8 South African Domain Types you can choose from

When setting up a business, it is always a good idea to consider the domain name to be used even while deciding the name of the business. The domain name would serve as the website address, email handle, would be used in print ads and other materials. Thus, one needs to choose the most suitable domain that would be fit for purpose. When targeting South Africa, choosing South African domain extensions is always the best bet. The good news is, the South African Domain Name industry is easily the most developed in Africa and offers a wide range of choices that can go a long way in improving the marketability of an online business.

.ZA is the official ccTLD

.ZA is the official Country-Code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) system for the Republic of South Africa. While there are about 11 recognized .za subsets, the 4 listed below are those managed by ZACR and offered by Web4Africa (a ZACR-Accredited Domain Registrar). 

.co.za – the quintessential juggernaut
This domain extension is easily the most popular in South Africa. .co.za is virtually the default choice for South African websites. Intended for local commercial interests, it is used by a wide section of the society: businesses, not-for-profit organizations, government departments, and individuals. It has the highest number of existing .za domain registrations – by far. 

.org.za – the charitable home place
This option has been experiencing a resurgence in recent times since it’s technical backend has been upgraded. Its management was migrated from an antiquated system to the modern EPP, following its migration to ZACR. This has made the registration of .org.za domains a breeze – as easy as .co.za has been for years. Intended for South African not-for-profit organizations, .org.za is widely registered and used by charities, political parties, academic institutions, city governments etc in South Africa. 

.net.za – the connectors’ connection
This option is intended for South African Internet Service Providers, Telecommunications Companies and the like. While .net.za is technically best suited as hostnames for servers, routers, switches and other networking equipment, it could serve as an excellent alternative to other options in some peculiar use case – say where an entity chooses to project itself as being very technical. The best example is ZACR’s primary web address: registry.net.za

.web.za – the resurging underdog
This option’s purpose is straightforward enough: serve as a credible alternative to .co.za. Of course, one cannot infringe on trademarks and copyrights by registering the .web.za versions of popular .co.za names but it can still find a lot of genuine use cases say where the .co.za option is taken but not put to use.

City Generic Top-Level Domains

These were introduced in 2014 to serve South Africa’s leading cities, on the web. 

.joburg – the choice for Johannesburg
The City of Gold’s domain extension is .joburg – it is intended for entities in or around Johannesburg or those who just wish to be identified with the boisterous mega-city.

.capetown – the choice for Cape Town
.capetown is the opportunity for the people of the beautiful coastal city of Cape Town to identify with their online brand identity. It allows local entities to show their commitment to the local growth.

.durban – the choice for Durban city
This option is open to all and Sundry. .durban is an opportunity for brands that are based in Durban to identify with the city and to set their roots in the Durban digital space.

Continental gTLD

.africa – the Pan-African choice
While not exclusively South African, .africa is fast gaining usage in South Africa. This option is intended for anyone anywhere who wishes to identify with the Continent of Africa.

The 8 domain extensions listed above are available from Web4Africa, an ICANN Accredited and ZACR Accredited Domain Name Registrar offering hundreds of domain extensions to clients worldwide.

Staff Writer