.IE Domain Profile Report 2021

Foreword The .IE Domain Profile Report explores and analyses the .ie database. In this edition, we assess the full year of 2021, including the pandemic’s impact on .ie domain registrations, the overall growth of the .ie database, and country and county of domain registration. We also examine the broader .ie ecosystem, including domain usage, the breakdown of Content Management System (CMS) usage by .ie domain owners, .ie domain security features, keyword usage in new .ie domain registrations, .ie website categorisation and .ie market share and international growth. 2021 was the second-best year for new .ie domain registrations , with H1 2021 the strongest half-year period on record. 62,198 new .ie domains were registered in 2021, bringing the total .ie database to 330,108, up 6.5% on 2020. As our timeline shows, there was, at least for the first half of the year, strong correlation between the course of the pandemic and new .ie domain registrations. Ireland began 2021 in strict lockdown; non-essential retail was closed until mid-May. As a result, we can see a clear uptick in new .ie domain registrations in January, February and March, a visible indication of the mass movement of SMEs, including hospitality businesses, online. A website ensures that a business can continue to communicate with and sell to its customers and clients, even if its physical premises are closed. However, despite the difficult start, 2021 was not 2020. Indeed, by late summer and early autumn, strong vaccination rates and easing of restrictions seemed for the first time to break the previously strong connection between the introduction or relaxation of pandemic restrictions and the rate of new .ie domain registrations. This tentative decoupling suggests two things. First, the Irish economy has, for the most part, exited the ‘acute response’ phase of the pandemic. As a result, businesses have now factored-in the uncertainty of restrictions and reduced trading ability to their commercial operations and planning. Second, SMEs are no longer simply ‘reacting’ to the pandemic. Instead, and as our most recent .IE Tipping Point research shows, consumer behaviours are changing and SMEs are changing with them. Businesses are investing in new websites, integrating e-commerce technology, and making use of productivity-enhancing tools all year round. This report also reveals more about the technical specifications of .ie domains and websites, including, for the first time, CMS usage by .ie domain owners with content-rich websites. More than 78% are powered by WordPress, followed by Wix and Squarespace. 54% of .ie websites have a security certificate, which ensures consumers can purchase goods and services in a safe online manner. Only a very small fraction of .ie domain owners have DNSSEC or Registry Lock, although the number using the latter feature has increased 179% year-on-year. This is an encouraging trend. The macro environment is even more encouraging. The .ie domain accounts for 52.6% of all top-level domains registered in Ireland, ahead of .com by more than 20 percentage points. It is also one of the fastest-growing country domains in Europe, behind only .pt (Portugal) and .ee (Estonia), which demonstrates the impact of Covid-19 as a catalyst in accelerating digital adoption and usage. David Curtin Chief Executive, .IE Contents Foreword Timeline of new .ie 1 registrations in 2021 Analysis of .ie domain 2 database and growth Analysis of .ie domains 3 by geography Analysis of .ie domains 4 by county Analysis of .ie domain 5 ecosystem About .IE 7