicable) for the first year. (All prices correct at time of writing.)