.ae or .com – Which Is Best for a Business in the UAE

Every business these days needs a website, and when you’re setting one up in the United Arab Emirates, you have a big choice to make – .com or .ae? There are pros and cons to each of these top level domain names (TLDs), and in this guide, we’ll put them side-by-side to see which comes out on top.

All About .ae

Let’s kick off with a look at .ae. .ae is what’s known as a country-code top level domain, or ccTLD. ccTLDs are assigned to individual countries around the world, and there are hundreds of them. Examples include .uk for the United Kingdom and .de for Germany.

.ae is the ccTLD for the United Arab Emirates. It’s not too well known beyond the borders of the UAE, but the local Emirati population is very familiar with this domain name, making it a go-to choice among Emirati businesses, startups, and organizations.

The Pros of an .ae Domain Name

Advantages of .ae are:

Ideal for an Emirati Audience

As touched on above, the .ae extension is well-known to the local population in the UAE. It’s right up there alongside .com in terms of recognition, and many people naturally type .ae at the end of web addresses when entering them for the first time or checking to see if a site exists.

Good for Local SEO

If you want strong SEO results in the UAE and to increase the chances of your business site appearing on the first page of Google search results, having an .ae address isn’t a bad call. Google tends to prioritize local sites, so people in the UAE are likely to see .ae sites leading their search results.

Lots of Available Names

One of the issues with some domain names – like .com, which we’ll talk about more below – is that because they’re so popular, lots of web addresses are already taken. That’s not the case with .ae. There are still plenty of .ae web names waiting to be claimed, so it’s much easier to secure the one that you want.

The Cons of an .ae Domain Name

Downsides include:

More Expensive

It usually costs more to register an .ae domain than a .com, or other options like .net. So, if you’re on a tight budget, this might not be the best choice.

Lacks International Appeal

.ae is great for use in the United Arab Emirates. But elsewhere, it’s nowhere near as well-known, and many people might even see a web address ending with .ae and suspect that it could be a scam, since they’re unfamiliar with that particular country code.

All About .com

Next, let’s discuss a TLD that hardly needs any introduction. .com is, in many ways, the godfather of all internet domain names. It was one of the original TLDs, released decades ago in the early days of the internet, and it’s become by far the most widely used TLD out there.

Around half of all websites use .com, and users all over the globe know and trust this TLD. Unlike .ae, which is a ccTLD, .com is considered to be a generic TLD, which makes it more versatile and universally appealing.

The Pros of a .com Domain Name

Pros for .com are:

Globally Known

Everyone knows .com. It’s the de facto domain name, appears on the majority of websites, and it’s not tied to any particular nation or region. So, if you want to appeal not just to Emiratis but to people worldwide, it’s worth going for .com.

Often Cheaper

You usually won’t have to pay quite as much for a .com website as for one using the .ae extension. The difference may only be marginal in some cases, but every little bit helps, especially if you have a small budget.

The Cons of a .com Domain Name

On the downside:

Saturated Market

As we mentioned, .com is the most common TLD and tons of sites already use it. That means that most names with .com have already been taken, so it can be tricky to get the exact domain name you want with a .com ending.

.ae vs. .com: Which Is Best?

So, weighing it all up, which should you pick? Well, that depends on your objectives. If you specifically want to appeal to Emiratis, an .ae is usually ideal, but for brands with a global focus, .com is the better choice.