EURid Releases 2014 Annual report

EURid, the company behind .EU domain extension, has recently published its annual report. The report provides highlights on .EU’s major achievements.

EURid ended the year with 3,907,406 .eu domain names registered. Germany had 1,134,966 .eu domains registered, Netherlands came in second with 504,792 .eu domain names registered, France had 356,178 .eu domains and the United Kingdom came in fourth with 340,002 .EU domain names registered. Poland, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria,Belgium and Spain also had over 100,000 .EU registrations.

The report revealed an average growth of 7,07% per year over the past seven years.The average renewal rate for .Eu domain names was 81,6% , while the number of domain names signed with DNSSEC reached 318,312.

You can see the full report here.

Check out EURODNS here to register your .EU domain name.

Domain Punch Provides New gTLD Domain Drop Service

Domain Punch is now providing a tool to find which new gTLD domains were deleted from the zone files on the previous day.

The domains listed are the domains that were deleted on a single day. It is not the full list of deleted domains. Being present in the list doesn’t mean that the domain is available for registration. It just means that the domain is no longer in the zone file. The list is updated daily.

To check out the service, see domainpunch.com/tlds/deleted.php

.BM Now Requires $60 Registration/Renewal Fee

The Bermuda Government has reminded .bm registrants that all new registrations and renewals require a $60 fee.

There will be a one-month grace period given for registrations that are due to expire in the month of April so registrants will have until the end of next month to renew their domain name, according to an announcement in the Bermuda Gazette.

“This is a change for Bermuda, as we were possibly the only jurisdiction that did not charge for its country code top-level domain name,” said Grant Gibbons, the acting Minister of Home Affairs.

“The new fee will support the implementation of the new online registration system and allow for more efficient administration of the .bm domain names for clients.”

Only companies, charities and residents are able to register .bm domains.

posted by David Goldstein

AU And NZ Combine For Seventh Annual Awards For Those Making Internet Better

auDA, the .au policy and regulatory body, and InternetNZ, the .nz manager, are combining for the seventh successive year for the ANZIA’s – the Australia & New Zealand Internet Awards.auDA, the .au policy and regulatory body, and InternetNZ, the .nz manager, are combining for the seventh successive year for the ANZIA’s – the Australia & New Zealand Internet Awards.

The ANZIAs celebrate the achievements of organisations, businesses and individuals that have made significant contributions to the development and use of the Internet in Australia and New Zealand.

This year, for the first time, nominations are being accepted from people for who believe another organisation has made a positive contribution through their online initiative or presence.

The six ANZIA categories are:

Diversity
Innovation
Information
Access & Digital Skills
Security & Online Safety
The Leonie Dunbar Memorial Award for Community Websites.

Previous ANZIA winner Caroline Aebersold, CEO of not-for-profit organisation The Song Room, said “Winning an ANZIA is a great way to acknowledge all the incredible work our team has done and it helps get the word out about the ARTS:LIVE project and the benefits it offers all teachers.”

Yvette Adams, founder of small business The Creative Collective, was honoured to receive an ANZIA, saying it helped “build the profile and credibility of our 12 week program as well as our own company’s profile”.

Entries are now open and close on 15 May while the ANZIAs awards ceremony will be held on 27 August in Auckland at St Matthews in the City.

Winners receive recognition as industry leaders that have set new standards for making the Internet a more inclusive, accessible and safe place. The awards offer public exposure, media coverage, networking opportunities, optimisation of future grant applications, recognition for hardworking staff and volunteers and a cash prize.

For more information see anzia.org.au.

posted by David Goldstein

Google targets multiple domain names in next search algorithm update

Google announced this week it will soon implement a change to its search algorithm to penalise websites that use ‘doorway pages’ and multiple domain names to increase their rank in search results.

In summary, this means businesses that use keywords to rank similar content on multiple domain names or pages under one domain will be penalised.

This is a major update from Google and will have huge implications for domain name and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategies.

Savvy businesses needn’t fear, however. If you are using new Top-Level Domains like .melbourne and .sydney, there are some simple steps you can take to ensure your website has the best possible chance to rank highly in search results.

What’s changing?

Google described the new changes as an attempt to penalise sites that “try to maximize their ‘search footprint’ without adding clear, unique value”.

Sites utilising this technique are often referred to as ‘doorway pages’, which Google classify negatively based on their impact on end users:

They are bad for users because they can lead to multiple similar pages in user search results, where each result ends up taking the user to essentially the same destination. They can also lead users to intermediate pages that are not as useful as the final destination.

What doorway pages look like

SEO expert Jim Stewart, speaking in a video blog about this latest Google update demonstrates how doorway pages are often used by businesses.

Using the example of ‘Freddy’s Skip Bin Hire’, Mr Stewart explains that the company has built several web pages under various suburb names and essentially replicated the content on each, replacing the location name. This has led them to create almost identical sites such as ‘Skip Bin Hire Waverley’ and ‘Skip Bin Hire Earlwood’.

Using this technique to essentially ‘trick’ Google into ranking your site is the type of strategy that will be targeted by this update, as Mr Stewart explains.

“If your site has created pages purely to rank for a particular key phrase… the chances are you could be smashed by this update.”

Will .sydney and .melbourne domains be penalised?

There is an extensive list of factors that impact a website’s SEO ranking. As Mr Stewart explained in an interview with AusRegistry last year, domain names are one of “over 200 signals” that determine your rank in search results, but by no means the deciding factor.

“There’s a lot of misinformation about the importance of domain names in search. There’s no doubt that if you can get a domain name with a good key word in it, you’ve got a good chance of ranking better than someone that doesn’t, but it’s only one signal.”

A major factor that can and does heavily influence search ranking is content. Using local domains such as .melbourne and .sydney solely to rank for your business in Melbourne and Sydney is not enough – local domains offer an opportunity to create valuable, localised content targeted to a particular geographic audience.

As Mr Stewart describes, “Google wants to makes sure it only displays results that are going to be relevant to the search done by the user.”

Meaningful content, he explains is the best way to ensure Google takes notice of your site.

“This obviously gives your site more content that Google can rank, but Google can also see that your site is active and updated frequently. In terms of ranking, Google sees sites like these as ‘worthy’ of sending its users to.”

Can you still register multiple domain names?

This latest change for Google could mean a real shake-up of search rankings for those trying to ‘beat the system’ and use doorway pages to boost their traffic.

The key factor now will be value to the user – if you can offer meaningful and relevant content across each of your domain names, there should be nothing to fear from this update. Local domain names can still provide a dedicated portal for content that is targeted to a local audience and therefore “worthy” of Google’s attention.

5 steps to avoid being penalised by Google’s search update

Use your .melbourne and .sydney domain names to offer localised content and valuable information for those in Melbourne and Sydney.
Find and update pages on your website with duplicated content – or prepare to see their search rankings suffer.
Build a content strategy that will ensure your sites remain up to date and are frequently being populated with current, relevant information.
As Jim Stewart suggests; “look at what the number one result is doing, and do it better”. Consider what value your competitors are offering and up the ante.
Don’t be afraid of registering multiple domain names. Holding a portfolio of domains is not a search sin – just be sure you are using them to add value, rather than trying to trick Google.

For more detail on how you can use .melbourne and .sydney domains to add value to local customers, read ‘How to use a local domain for your brand’.

This article was sourced with permission from ARI Registry Services. The article originally appeared at iconic.sydney/media-release/google-targets-multiple-domain-names-in-next-search-algorithm-update/

posted by David Goldstein