We are an official registrar of .coop-domains, authorized by ICANN and dotCoop. You can pre-register your
coop-domains at us for free. You only have to pay, if we can successfully register your domains.
Single and Two Character domain names are now available at coop-domains. These very special coop-domains have previously not been available for registration because of contract restrictions and technical concerns.
dotCoop is pleased to announce that they are now available for registration by eligible organizations at the standard fee.
Expressions of Interest
Because there are a limited number of these coop-domains, dotCoop will require that those interested in registering any single or two character coop-domain name provide a brief Expression of Interest (EOI) concerning coop-domains that they would like to register.
Initial Application Period
There will be an initial three-month period when all EOI's will be held to insure that competing EOI's can be received and reviewed to provide cooperatives from around the world an opportunity to submit EOI's rather than creating a land rush atmosphere. After the period, the initial coop-domains will be awarded and all that have submitted an EOI at that time will be notified via email as to the status of their application. Thereafter, applications will be handled on a
first-come, first-serve basis.
EOI's can be submitted via email or post. All submissions should be in English although supporting information may be provided in other
languages.
All awards will be final and the names will be made available to those registrants for registration at that time. If the name is not registered with 7 days of being awarded, then any other EOI for that domain will be
reconsidered and a new recipient selected and notified.
dotCoop reserves the right to impose an application fee not in excess of USD$500 if the number of EOI's is unexpectedly large
Evaluation of Expressions of Interest
The evaluation of the Expressions of Interest will consider, at a minimum:
- whether the domain would be actively used; an activation schedule should be included with the EOI;
- previous use or identification with the name being requested including registered trademarks in use by the cooperative (although previous use is not required);
- whether the eligible organization has particular standing within its regional, national or international cooperative organizations or sectors;
- whether the proposed use will be specific to the registrant or in general support of a geographic or sectoral group of cooperatives with wider use and/access being encouraged without financial restrictions. However, such
open access is not required.
In short, the EOI's would be evaluated in terms of the value of the use of the domain to the cooperative community with active use a high priority.
EOI's will be evaluated by DotCooperation LLC staff and consulting cooperative leaders as needed. All award decisions are at the discretion of dotCoop and are final.
Please note that applicants for two character coop-domains must identify whether the characters they are interested in are the same as those of country code TLDs (http://www.iso.org/iso/country_codes/iso_3166_code_lists/english_country_na
m es_and_code_elements.htm). The registration of the codes actually in use is still restricted. However dotCoop will work with the authorizing agency and the potential registrant to allow use of these codes as well. It is anticipated that only recognized apex organizations in those countries would be able to gain agreement with the controlling agency to use these domains.
Once the coop-domain is registered, .coop will monitor the use of these domains on a periodic basis to confirm that the activation and use descriptions included in the EOI are being following. There is no intent to control
the content of any site but to ensure that the site is following the EOI
that governed the award of the domain registration to the eligible organization.
dotCoop retains the right to revoke the coop-domain registration if the site development and use does not conform to the information provided in the
EOI. Registrants will be given a reasonable time after notification by
dotCoop of non- conformance to correct any issues. If the name is revoked for any reason, there will be no refund of the registration fees to the co-op or their registrar.
Questions and Submissions
Please direct any additional questions or your Expressions of Interest to secura@domainregistry.de.
Why coop-domains?
Co-operatives around the world can benefit from using a coop-domain
name. Whether you have a web site or not or whether your cooperative is
large or small, the coop-domain provides many benefits to co-operatives. These are
some of the reasons that organizations have bought coop-domains.
Which one works for you?
- Reclaim Your Names
Register for all the domain names your
co-op needs for a strong online presence but which weren't available
under other TLDs. Because the coop-domain is available for use by only
cooperatives, it gives your co-op a better chance of registering all the
memorable, meaningful names you wanted.
- Improve your ranking at Google and other search engines
It is a good idea to register your cooperative's name, but it is still a better idea to register generic terms.
Many people are searching in the Internet rather for a generic term than for your company's name.
Seach engines like Google rank your listing higher if a keyword from a search is in your domain name. You can get these names with .coop when they are not available in .com.
Listen to what the Internet "gurus" have to say about what names to buy:
"As we've frequently reported in our SE Book & Newsletter, placing keywords right in your domain name can give your site a major boost on search engines. We've also reported that some engines are no longer accepting sub-directory pages. This is one of the reasons the smart marketing pros have been buying keyword-phrase domain names. They use them as doorway pages to boost traffic to their sites." says Stephen Mahaney, author of The Unfair Advantage Book on Winning the Search Engine Wars.
Michael Campbell points out, in Nothing But 'Net, "The reason we want keywords in the domain name is that search engines often get 'tuned' to find, and give better positioning to, domains with keywords in them."
Declan Dunn, author of Winning the Affiliate Game, sent out a memo to his affiliates advising "To get on top of the search engines, one of the critical keys is a good domain name LOADED with keywords." Declan goes on to say "This news is spreading among WebMasters, SearchEngine Meisters, Internet marketers, and big corporations. Don't wait."
- Differentiate Your Cooperative
New top-level domains
reserved for specific types of businesses are fast becoming the best way
for businesses to stand out on the Internet amid a sea of .coms. Co-ops
are using the coop-domain to set their cooperative apart -- and above -- other web
sites.
- Add Value to Your Web Site
Specialized domain names also
enhance the value of your web names by instantly telling users - in just
four letters - that your business is a cooperative, owned and governed
by its members. Other specialized domain names, like .gov and .edu,
provide legitimacy and credibility to the information on the web site,
since users know that strict criteria are applied to anyone using these
restricted domain names in their web addresses. Use the coop-domain to give peace
of mind to users on your site.
- Gain a Competitive Edge
Help consumers find the
businesses they trust online. Extensive market research shows that
consumers trust and prefer to do business with cooperatives( see below:
coop-a domain of trust). Use the coop-domain
to help consumers and members find your cooperative online. Tell them
you're not just another .com and gain a competitive edge over
investor-owned companies!
- Enhance Your Internet Exposure
Register for memorable
product and services-based coop-domains that will produce more hits when
people search for your cooperative on the web. Under .com, there are no
English words still available for registration. Under .coop, the sky is
still the limit. So be creative and register names that reflect your
cooperative's image.
- Increase Traffic to Your Site
Register multiple coop-domains
and use them all to point to your web site. Using many
names under different domains to point to the same site is a time-tested
way to help consumers get to your site, even if they can't remember your
exact address. The coop-domain gives cooperatives an exclusive domain name that
will help consumers find them on the web.
- Serve Your Members
Use the coop-domain for your members-only web
site and remind your members about the value of cooperation. Members can
look here for co-op news, governance services, discussion groups and
other important information and member services.
coop - the domain of trust
A new national survey of 2,000 American adults found that a majority of Americans say they are more likely to buy products and services from a business if they know it's a cooperative.
It also found that three of four consumers believe co-ops have the best interests of consumers in mind, run their businesses in a trustworthy manner, and are committed to the highest quality service. Co-ops outscored investor-owned corporations on eight of ten positive business attributes. "This survey demonstrates the tremendous advantage cooperatives have in the marketplace if they identify themselves as co-ops," said Paul Hazen, president and CEO of the National Cooperative Business Association. "The coop-domain is a key tool in identifying your business as a co-op. Every time a consumer goes to a .coop web site, and every time they see a .coop web address in marketing materials, they'll know that business is a co-op. And that translates into more business and more satisfied members."
The national survey found that more than two in three consumers say knowing a business is a co-op makes them more likely to patronize a food co-op, a credit union, and utility cooperatives, and buy food products from a farmer-owned cooperative. Other market research demonstrates that the coop-domain, in particular, is a net plus among Internet users regarding the likelihood that they'll visit, return to, and refer others to a .coop web site, trust information on that site, and buy products or services online. Internet users also demonstrate greater trust in web sites that are known to be restricted for use only by credible and respected entities. For example, .edu and .gov, both restricted web addresses, scored highest on user trust. Meanwhile, less than half of users said they're
likely to trust information on web sites using domains associated primarily with for-profit businesses, such as .com, .net and .biz.
"Our own market research on web addresses, in tandem with the recent national consumer survey results on
public attitudes toward cooperatives demonstrate that if consumers can identify co-ops through
their coop-domains, the advantages are significant," said Hazen.
Self-Certification
Anyone interested in a Coop-Domain must confirm the following self-certification by ticking the box:
"I, the registrant, understand, agree to, and certify that my organization meets at least one of the .COOP eligibility requirements:
•a democratically controlled member-owned cooperative, consistent with the International 7 Cooperative Principles; or
•an Association comprised of cooperatives; or
•an Organization that is majority controlled by a Cooperative; or
•an Entity whose operations are principally dedicated to serving Cooperatives.
I understand and agree that DotCooperation LLC conducts audits of .COOP domain registrations and reserves the right to cancel or modify a domain name in accordance with their policies."
Price and conditions of coop-domains
Our standard offer is 99 US-Dollars/year for each coop-domain. The minimum registration
period is of two years. Your credit card will be charged only after successful registration of your
ordered domain(s).
The coop-domain is a domain exclusive for cooperatives and other eligible organizations
.All kind of cooperatives are entiteled to register coop-domains.
You should send address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail accounts of two references, that can verify
your eligibility for a coop-domain. Please enter this information in the comment field below.
If you are a non-profit organiziation, but not a co-op, we suggest, that you register an
org-domain .
How to renew and update your .coop-domain
To provide updates to Secura GmbH about your contact information or DNS Host Names or IP addresses, please send an email
to secura@domainregistry.de with the domain name that is affected as well as the changes requested.
Changes are applied as received. To verify your change has been applied, please look at the whois for
.coop at http://www.nic.coop/whois.asp.
We appreciate your coop-renewal. You find all informations about renewal at
"How to renew your coop-domain".