We’ve interviewed many Canadian entrepreneurs, and have worked with partners like StartUp Canada to share stories about innovative startups bringing their businesses online and the benefits they’ve experienced from choosing .CA over other domain name extensions.
Here are a few reasons why some small Canadian businesses chose .CA:
1) To showcase their Canadian identity
Manitobah Mukluks are Canada’s iconic winter boot so having an iconic Canadian domain like Manitobah.ca is a nice way to reinforce that.
– Sean McCormick, Manitobah Mukluks
In addition to selling their products through retail, Manitobah Mukluks has shipped over 45,000 orders through their online store since it launched.
2) To act as a digital elevator pitch
One challenge of advertising online is getting as much information across to clients as quickly as possible. With my company name and my .CA domain, potential clients know my name, occupation and location in only 15 characters and in under 10 seconds. Now that’s a fast elevator pitch!
– Marg Cresswell, Murals by Marg
Marg has been bringing inspiring and original art into homes, schools, businesses and communities with customized murals and decorative painting for over 20 years. She creates unique and personalized works of art throughout Ontario and the United States. Marg’s domain name is to-the-point and easy to remember, helping attract more visitors to her website.
3) To be recognizable to their target audience
We want to be the first destination Canadians go to when looking for financial products. We bought RateHub.ca then we acquired RateHub.com a few years later.
– Alyssa Richard, RateHub
RateHub is an online service that allows Canadians make better financial decisions by providing tools that compare mortgage rates (and more!). RateHub.com redirects to RateHub.ca, which allows the company to capture leads through different domains while maintaining their Canadian image.
4) To be easily remembered
At the end of the day, you choose your domain name for your customers. We recommend that they find the domain name that is easiest for their customers to remember.
– Lizl Fluery, Elevate Yoga
With their web address being elevateyoga.ca, it doesn’t get much more simple than that. These local entrepreneurs believe that establishing a strong online presence was important for the success of their business.
5) To capture the Canadian spirit of their business
We chose a Canadian domain because we’re proud to be a Canadian organization, and by using .CA, it helps to communicate that to the public. As Canadians, we want to help our neighbours and we went to see everyone do well. At Mealshare, that’s what we’re all about. People taking small action to help people in need.
– Jeremy Bryant, Mealshare
After travelling throughout Asia, Africa and South America, Jeremy Byrant and Andrew Hall were disturbed by the hunger they observed. When they returned back home, they realized that it is not just third-world countries affected by hunger and wanted to address the issue. They started up Mealshare to help those in need in the local community.
When businesses choose a .CA domain for their website, it shows their customers that they are proudly Canadian. Visit our .CA success stories to learn more about Canadian small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs who chose .CA for their website.
Erin brings to CIRA a background of marketing experience in higher education and the not-for-profit sector. In 2015, she participated in ISOC’s Youth@IGF Programme and traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico to attend the IGF. She has a Bachelor of International Business from Carleton University.
