Even if “ä” and “ae” stand for the same letter, they are still different. This has led to different domains since 2010. A fact that can both jeopardize and strengthen your online identity.
It’s one of those little things that’s all too easy to overlook. The one that bites you on the backside when it hits you. Because then the little thing becomes a huge problem. But first things first.
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You can strengthen your online identity with an umlaut domain. At the same time, your domain will be easier to read, eye-catching and appealing.
That's why we skate around Umlauts in Domains
The German language has many specialities, but one is very annoying: Umlauts. “Ä”, “Ü” and “Ö”.
Until 2010, these umlauts were not permitted in domains. The domain for the “Übeltäter Umlaut” therefore had to be www.uebeltaeter-umlaut.at.
Since then, domains of companies, brands and products that contain an umlaut have looked terrible. Our eyes are not used to deciphering the transcription.
“ae” is simply not “ä“
Domains with an Umlaut simply don’t catch the eye. We have to make an effort to decipher the sequence of letters. At the same time, many customers are unsure whether an umlaut A should be written as “ae” or “ea”.
What is often overlooked: Umlauts have been possible in domains since 2010. You can now easily reach the “umlaut culprit” at www.übeltäter-umlaut.at.
But be careful!
"Uebeltaeter" is not the same as "Übeltäter"
For example, if you have the domain www.uebeltaeter-umlaut.at this does not mean that your website is also registered under www.übeltäter-umlaut.at as well.
These are two different domains and you should register both! If you forget to do so, the following can quickly happen:
One would assume that the domains www.oesterreich.at and www.österreich.at refer to the same website. Wrong – they lead to competing companies!
To prevent this from happening to you, we strongly recommend that you register both domain variants! If someone else gets to you first, the domain is gone. And your online identity will be tarnished!
Umlaut domains (IDN) on the rise
Sounding, short, attractive domains are now a rarity.
Many top domains are already registered. As a result, IDNs – i.e. umlaut domains – are becoming increasingly popular because more and more companies are becoming aware of the possibility of umlauts in domains.
Attention: Within minutes you can outsmart your competitor and snatch his domain with umlaut. Just for a few Euros!
Umlauts in Domains: Quite the surprise!
Umlauts in domains are so unusual that they immediately catch the eye.
Some people think umlauts in domains are a typo and want to uncover the error straight away. Then they realize: The domain really works!
At the same time, the domain is much more pleasant to look at because we don’t have to decipher a sequence of letters. Except for domains, hardly any umlauts are transcribed in German-speaking countries. We are simply not used to it.
IDN top-level domains allow even more special characters!
Depending on the top-level domain, other special characters are also available.
Here is a small list of the most common IDN top-level domains:
.at domains
à á â ã ä å æ ç è é ê ë ì í î ï ð ñ ò ó ô õ ö ø œ š ù ú û ü ý ÿ ž þ
.ch and .li domains
à á â ã ä å æ ç è é ê ë ì í î ï ð ñ ò ó ô õ ö ø œ ù ú û ü ý ÿ þ ÿ
.de domains
à á â ã ä å æ ā ă ą ç ć ĉ ċ č ď đ è ê ë ē ĕ ė ę ě ĝ ğ ġ ģ ĥ ħ ì í î ï ĩ ī ĭ į ı ð ĵ ķ ĸ ĺ ļ ľ ł ñ ń ņ ň ŋ ò ó ô õ ö ø ō ŏ ő œ ŕ ŗ ř ś ŝ ş š ţ ť ŧ ù ú û ü ũ ū ŭ ů ű ų ŵ ý ŷ ÿ ź ż ž þ ß
.eu domains
à á â ã ä å æ ā ă ą ç ć ĉ ċ č ď đ è ê ë ē ĕ ė ę ě ĝ ğ ġ ģ ĥ ħ ì í î ï ĩ ī ĭ į ı ð ĵ ķ ĺ ļ ľ ŀ ł ñ ń ņ ň ʼn ŋ ò ó ô õ ö ø ō ŏ ő œ ŕ ŗ ř ś ŝ š ș ť ŧ ț ù ú û ü ũ ū ŭ ů ű ų ŵ ý ŷ ÿ ź ż ž þ ΐ ά έ ή ί ΰ α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο
π ρ ς σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω ϊ ϋ ό ύ ώ а б в г д е ж з и й к л м н о п р с т у ф х ц ч ш щ ъ ы ь э ю я ἀ ἁ ἂ ἃ ἄ ἅ ἆ ἇ ἐ ἑ ἒ ἓ ἔ ἕ ἠ ἡ ἢ ἣ ἤ ἥ ἦ ἧ ἰ ἱ ἲ ἳ ἴ ἵ ἶ ἷ ὀ ὁ ὂ ὃ ὄ ὅ ὐ ὑ ὒ ὓ ὔ ὕ ὖ ὗ
ὠ ὡ ὢ ὣ ὤ ὥ ὦ ὧ ὰ ά ὲ έ ὴ ή ὶ ί ὸ ό ὺ ύ ὼ ώ ᾀ ᾁ ᾂ ᾃ ᾄ ᾅ ᾆ ᾇ ᾐ ᾑ ᾒ ᾓ ᾔ ᾕ ᾖ ᾗ ᾠ ᾠ ᾡ ᾢ ᾣ ᾤ ᾥ ᾦ ᾧ ᾰ ᾱ ᾲ ᾳ ᾴ ᾶ ᾷ ῂ ῃ ῄ ῆ ῇ ῐ ῑ ῒ ΐ ῖ ῗ ῠ ῡ ῢ ΰ ῤ ῥ ῦ ῧ ῲ ῳ ῴ ῶ ῷ
Domain with Umlaut still available?
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The fly in the ointment: E-mail Addresses
Umlaut domains have two major advantages: they protect your online identity and are particularly eye-catching in advertising campaigns. However, they are not yet suitable for email addresses.
Currently, very few email clients can handle them properly. Unfortunately, we cannot predict when umlauts will also be introduced in e-mail addresses. When the time comes, we will inform our customers immediately.
Until then:
Better to take precautions than cry afterwards.
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