.ie domain name/hosting enquiry pls...

justagirl

I want to register a .ie web domain. I have not registered a company name yet with the CRO, I haven't started the company yet and simply wish to 'hold' the domain name until I've got my act together/website all ready etc.....

1. Firstly, anyone got any recommendations from which co I should buy the domain from?
2. Should I use that same company to host the website?
3. Do I have to register the company name with the CRO before I buy the domain name?

Apologies if this is posted in wrong section .... any help/advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.:)

the Guru

1. Firstly, anyone got any recommendations from which co I should buy the domain from?

I have used Blacknight.ie for the .ie's I have purchased, they're very helpful and supply you with all the info you need.

2. Should I use that same company to host the website?

You dont have to, but its nice to having billing all with one supplier

3. Do I have to register the company name with the CRO before I buy the domain name?

yes

mneylon

If you aren't quite ready to form a limited company you can always register a business name, which is a lot simpler and easier (via the CRO again)

justagirl

Thank you The Guru - much appreciated.

blacknight wrote:

If you aren't quite ready to form a limited company you can always register a business name, which is a lot simpler and easier (via the CRO again)

- thank for that blacknight... I've checked out the CRO Website and see that I can register a business name (online, sign it and post it off) for 20€ - is this the method you are talking about?.. ... Thank you......

Also - are there any negatives on registering .ie -v- a .com apart from having to supply the company registration number before you can get the .ie domain?.. Thanks guys.:)

JoeTurner

justagirl wrote:

I've checked out the CRO Website and see that I can register a business name (online, sign it and post it off) for 20€ - is this the method you are talking about?.. ... Thank you......

Yep - thats the one.... just bear in mind you'll have different obligations depending on whether you go for a sole trader versus limited company set up. Think ahead to paying yourself salary, taxation differences etc before you set up. Sole trader is the easiest to set up though

justagirl wrote:

Also - are there any negatives on registering .ie -v- a .com apart from having to supply the company registration number before you can get the .ie domain?.. Thanks guys.:)

Cost is the big negative - .ie can be €70 per annum whereas a .com can be as cheap as €9 per annum. All tax deductible though.....

Joe

justagirl

Thank you Joe - that is all very helpful ...... .. ...

mneylon

justagirl wrote:

Also - are there any negatives on registering .ie -v- a .com apart from having to supply the company registration number before you can get the .ie domain?.. Thanks guys.:)

You'll have more choice with IE domains as there are still only a small number registered when you compare it to .com

justagirl

I'm finding that out now Blacknight as I keep checking what names are available!!!!! arrrgh.... by the time I think of and then register a name with the CRO, the domain name I want will probably be gone!!!!!!:(

CoNfOuNd

Have a look at this site on the pros and cons (.ie vs .com):

http://www.dceb.ie/opencontent/default.asp?itemId=263

justagirl

Txs for that info CoNfOuNd .. its certainly food for thought ... ..maybe .ie is the way to go if you want 'assumed' credibility !!!........ ...:D

steve-hosting36

You can register the .ie at the providers site and then have 45 days to provide the backup documentation (so your domain doesnt get nabbed while you do the paperwork).

HTH, Stephen

justagirl

steve-hosting36 wrote:

You can register the .ie at the providers site and then have 45 days to provide the backup documentation (so your domain doesnt get nabbed while you do the paperwork).

HTH, Stephen

Stephen - I didn't know that ... thats good news alright ... think I saw on some website that it takes about 2 weeks for the CRO to issue you with a reg no once they receive your application... so that would work out ok... good news... now I just have to get a name.:rolleyes: ............!!!! thanks.

CoNfOuNd

It sounds like you are pretty certain on getting an .ie

It's always recommended, especially if you are setting up a company that will market mainly to Ireland, or that you want to have an Irish identity.

Good luck with your business.

jmcc

justagirl wrote:

1. Firstly, anyone got any recommendations from which co I should buy the domain from?

Hosting365, Blacknight Solutions, Novara are the three main market leaders. but there are other hosters (Irishdomains, Digiweb, Letshost etc) down the foodchain. You should see what your requirements are first before making a decision on which hoster to use..

2. Should I use that same company to host the website?

Yes. Keep things as simple as possible.

3. Do I have to register the company name with the CRO before I buy the domain name?

Others have answered this question. However you should also register the com/net/org and eu version of the domain if they are available. You have to think of your domain as being the brand for your business. If you operate mainly in Ireland, the .ie is your priority but it always helps to have the .com for international credibility as more people have heard of .com than of .ie ccTLD.

Regards...jmcc

justagirl

Thank you all for your helpful pointers and advice - all taken on board, I've a bit of research to do and a lot of work to do...Again thanks for your time.

CoNfOuNd

jmcc - I agree with what you said, but from the companies you mention one has their servers in the states. Personally I wouldn't get an Irish domain then host it on a US-based server.

When buying hosting you might also want to consider, do they own Irish-based servers? Do they have Irish support? How quickly will they reply? Is it 24 hours? What is their server uptime (especially for business websites)? Do they provide customer testimonials?

justagirl

CoNfOuNd wrote:

jmcc - I agree with what you said, but from the companies you mention one has their servers in the states. Personally I wouldn't get an Irish domain then host it on a US-based server.

When buying hosting you might also want to consider, do they own Irish-based servers? Do they have Irish support? How quickly will they reply? Is it 24 hours? What is their server uptime (especially for business websites)? Do they provide customer testimonials?

CoNfOuNd ... thanks for the tips, some I wouldn't have thought of:o .. ... I'll check all your points out ... cheers.

jmcc

CoNfOuNd wrote:

jmcc - I agree with what you said, but from the companies you mention one has their servers in the states. Personally I wouldn't get an Irish domain then host it on a US-based server.

It is a close call CoNfOuNd. I know that one of the hosters I listed has US IP space (and quite a few other Irish hosters have non-Irish IP space) but with a .ie domain, the location does not make as much difference as it used to. In the "pages from $country" search, the country code extension (.ie in this case) matters more. However an Irish owned .com website outside of Irish servers will get lost in these results.

When buying hosting you might also want to consider, do they own Irish-based servers? Do they have Irish support? How quickly will they reply? Is it 24 hours? What is their server uptime (especially for business websites)? Do they provide customer testimonials?

Buying Irish makes sense as it is far easier to deal with Irish hosters. The risk with purchasing hosting on small non-Irish hosters is that many of them are just resellers of resellers of a hosting package. The top level Irish hosters generally have their own servers and IP space and are more reliable. Apart from Digiweb.ie, I would not recommend the use of the main ISPs (Eircom.net and BT Ireland) for hosting as they just don't compare feature-wise and value-wise with other Irish hosters.

Regards...jmcc

mneylon

The other thing to bear in mind is the connection speed and latency.

A lot of the bigger Irish based hosts are members of INEX, so latency won't be an issue ie. you should see nice low pings to sites on their networks.

The connection speed, however, is a different matter.

Some of the US based hosts seem to have severely throttled bandwidth, so uploading and downloading files (and I presume email) is painfully slow.

justagirl

guys, i really appreciate all your advice ...I'm going to have to spend a bit of time looking at the issues you have all raised. I'm a complete beginner on this one, out of the 'workforce' for a while so have a steep learning curve ahead of me.... I could be a regular poster here..!.. thanks so much.

steve-hosting36

If you're in Dublin, feel free to visit our facility - we can show you around our datacentre and run through the options with you (no obligation of course).

Stephen

justagirl

steve-hosting36 wrote:

If you're in Dublin, feel free to visit our facility - we can show you around our datacentre and run through the options with you (no obligation of course).

Stephen

Not in Dublin, but near to it.. txs for the offer, v. much appreciated....