Julianna
A Message from Cybele Negris, Webnames CEO and Co-Founder:
As we wind down another year here at Webnames, I am keenly aware that we have much to be thankful for. This past year we celebrated the 30th anniversary of .CA, a domain my co-founder John Demco brought to life, and 17 amazing years in business. We also had a lot of fun celebrating Canada 150, highlighting some of our favourite customer-owned .CA domains and sharing our 150 Things to Remember When Starting a Business in .CA. And of course, there is you – our customers. You make coming to work every day both fun and rewarding, and keep us striving to do our very best.
2017 was a big year for us in terms of product launches and feature enhancements. We now support more than 475 unique domains extensions, having added 12 new generic top-level domains and 57 new country code top-level domains to our portfolio in 2017, not to mention the millions of high-quality options available in our new domain marketplace. We enriched our product lineup with innovative new security products, rolled out a numerous powerful domain management features and brokered a lot of new domain acquisitions for our clients. Below we share a recap of our 2017 highlights, including the product news you might have missed.
As we reflect on the year that was, we especially want to thank all of you. We are enormously appreciative of your ongoing support, your loyalty (and friendship in so many cases), and of course, your decision to support a Canadian business when it comes to your domain and online business needs. You also always have our ear. If you have products or features that you want to see in 2018, or simply want to share feedback about how we are doing, we invite you to get in touch with us. You can reach me personally at president@webnames.ca, or send a note to our team at support@webnames.ca. Your needs and opinions both shape our business and make us better – we thank you for your voice.
From all of us at Webnames to all of you, we wish you the happiest of holidays and continued success in 2018.
All the best,
Cybele Negris
Webnames 2017 – Our Year in Review
New Domain Extensions
In 2017 we launched 50 domain extensions, including some great new TLDs and niche SLD’s that you requested. Here’s the complete list:
TLDs: .archi, .baby, .bio, .eco, .fun, .health, .hospital, .observer, .radio, .realty. .storage and.tel (now generic).
SLDs: .ac, .ag, .am, .bz, .co.ag,.co.bz, .co.lc,.co.ms, .com.ag, .com.bz, .com.hn, .com.lc, .com.ms,.com.sc, .com.vc, .cx.gd, .hn, .la, .lc, .mn, .ms, .net.ag,, .net.bz, .net.hn, .net.lc, .net.sc,.net.vc, .nom.ag, .org.ag, .org.bz, .org.hn, .org.lc, .org.ms, .org.sc, .org.vc, .pw.sc .sh.sx, .tc.to, .vc and finally,.vg
New (December 18, 2017): .ai, .co.il, .co.kr, .co.nz, .co.za, .com.hk, .com.my, .com.sg, .com.tw, .hk, jp, .kr, .my, .ph, .ru, .sg and .tw
Domain Marketplace
In May we rolled out our new domain marketplace which allows customers to search for and purchase premium domains listed for sale by 3rd parties.
With more businesses prioritizing the branding, search engine and marketing benefits of a relevant and memorable domain, we brought you much larger playing field of high quality domains to choose from, including possibly even the exact domain name you wanted. And unlike many other registrars, Webnames is supporting both Afternic and Sedo’s inventories – the two largest players in the premium domain business. [Learn more]
New DNS Functionality
We’ve always been passionate about offering world-class DNS hosting, so in 2017 we put a lot of energy into DNS enhancements and added some powerful – and convenient – new features, including:
- The ability to define DNS zone files during domain registration process
- Future scheduling of DNS changes
- Subdomain forwarding, with the added ability to drop the “www” and forward at the root
- Support of ALIAS (ANAME) records
- Customizable templates for easier DNS setup
- DNS version control
- Zone file import functionality
Plus, our Premium DNS product also includes Anycast DNS, bundling world class redundancy and DDoS protection right into your plan. [Learn more]
Domain Management Enhancements
For domain administrators and large domain portfolio owners, we now support multiple user logins to empower distributed management and enhance oversight by allowing authorized team members/business units to have their own unique login credentials.
And for everyone else, you now have access to power features like bulk tools and parent-child account functionality that were previously available by request only.
Security
Security is always a top priority for us, and 2017 was no exception. This past year we added a number of security enhancements across our product suite to better protect our customers from increasingly complex cyber threats, including:
- DDoS protected IP addresses across all our services, by default and at no extra cost
- Automated vulnerability patching and malware removal on on all Webnames hosted websites, with a special emphasis on WordPress
- Verisign registry lock for .com, .net, .tv and.cc domains
- Standalone Anycast DNS for businesses of all sizes to increase DDoS resiliency and amplify the speed and performance of DNS.
In Other Product News …
Email – By customer request, we now offer 20GB business email plans so you can keep working and do less email management.
Hosting – Our multi-domain hosting plans now support the hosting of secondary domains not registered with Webnames, giving those who manage multiple websites greater flexibility.
SSL Certificates – We have added Comodo brand SSL to our lineup of SSL certificate options. Comodo is one of the world’s foremost cybersecurity companies and a favourite brand of many IT professionals.
Domain Brokering – You guys sure kept us busy this year acquiring your dream domains … several dozen in 2017, and it was a blast. We love the feeling of reaching a deal and being able to tell you we got the domain name your heart was set on.
Notable Happenings
Website Revamp – Did you notice we launched a redesigned website back in March? Our refreshed look also came with functionality enhancements including full responsiveness on all device sizes and context sensitive help links throughout your MyWebnames account management pages.
Charitable Initiative & Sponsorship – We raised just shy of $7000 for the Canadian Cancer Society in June during our annual Relay for Life initiative, beating our goal and raising the bar for 2018, in addition to supporting other amazing initiatives such as Pink Shirt Day and the Red Cross BC Wildfire Emergency Response. As always, we were delighted to also sponsor a variety of community groups and technology organizations including New Ventures BC, SheBiz Vancouver, Global Game Jam and BLG’s Startup Seminar Series, just to name a few.
Climate Smart – In 2017 we became officially Climate Smart certified! This was achieved through several training sessions, the creation of an exhaustive inventory of our greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and of a GHG reduction plan – an effort spearheaded by several members of our team.
Community Impact – In addition to serving as Vice-Chair of the Small Business Roundtable of BC and the Chair’s Council of Science World, Webnames CEO Cybele Negris was recently named a board member to the Royal Canadian Mint where she will lend her expertise about the changing digital landscape. John Demco continues to serve as a Board Advisor to CIRA, the member-based not-for-profit organization that manages.CA internet domain on behalf of all Canadian which he helped to establish.
Shout Outs – And last but not least, our amazing CEO was featured in Canada 150 Women: Conversations with Leaders, Champions, and Luminaries – we had to sneak that one in because we are pretty proud of her.
A Preview of What’s Coming in 2018
For our WordPress users, we’re adding Plesk’s WordPress Toolkit to our hosting features. This tool will allow WordPress users to manage multiple instances, enabling a variety of development workflows for admins of all skill levels.
New email upgrades are also on slate. Users will see an updated user interface in the new year, plus email connectivity and desktop-mobile synchronization via Microsoft ActiveSync.
Our multi-user account feature is being expanded to include user roles and permissions to provide businesses and owners of large portfolios even greater domain management control.
We’ll also be delivering on even more DNS record options, including PTR.
Domain investors with existing “for sale” portfolios listed with either Sedo or Afternic should get in touch with Customer Support to discuss re-enrolling their domains via Webnames’ Domain Marketplace. As a Fast Transfer partner your domains will gain greater exposure when they are enrolled with that option.
In closing, we want to extend our sincerest thanks to all of our customers and supporters in 2017!
In what’s become an increasingly competitive space, we will continue to prioritize customer service, strive for excellence in all that we do and stay true to our core values: 1) Amaze Every Customer With Exceptional Customer Service, 2) Always Be Improving and, 3) Make a Positive Difference.
Sincerely, Team Webnames