Julianna
Note: The stats in this blog post have been updated for 2023
Domain names, as our own name suggests, are our jam! While we have more than 500 awesome options to choose from, as a Canadian-owned company our steady favourite remains .CA – and not just because one of our co-founder’s invented it. If you’re a Canadian individual or Canadian business targeting a homegrown audience, here are six compelling reasons to choose a .CA domain for your website over an alternative extension like .COM.
Great .CA domains are still abundant
With more than 161 million .COM’s registered (up from 141 in 2019), compared to nearly 3.4 million .CA’s (up from 2.8 million in 2019) the .CA namespace offers a more opportunity for finding memorable, relevant and succinct domain names. Canadians can also use tools like CIRA’s TBR (to-be-released) list to get ahold of envy-inducing .CA domains that have been deleted or left to expire by their previous owners.
Canadians love homegrown businesses
64% of Canadians in 2019 prefer making online purchases from Canadian retailers, up slightly from 62% in 2016. In an increasingly globalized economy, many Canadians actively look for opportunities to buy local. In fact, supporting the Canadian economy was by far the most commonly stated reason for buying Canadian … twice as important than saving on duty or avoiding a poor exchange rate. Choosing a .CA domain makes you recognizable as a Canadian business and also confirms your Canadian-ties by way of the CA registry’s Canadian presence requirements.
Canadians are shopping more online
According to the Canadain e-Commerce Benchmark Report which surveyed 5000 Canadians last year, 80% of us now shop online with electronics, clothing, travel, and household goods dominating purchase categories. Canadian online shoppers are almost evenly split across genders, with baby boomers (35%) beating millennials (32%) for the transacting the most online. Choosing a .CA domain shows this enormous audience of Canadian shoppers from all demographics that your business is a home-turf retailer – something that’s proven to influence Canuck purchase decisions.
Canadians are less trusting of other domain extensions
When it comes to their internet habits, Canadians like what they are accustomed to. Despite increasing visibility across the web, targeted and relevant top-level domains (TLDs) like .app, .mba, .realestate and .xyz continue to make Canadians somewhat uneasy, mostly because they are less well known. According to CIRA, nearly half of Canadian internet users don’t trust websites using new or uncommon top-level domains, a finding that has remained stable for a number of years. .CA, in contrast, is like a cozy touque or favourite parka – comfortable, familiar and welcome.
Search relevance above the 49th parallel
If you are targeting Canadian customers, a .CA domain tells search engines that you’re focused on reaching a Canadian audience. This signals relevance to Canadian searchers and can help you rank better in search results for queries originating in Canada. Of course, this is but one factor in a sea of weightier SEO considerations like keywords, content quality, usability, site speed, SSL/TLS, backlinks and more. That said, when it comes to search ranking, nailing the little things can add up to make a significant difference.
.CA helps build a safer and more accessible Canadian Internet for all
Through its Community Investment Program, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority has provided grants to 150+ grassroots organizations across Canada totaling nearly 7-million dollars, all funded by .CA registrations! These diverse and innovative projects have helped improve Canada’s internet infrastructure, increased media and digital literacy, enabled non-profits to deliver online services, and supported academic research addressing emerging digital issues. And in many cases, the beneficiaries of this work have been remote, minority, or otherwise marginalized communities. You can explore the project database here.
Ready to join Canada’s most loved web landscape? Start by searching for your next .CA domain at Webnames.ca. Not only will you be in good company, rubbing internet elbows with iconic Canadian brands, up-and-coming startups, and patriotic neighbours that use .CA for their websites, you’ll be backed by the expert, bilingual support team of Canada’s original .CA registrar.