Bear with us here, we need to talk Brexit!

More specifically we need to talk about .eu domains and their future after March 29th as some UK based businesses may be affected.

There are certain rules around who can register the local domains i.e. .uk, .eu, .it, .fr etc. These rules require the individual or business to be based in those countries and under the regions government.  After March 29th the UK would no longer be under the control of the EU goverment and therefore any .eu domains registered to a UK address are likely to be revoked. 

A message was sent out recently by some domain registrars stating the following.

In short any UK registered .eu domains are going to be revoked. Whether that be on March 29th 2019 or in January 2021. So if you are affected what can you do about it?

Protecting your website

If you run a .eu domain then there are a few things you can do to minimise the impact this will have on your website.

#1 Get a new domain

If you don't already have a backup domain then get one now.

Registering a .com or .co.uk domain name and putting plans in place for its use will prevent any nasty surprises when your customers suddenly find your .eu domain goes to nowhere.

#2 Direct your traffic

Once you have your backup domain name, start directing your users to it. There are several ways this can be done but the most common would be adding 301 permanent redirects to your website. These lines of code will seamlessley take your users from yourdomain.eu to yourdomain.co.uk and soon their browsers will have all but forgotten about the .eu domain. 

The redirects also aid Google and other search engines to find your new domain and direct traffic to it.

#3 Change your marketing material

In many ways this is the hardest part. Anywhere your link appears as your .eu domain needs to change. This might include, business cards, letterheads, labels, roller banners, car stickers, and anything else you use to promote your business. 

If a Brexit deal is agreed then you have until January 2021 to change all of these things, however if a no deal is reached then you only have until March 29th, which isn't long. It may be worth considering prioritising your changes to help manage the process. For example, if your roller banner only comes out twice a year but you hand business cards out every day then get the cards sorted first.

#4 Don't delay (just in case)

With the current political climate changing, seemingly daily, and no real certainty about what will happen so now is the best time to prepare. March is not that far and changing domains is not a quick task.

The full notice about all of the changes and the impacts they will have can be read here https://eurid.eu/en/register-a-eu-domain/brexit-notice/ but if you need help with changing over your website domain then get in touch with us today. 

Published: 8th Feb 2019

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