Welsh businesses reap the benefits of .wales and .cymru websites

…Make your website Welsh today for less than the cost of a cup of coffee…

Throughout August and September, highlighting your Welsh identity online through your own website has never been easier and now it’s even more affordable. Nominet, the company behind the Welsh domain names, has teamed up with a number of domain name registrars to offer a special promotional price on all .cymru and .wales domains for first year registration fees. Participating registrars are offering the Welsh domains at special promotional prices – from as little as around £1.20* – and can help individuals and businesses register their Welsh website or email address.

Since the patriotic domain names were launched in 2015 they have been representing Welsh identity, culture and language with more than 20,000 .cymru and .wales domains registered to date. High renewal rates of around 85% per cent are testament to people’s eagerness to keep a .cymru or .wales domain as key part of their online identity.

Some of Wales’ most established companies have chosen to fly the Welsh flag online, including Arriva Trains Wales, The Federation of Small Businesses, Welsh Rugby Union, Welsh Government, Sport Wales, The Football Association of Wales, and now also, Penderyn Distillery. As a result, many have celebrated an increase in visitor engagement and an improvement in website traffic.

Stephen Davies, Chief Executive of Penderyn Distillery, spoke of the decision behind adopting a .wales domain for their website and said that it stems from Penderyn’s heritage: “It’s all about producing world class spirits. To do that, you have to tell a great authentic story. We talk about Wales when we talk about Penderyn. We talk about myths and legends of Wales; about the history and the rich culture we have. We have a great spirit. Having a .wales domain is an extension of this. In Wales, we want everyone to know that we are a proud Welsh company and we want to appeal to people in Wales and around the globe. But the message has got to have international reach. Having a .wales presence online helps to convey where we are from. Being in Wales is a really important part of that story for us.”

.cymru and .wales are in the European Top 10* domain names, highlighting the rising presence of Wales online, with London and Berlin taking the two top spots. With less than 21%* of Wales’ population speaking Welsh, maintaining and highlighting Welsh provenance can broaden awareness of the Welsh identity of both the business and language.

Helen Tomes, Director of Marketing and Service Delivery at Nominet, who runs the .cymru / .wales domains, said: “There are many benefits of being online such as increased brand awareness and securing new business. Word of mouth and recommendations are great, but increasingly potential clients want to ‘try before they buy’ and in many circumstances this means having a look at your website as part of their decision-making process. For those businesses who want to underline their Welsh connection or heritage, having a .cymru or .wales domain name is the perfect way to demonstrate their Welsh provenance to the world.”

Businesses that wish to let their market know where they are based and that they are proud to be Welsh and are considering adopting a .cymru and .wales domain, should visit ourhomeonline.wales/promotion and eincartrefarlein.cymru/cynnig to take advantage of this special promotion.

Notes to Editors:

• Further information please contact Lydia Jones 029 2045 5182 [email protected] or Hayley Betteridge on [email protected]

• Video testimonial available to view from Penderyn

About the offer

*The Welsh domains .cymru and .wales were launched by the First Minister of Wales on March 1st 2015. The domains have provided an opportunity to choose an online home that represents the Welsh people, identity and language. Participating registrars are offering each domain from as little as £1 + VAT each for the first year of registration. The domains are usually priced from £10.99 for the first year.

*Source: Data analysis undertaken by Nominet on 30th June 2017. Using data taken from nTLDstats, Nominet undertook an analysis of the number of registrations of the top 10 European geographical domains.

Rank and gTLD:

1 .london | 2 .berlin | 3 .Moscow (combined) | 4 .bayern | 5 .Cologne (combined) | 6 .amsterdam | 7 .hamburg | 8 .paris | 9 .wales .cymru (combined) | 10 .wien