When you decide to take your company abroad, Germany is one of the soundest choices on a good many counts. We went through that in detail in how to open your company to the German market. Picking a domain is one of the first steps, so we wanted to look at the domains used most in Germany.

Targeting another country can bring your company remarkable results.

Do not do this: do not target the German market with a domain belonging to another country. You cannot target Germany with a .com.tr extension, for instance.

Local Domains for German Speaking Countries

Alongside the country specific extensions (ccTLDs), the DACH region also has regional endings tied to its regions and cities (geoTLDs).

Domain extensions used in Germany
Source: inwx.de

German Domains

The domains specific to Germany are these;

ExtensionWhat it is
.DEGermany’s official country code top level domain.
.COM.DEA country specific second level domain under the .DE TLD.
.DE.COMA generic second level domain under .COM.
.BAYERNThe regional extension for the state of Bavaria.
.NRWThe regional extension for North Rhine-Westphalia.  
.RUHRThe regional extension for the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia.
.SAARLANDThe regional extension for the federal state of Saarland.  
.BERLINThe city domain for Berlin, the German capital.  
.HAMBURGThe city domain for Hamburg.
.KOELNCity domains for Cologne: the German (.KOELN) and English (.COLOGNE) versions.

Swiss Domains

ExtensionWhat it is
.CHSwitzerland’s official country code top level domain. “CH” stands for “Confoederatio Helvetica”, Latin for the Swiss Confederation.
.SWISSThe English language extension for Switzerland.
.ZUERICHThe city extension for Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland.

Austrian Domains

ExtensionWhat it is
.ATAustria’s official country code top level domain. “AT” is short for Austria.
.CO.ATA country specific second level domain under the .AT TLD, aimed at companies.
.OR.ATA country code second level domain under the .AT TLD, aimed at organizations.
.TIROLThe regional extension for the state of Tyrol.
.WIENThe city specific domain for Vienna, the Austrian capital.

Topic Specific Extensions for the German Speaking Region

  • .GMBH
  • .GRATIS
  • .HAUS
  • .IMMO
  • .IMMOBILIEN
  • .JETZT
  • .KAUFEN
  • .REISE
  • .REISEN
  • .SCHULE
  • .VERSICHERUNG

More Domains Built on German Words

  • .AUTO
  • .AUTOS
  • .AUDIO
  • .BANK
  • .BIO
  • .BLOG
  • .CAFE
  • .CLUB
  • .COMPUTER
  • .DESIGN
  • .DIGITAL
  • .DOWNLOAD
  • .EMAIL
  • .FANS
  • .FASHION
  • .FEEDBACK
  • .FILM
  • .FIT
  • .FITNESS
  • .FLORIST
  • .GLOBAL
  • .GOLF
  • .GURU
  • .HOSTING
  • .HOTEL
  • .INFO
  • .INTERNATIONAL
  • .JOBS
  • .LAND
  • .LEGAL
  • .LOTTO
  • .MAKEUP
  • .MARKETING
  • .MONSTER
  • .MUSEUM
  • .NAME
  • .ONLINE
  • .PARTY
  • .PHOTO
  • .PHOTOS
  • .PHYSIO
  • .PINK
  • .PIZZA
  • .PLUS
  • .PRO
  • .RADIO
  • .REST
  • .RESTAURANT
  • .SALON
  • .SHOP
  • .SHOPPING
  • .SOLAR
  • .SPORT
  • .STUDIO
  • .STYLE
  • .TATTOO
  • .TAXI
  • .TEAM
  • .TICKETS
  • .WEBSITE
  • .ZONE

The German Specific Extensions With the Most Registrations Worldwide

  1. .DE
  2. .CH
  3. .AT
  4. .BERLIN
  5. .KOELN
  6. .BAYERN
  7. .GMBH
  8. .IMMO
  9. .HAMBURG
  10. .NRW

Why the Domain Matters in SEO Abroad

As we have said before about international SEO, at Türk SEM we treat the choice of domain as one of the most important decisions there is. If you plan to serve more than one country, these are the domains we would recommend.

  • .COM
  • .NET
  • .ORG