All About the .ca Domain Extension
- By Douglas Moore
- August 2, 2021
.CA is the Canadian ccTLD (country code top-level domain). This means that it is reserved for people and organizations established in Canada, with some exceptions.
Unlike the .US domain, which is rarely used by American Businesses, Canadian businesses have adopted the .CA domain with open arms.
Having a .CA domain will actually help your rankings in Google Canada, because having a country code specific domain acts as a trust and relevancy signal that your site is more relevant to local searchers.
So, should you register a .CA domain? This article will help you decide.
What Is .CA? When Did It Launch?
.CA is a ccTLD (country code top-level domain) that has been reserved for persons, organizations and government from Canada.
Similarly to .US, .CA has been available since 1987, in the very early days of the Internet.
Who Administers the .CA Domain?
Currently, the .CA is administered by the Canadian Internet Administration Authority (CIRA). CIRA is a non-profit Canadian corporation which was assigned the administration on 1st of December, 2000.
While CIRA are responsible for the .CA domain, they don’t directly offer registration services. For that, you’ll need to go to a domain company, like us, to find and register your .CA domain.
Why Should You Register an .CA Domain? What Is It Used For?
If you are a local Canadian business that targets Canadian customers, obtaining a .CA domain might prove advantageous and bring more traffic.
In contrast to a generic .COM, a .CA will set you apart immediately upon first glance over your URL. People will instantly recognize that you are from Canada, since non-Canadian businesses generally cannot reserve this domain for their websites.
This will also help visitors. If they are trying to reach something in their country, they will immediately recognize that your .CA website is not the place to browse through.
Registering a .CA domain is not particularly expensive. Currently, the registration price with Domain Name Sanity is US$12.95 per year (plus taxes), and annual renewal is US$19.95 per year (plus taxes).
How Popular Is the .CA gTLD?
As of August, 2021, there are approximately 3.1 million .CA domains registered.
Interestingly, the .CA domain is found to be preferred by Canadians when doing business or administrative work online. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, the CIRA noticed a strong upward trend of .CA registrations.
How Do You Get an .CA Domain?
If you aim at being recognized as a Canadian business, one of the smartest approaches would be to reserve yourself a .CA domain. Fortunately, this is where we at Domain Name Sanity can help, by helping you register one for you. Follow the link to register your .CA today!
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