The figures on Belgians and domain names are encouraging. More and more Belgians know what a domain name is and what you can do with it. And as the most recent market research shows, for Belgian entrepreneurs, a website or a domain name is something inextricably linked with starting one’s own business.
That is good news, but we must also be realistic: scarcely 5% of all Belgians have registered one or more domain names. In other words, 95% have no domain name, and 65% of all respondents were not considering obtaining one. That is not illogical, since a large portion of them do not need a domain name or website. For it is only when you want to tell something about yourself, your hobby, your business, etc. on the internet that a website becomes relevant. But when we inquired as to why people do not take a domain name, all sorts of misconceptions came to light, as knowledge about domain names is rather limited.
No idea what it’s about
47% of Belgians who have no domain name and who do not consider getting one, have no idea what you can do with a domain name. They do not know that you need a domain name in order to get a website online and that you can also link e-mail addresses to it.
Entrepreneurial Belgians in general have a better knowledge about domain names, but even their knowledge is rather limited. 15% of them are still not familiar with domain names whereas 27% have heard the term, but do not know what they can do with it.
How to register a domain name
Fifteen percent of Belgians think that it is difficult and complex to register a domain name. Just as many think that it is expensive. Yet a domain name can now be registered at a click of the mouse via a registrar. Registrars are companies authorised to register domain names for companies, institutions or persons.
Once you have checked whether your domain name is available and have chosen a registrar, you only need to enter a couple of data and the domain name is yours. The price for registering a domain name varies from registrar to registrar. You will find the exact prices on their website.
Prefer another medium?
Nine percent of the people who have no domain name, use another medium to request their place on the internet: a blog through an existing website or a page on a social medium such as Facebook, for instance. That percentage is even higher (24%) among entrepreneurial Belgians.
Promoting your own business with e.g. a Facebook page is certainly a good marketing ploy, but the combination with your own website is still recommended. For most Belgians, a website is not only a source of information, but it also determines the image we have of a company. A company with its own, professional website inspires more confidence in consumers than a company that has only a Facebook page.
With this article, we support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.