2017 was a year when the economy picked up and internet activity in the Netherlands reached a new peak. The .nl zone continued to grow and, for the first time since 2010, more .nl domain names were registered than the year before.
Registrations up on 2016
.nl domain names put to use much soonerThis year, for the first time in years, the number of registrations was up on the year before. In the eleven months to 1 December, more than 780,000 new .nl domain names were registered. That's twenty thousand up on the same period in 2016. Because a lot of domain names were also cancelled, the .nl zone grew by about 100,000 to a little over 5.8 million names. Meaning that the Netherlands has the highest domain name density in the world. With a population of just seventeen million, the country has nine million domain names!
Hein van Woensel registered citiusadvocaten.nl
“Citius is a new legal practice. Obviously we needed a website, but citius.nl had already been registered by someone else. We offered to buy it, but the owner didn't want to sell. The idea of using another extension instead of .nl was a non-starter for us. It has to be obvious that we are a Dutch law firm. So we opted for citiusadvocaten.nl, because the meaning is clear to a Dutch reader and it makes us easy to find. We hired a firm to run an SEA campaign for us. As a result, lots of people find us when looking for a lawyer and we get plenty of calls from potential clients."
Up and running fast
It only takes moments to register a domain name. Setting up a website is a different matter. But it's much easier than it used to be. Thanks to open-source packages such as WordPress, the average interval between registering a name and getting a website on line has fallen steadily over the last three years, from five months to two. Prices have also fallen. Getting a sophisticated webshop built may still be expensive, but a simple website can be yours for a little loose change, plus some time and attention.
Dennis Brouwer registered drpproducts.nl
"I already owned winkelstickers.nl (meaning 'shop stickers'). But I'm looking to broaden my activities, so I've registered drpproducts.nl as well. On the website that goes with the new name I sell a wider range of things, including posters and price tags. It's not generating much turnover yet, but the margins make the venture attractive. DRP stands for 'Dutch Retail Products'. It comes across as corporate and sounds good on the phone. A .nl domain name was the only option for me. If I see a company car with a .biz name on the side, I immediately assume it's a small firm. It's like putting your mobile number on your website: it lets everyone know that the business is just you."
Business registrations are up
An upturn in the Dutch economy is bound to be one of the reasons for the growth in .nl business registrations seen this year. More than 40 per cent of 'private' .nl registrations by young people are actually business-related. All the signs are that the economy is flourishing, and so is .nl.
