If your domain name is the foundation that your online business is on (and it is) then you really don’t want to make the wrong choice. But if you’re questioning whether the .ae domain is any good, don’t worry, you’re in safe hands. The short version is that .ae is a reliable domain extension that can help you establish credibility in the United Arab Emirates and target customers across the Middle East. If that’s all you need to know, go register your domain now. But if you find yourself asking just what is a .ae domain, then keep reading.
Is .ae a Great Domain For the United Arab Emirates?
The .ae domain is an excellent choice for businesses looking to make their mark in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It’s more than just a web address, it’s a way to show your commitment to the local market. When you opt for a .ae domain, you’re instantly signaling your relevance and dedication to the UAE audience, both to your potential customers and to search engines like Google and Bing, who give country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) like .ae extra weight in their home country. Or in this case, home countries.
So, with that in mind, .ae is a powerful tool to help you establish trust and connect with local customers.
Is the .ae Domain Name Exclusive?
The short answer is yes. Only a relative few websites get to claim the honour of having a .ae TLD, with just 300,000 .ae domains being registered compared to nearly two 1.2 billion total websites.
But despite its comparatively low registration numbers, don’t be fooled into thinking it’s unnoticed. Rather think of it as an exclusive club catering to a specific crowd: those living and working in the United Arab Emirates. Plus, while it’s niche now, the .ae domain is growing fast.
Are .ae Domains Safe?
Despite the fact that the .ae Domain Administration (aeDA) has opened the domain to registrations from around the world, .ae has an excellent reputation based on an extremely low fraud rating. Internet troublemaker trackers, Spamhaus, give .ae domains a ‘bad rating’ of 0.2%, which is just about as low as it goes. All of which means that you don’t have to worry that people will see you using a .ae extension as something to be wary of.
How Does a .ae Domain Affect SEO?
Having a .ae domain extension can have a positive impact on your SEO if you are targeting users based in the UAE. Search engines like Google think that if you’re using the domain for your online presence, you’re more likely to have content suited to people from the Emirates, so it’ll show your website to more people from there. This means that if your website has a .ae domain, it is more likely to appear in search results when someone searches for a keyword related to the UAE.
On the flip side, if your target audience is not limited to the UAE, having a .ae domain shouldn’t have a significant impact on your SEO. Though, it might still be worth getting a second domain to talk to a global audience.
That’s Everything About .ae Domains
We think .ae is a good domain, especially for those who want to set up a website that deals with people in the UAE, from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. It’s not just a technically sound domain, backed by a trustworthy registry, it’s also a great way to show your own commitment to the local market.
But if you’ve got more questions, we’ve got more answers. If you want to know how to buy a .ae domain, we have a guide for that. If you want to see how .ae performs compared to .com, we’ve got one for that too.
And if you’re convinced and want to jump to searching for your idea .ae domain to serve as the launch pad for your next adventure in the gulf, just go to our dedicated .ae page or start searching from the search bar below.
