After the introduction of .NL domain names to the free-domain-with-a-plan hall of fame, we have now added another popular ccTLD – .BE, to the list of free domain names on our reseller hosting platform.
.BE – the official domain name for Belgium, has long ago overstepped the boundaries of Belgium and is now popular worldwide as a generic domain suitable for site name hacks.
.BE – some historical notes
.BE was launched in 1989 under the supervision of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Back then it was primarily used for academic and scientific purposes. In 2000, the control over .BE was handed over to DNS Belgium, which embarked on a campaign to popularize the TLD. This included a 1-year gratis period in 2005, within which the domain was offered to registrants for free.
Today, there are more than 1.5 million registered .BE domain names and this number keeps growing.
Why promote .BE domain names to your customers?
Just like the official .BE registry whose free .BE campaign was very successful, you too can now offer free .BE domain names with your cloud web hosting plans.
Here are a few key highlights, which may turn the .BE TLD into a customer magnet:
- local value – registering a .BE domain is the perfect way to show that a business is based in Belgium and is loyal to the local market;
- trademark value – by registering their trademarks in their local TLD rather than in the generic .COM/.NET equivalent, for example, Belgium-based businesses will take another step toward cementing their brand identity and protecting it from online duplication efforts;
- domain hack value – because of its overlap with the popular English verb ‘be’, the .BE TLD can perfectly fit into catchy site names such as ‘letit.BE’ or ‘whereto.BE’.
How to enable .BE as a free domain option on your store?
.BE domains are included by default in the domain name portfolios of those of you who offer a free domain name with any of your cloud hosting plans.
You can see the .BE extension listed in the Domain and Hosting Prices section of the Reseller Control Panel (under My Offers). From there, you can also edit the profit that you will receive.
If you haven’t yet offered the free domain name option to your customers, you can enable it from the Shared Hosting Offers section of the Reseller Control Panel. Just click on the name of the desired plan and then on the orange Free Domain icon to activate it.
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The option to offer both .NL and .BE domain names for free represents a great opportunity for you to reach out to a complex interlinked audience spread throughout the Netherlands and Belgium, which shares a common boundary and a common history. 60% of the Belgian population today speaks Dutch, while many Belgian citizens live in the Netherlands, so offering both TLDs for free will double your marketing power.