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What is .DE? Its registration rules, importance, and how to register .de domain
What is a .DE domain name?
.de is a German country and region top-level domain (ccTLD) domain name. Most German .de domain are registered by domestic companies and institutions. An increasing number of domain names are registered and owned by foreign applicants, which makes .de more and more influential. According to a survey by DENIC, most German users naturally type .de instead of .com or .net when searching for information they need on the Internet.
History of .DE domain names
.de domain was first registered on November 5, 1986. In March 1988, there were only 6 domain names registered by the German Internet Information Center.
After 1999, with the rapid development of the Internet, the number of domain names under .de began to rise sharply. As of March 1, 2012, the number of domain names ending in .de has reached 14.886 million, ranking first among country and region top-level domain names. [1] It ranks second among all types of top-level domain names, second only to .com. Among them, there are nearly 600,000 internationalized domain names (IDNs).
.DE domain name registration requirements and rules
(a) The .de domain name must be an address in Germany;
(b) When applying for a .de domain, you must submit the local contact information of the organization or individual in Germany (postal address, place of residence, PO box number).
(c) The length of a .de domain is a minimum of 3 characters and a maximum of 63 characters.
(d) Only English letters (a-z, case insensitive), numbers (0-9), and "-" (hyphen in English, i.e., middle dash) are provided. Spaces and special characters (such as!, $, &,?, etc.) cannot be used. "-" cannot be used as the beginning and end.
Renewal grace period for .DE domain names
Since the renewal of domain .de is a manual process, it takes at least 3-5 days to complete. Therefore, partners are advised to submit renewal applications within 5 days before the expiration of the term to prevent the domain name from expiring.
Advantages and application scenarios of .DE domain names
(a) Strong regionality: .de domain can effectively indicate that the website is related to Germany, increasing German users' trust in and willingness to visit the website.
(b) Brand protection: By registering a .de domain, you can protect your brand's image and rights in the German market and prevent competitors or malicious users from registering related domain names.
(c) Search engine optimization (SEO): Using a .de domain may help with search engine rankings in the German market.
(d) Language advantage: For websites and companies with German as the main language, a .de domain is more in line with the target users' language habits and search habits.
so if you need to expand your corporate brand in Germany, then register .de domain name is the most important step. Register a .de domain can establish a network presence in the German market or German-speaking regions, enhance brand awareness and credibility in the region, and take advantage of Germany's position as the core of the European economy to expand business, attract local users and optimize localized marketing strategies.