Dotlocal is live. This new organisation allows local governments and agencies to now also bring their identity to life digitally with their own domain extension. Moreover, the organisation is thereby anticipating a new application round for domain extensions. Dotlocal facilitates the entire application process, from application to management. The management of the existing local extensions .frl (Friesland) and .amsterdam are already hosted by The Sharing Group at Dotlocal. “We are proud to welcome Dotlocal as part of The Sharing Group,” says Henri de Jong, CEO of The Sharing Group.
Background
Until 2012, two groups for extensions were known: lots of ‘country codes’ and only a few ‘generics’. Country codes include country extensions familiar to us all, such as .nl (Netherlands) or .co.uk (United Kingdom). Generic extensions are generic extensions such as .org or .net. In 2012, it was possible for the first time for anyone to apply for new extensions. Those applications showed the need for local, regional and provincial extensions. For instance, .frl and .amsterdam are two extensions managed by Dotlocal, together accounting for some 33,000 domains. Soon, after more than a decade, there will be a new round of applications for extensions.
The power of own identity
Municipalities, city marketeers and local entrepreneurs have the opportunity in 2023-2024 to apply for their own extensions to further propagate the strength of their city or region as a brand. Dotlocal believes in a strong local identity: your city or region is your brand. This identity shows itself not only in the streets, but also increasingly online. Residents and companies are proud of their brand. Own extensions also put this brand on the map digitally.
In addition, many domain names with the .com or .nl extension are already taken. This means that companies often do not have the desired domain name for a website. With a new extension, this problem is solved and, at the same time, companies emphasise their connection with a city or province.
“We help local authorities with all the paperwork, pre-financing and technical roll-out to sales partners. We bring the right heads together. You take care of the marketing and adoption. You share in the revenue. Together we create a new success story,” says Siemen Roorda, product owner of .frl and .amsterdam at Dotlocal. “Be quick though. The application process takes time. Orienting now is therefore important. Make local digital!”
About Dotlocal
Dotlocal is part of The Sharing Group. Whereas sister company Mijndomein has been very successful in making having its own website accessible to everyone, Dotlocal makes operating its own domain extension accessible. Your own domain extension? We arrange it for you.
About The Sharing Group
TSG operates within various markets with a focus on tech, energy and mobility. Starting from the Netherlands, the organisation is steadily expanding to the rest of Europe. Always and everywhere from the same starting point: more social impact, less environmental impact. TSG does so from various creative hubs throughout the Netherlands, from Rotterdam and Lelystad to Amsterdam.
Translated with DeepL