Umlautdomain - How useful is the use of special characters?
A Umlaut domain is an internet address that contains special characters such as ä, ö, or ü, or ß. While theoretically possible since 2002, this type of domain was long neglected in the past. In a broader sense, a Umlaut domain can also consist of other special characters not defined in the ASCII table. Unlike an international domain, it primarily targets a regional audience.
Table of Contents
Origin of Umlaut Domains lies in an increasing regionalisation
Technical Functioning of a Umlaut Domain
Umlaut Domain suffered from technical issues for a long time
Usage of the Domain is limited to specific TLDs
Practical Advantages of a Umlaut Domain
Key Disadvantages of a Umlaut Domain
Conclusion: How useful is a domain with umlauts?
Origin of Umlaut Domains lies in an increasing regionalisation
When international domains were introduced, the authorities initially assumed a small, limited, and manageable demand. Initially, only a handful of extensions (Top Level Domains, TLD) were planned, gradually adding country-specific two-letter codes and later new Top Level Domains (nTLD). Compared to these innovations, the Umlaut domain received little attention for a long time - it wasn't until around 2015 that the responsible registrars began to see a continuous increase in demand for this type. However, changing the domain later can be difficult. More on this topic in our separate article.
Originally, the purpose of the Umlaut domain was less about expanding possible domain names, and more about regionalising specific local offerings and the ability to use nationally used letters. While, for example, German umlauts can still be relatively easily encrypted through combinations like ae or ue, not all languages have such binding rules for the transcription of special characters. This is even completely impossible in certain script languages that do not rely on phonetics - for example, traditional or modern Chinese characters.
Technical Functionality of an Umlaut Domain
One disadvantage of the standardised resolution of internet addresses is that it only converts the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0 to 9, and hyphen as a dash using the corresponding ASCII characters. For this reason, a direct extension with umlauts, special characters, or non-European characters is not possible. The impossibility of using characters outside the standardised table is overcome by International Domain Name Converters (IDN Converters). They use the so-called Punycode, introduced in 2003, which converts special characters from the international Unicode format into ASCII-compatible combinations of letters. The IDN Converter then creates a valid domain address from these, recognisable by the prefix XN- at the beginning.
Therefore, when called, the browser first converts an umlaut domain into Punycode, from which the IDN Converter then derives the correct URL in Latin script. Subsequently, this IDNA string, which is difficult for humans to remember and read, is used for internal communication without the user taking note of this conversion. This process allows all recorded languages to be displayed in a format compatible with internet addresses, including, for example:
- Traditional and simplified Chinese characters (Hanzi)
- Japanese characters and syllabaries (Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana)
- The Korean alphabet (Hangul)
- European special characters e.g. in German, French, Spanish, or in Scandinavian languages
- The Cyrillic alphabet
- Consonant scripts such as Arabic or Hebrew
Umlaut Domain Faced Technical Challenges for a Long Time
For a long time, the umlaut domain was largely uninteresting for almost all purposes because browsers did not support automatic conversion using Punycode and IDN Converters, or only did so very rudimentarily. This situation has since changed: Today, all well-known browsers in their current versions support the umlaut domain without external tools such as plug-ins. The same applies to Nameservers (DNS) and the further technical infrastructure. Therefore, from a technical perspective, there is no restriction that would make it necessary or justify the avoidance of a domain with umlauts for a website.
On the other hand, it's a different story with email!
Not all programs used for receiving and sending emails are capable of correctly converting addresses using an IDN converter. Some don't even have the ability to generate Punycode and use it to display addresses, both for name components and the domain. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid using a domain with umlauts for email communication and instead use an address with a standard domain.
Usage of the domain is limited to specific TLDs
Certain special characters can only be used in conjunction with a specific TLD. It is the responsibility of each registrar such as ICANN or the German DENIC to decide which characters they accept. The issue lies not so much in the technical implementation, but primarily in which characters they fundamentally accept during registration. These are usually tailored to the local market - for example, it is not possible to register a .de domain with Chinese characters or in a foreign alphabet with DENIC. Instead, DENIC allows a total of 93 different symbols, all of which are variants of a Latin letter. On the other hand, ICANN's acceptance of characters depends on the TLD. For instance, it allows the use of a .info or .com domain with German umlauts, but does not permit the use of the ß character, which is unique to Germany.
Practical advantages of an umlaut domain
The biggest advantage of a domain with umlauts is undoubtedly its primary feature - it allows the use of special characters for a local and limited market. This opens up different options to reserve terms that are already almost fully taken by using umlauts. With umlauts, there are still some very attractive domains available today, which would otherwise only be traded at a high price in the private market. Some examples of such terms are self-employment, doctors, mill, or markets. However, the interest in umlaut domains has been growing strongly and steadily since at least 2015, so high-quality names may no longer be available in the long term.
Key disadvantages of a domain with umlauts
However, there are also some significant disadvantages to using a domain with umlauts. Two of them are particularly crucial in determining whether the use is sensible or not.
The first disadvantage is the poor accessibility for international users. While in principle all users can access a corresponding domain in their browser, typing the domain directly as an address is only possible when using the appropriate keyboard. Due to the high effort involved, most users therefore hesitate to type in a domain with umlauts directly if they do not come from the same language area or use an international keyboard layout.
The second disadvantage is the restrictions on using emails. Over a long period of time, a domain with umlauts is not suitable for communication. Address entry poses additional problems due to inadequate software support, in addition to the input problem mentioned earlier.
Another objection is intensive activity on social networks. Even large platforms such as Twitter or Facebook do not correctly resolve a domain with umlauts and display it with their Punycode or the address created by the IDN converter, instead of correctly inserting the umlauts. This significantly diminishes the advantages if a domain is primarily marketed and spread through social networks.
Conclusion: How sensible is a domain with umlauts?
It depends on various factors whether a domain with umlauts is a sensible decision. As a sole presence, it can potentially undesirably limit your reach and make future expansion more difficult. Therefore, it is advisable to initially combine the umlaut domain with an international internet address. In this case, one of the instances refers to the main presence. By following this approach, most disadvantages can be compensated for without side effects, and attractive domain names can be tied to your website early on. You can directly find out if your umlaut domain is still available through our Domaincheck.
Photo: JanBaby pixabay.com
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