More Irish SMEs to go .CO with Getting Businesses Online program

Getting Business Online, the industry initiative being supported by Blacknight and Google, to get Irish SMEs online has decided to Go .CO, the organisers announced today.

Irish domain registration and hosting company, Blacknight, who support the Getting Business Online program along with Google, An Post and the County & City Enterprise Boards, says the addition of .CO domains to the program will provide Irish businesses, that have not yet established an on online presence, with a memorable international domain.

The international .CO domain has become synonymous with start-ups and entrepreneurs in the two years since the domain was opened to international users.

The .CO domain will replace the .IE domain on the program (although .IE domains will still be available to register) to simplify the registration processes for new businesses.  Registering a .IE domain requires additional documentation, which can delay the process of setting up new websites.

Describing .CO as the “go to” domain for start-ups Blacknight’s CEO, Michele Neylon, said it was the “natural evolution of the program.”

“We want to offer our clients a global solution and give them every advantage we can provide. When we re-evaluated the program to look for ways to be even more helpful to small Irish businesses, adding .CO domains was a no-brainer. Unfortunately, while we may be the market leader for .IE, we feel that the restrictions on the domain impose too many restraints to benefit program participants.”

Since it launched in May 2011 the Getting Businesses Online program has brought thousands of Irish businesses online.  The program is designed to help local businesses create free websites to expand their potential audience and customer base.