Types of .NG Domains
.NG Domains can be classified into Restricted and unrestricted. While the restricted ones are strictly vetted and the credentials of the qualifying applicant subject to review before the domains are approved, the unrestricted ones have fewer bottlenecks though the registration of some trademarks and vulgar words are not allowed.
Unrestricted .NG
These are typically open to registration by anyone, anywhere, subject to certain terms and conditions.
- .ng - general and open to anyone anywhere
- .com.ng - intended for Nigerian businesses but can be registered by anyone
- .i.ng - general and open
- .mobi.ng - open to anyone, but intended for websites targeted at mobile devices
- .name.ng - open, intended for personal Nigerian websites
- .org.ng - open, intended for Nigerian non-profits
Restricted .NG
These are not open and can be registered by qualifying entities within Nigeria only. The policy is strictly enforced by the .NG registry.
- .edu.ng - strictly for Nigerian tertiary academic institutions only
- .sch.ng - restricted to other Nigerian schools that do not qualify for .edu.ng
- .gov.ng - strictly for Nigerian government entities only
- .net.ng - restricted to Nigerian Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
- .mil.ng - restricted to entities within the Nigerian Armed Forces only
Other types of domains
There are dozens of hundreds of other types of generic and country-code domains. The generic domains cut across different categories like:
- Business
- Education
- Entertainment
- Financial
- Food & Beverage
- Fun Domains
- Healthcare
- Home & Construction
- Legal
- Marketing & Communications
- News & Information
- Photography
- Political & Military
- Real Estate
- Shopping & Retail
- Sports & Fitness
- Style & Fashion
- Technology
Are .NG Domains better?
While there are several factors to be considered when choosing a domain name, the use-case is the most important of them all. In essence, if your audience or marketplace is in Nigeria, there is no other domain name type that can beat .NG domains. There are several reasons for this.
- Price: .ng domains tend to be cheaper, and their pricing is usually in Nigerian Naira
- Identity: they easily identify your website with Nigeria
- Search engine ranking: all other things being equal, search engines tend to rank websites using .ng higher for searches within Nigeria or associated with Nigeria
- Brand protection: it is necessary to protect your brand or company name in Nigeria even if your .ng domain is not used as your primary website or email address
Whether you choose to go for a more generic domain name extension or the Nigerian .ng, it is important to make the decision based on which is closest to your use case. Where your budget allows it, you may also register more than one domain name, and redirect one to the other, depending on your preference.
Where to Register .NG Domains
You can register .ng domains from Web4Africa, a leading ICANN & NIRA Accredited Domain Name Registrar. Established in 2002, Web4Africa is a leading web hosting company with presence across data centres in4 African countries including Nigeria.