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The Role of Special Characters in .ee Domains: Benefits, Challenges, and Best Practices

The registration of .ee domains with full Estonian letters became possible in 2011. Today, more than 4,500 domain names—around 2.6% of all registered .ee domains—contain the letters ä, õ, ö, or ü. Using special characters in domain names has several advantages:
Linguistic Accuracy: Replacing letters with similar-looking alternatives can change the meaning of a word or name. For example, parimköök.ee (best kitchen) differs significantly from parimkook.ee (best cake), and söö.ee (eat) is not the same as soo.ee (bog).
Building Credibility: Customers recognize familiar domain names at a glance. Using a variation of the intended name can raise doubts and potentially result in lost customers. However, since many users are accustomed to replacing "ö" with "o" in domain names, it is safest for a company to register both versions.
Search Engine Visibility: Search engines consider punctuation and exact word matches when displaying results. This means that domains using special characters can achieve better visibility for relevant searches.
Despite these advantages, the use of special characters in domain names comes with technical limitations. Domains containing diacritical marks use Punycode encoding, meaning they are converted into a format such as "xn--domeen-n4a.ee". For example, our own website päev.internet.ee is converted into xn--pev-qla.internet.ee.
While modern web browsers and major email services like Gmail and Outlook support Punycode, some older systems and software may not display these domains correctly.
As a domain registry, our role is to manage the domain name registration process through accredited registrars and maintain the necessary DNS infrastructure. However, ensuring compatibility with dot-letter domains falls on app developers and service providers. Before deploying a domain with special characters, we strongly recommend testing its compatibility with your systems.
Dot-letter domains provide an excellent opportunity to strengthen brand identity, but they may also introduce technical and usability challenges. The best approach is to register your domain with and without special characters. This prevents others from registering a similar domain, ensuring better brand protection and user accessibility.
Register a .ee domain with one of our accredited service providers today: https://www.internet.ee/registrar-portal/accredited-registrars.

News
Auctions
How Estonia Tamed Domain Dropcatchers: The Story of Domain Auctions
In 2016, the .ee national domain faced a long-standing problem: the unfair technical advantage of so-called domain catchers. The solution? Implement a transparent auction system that would create a level playing field for all interested parties. It wasn’t inspired by anything else but was a purely internal initiative – with the goal of fairness, not profit. The .cz registry did an interview with our Head of Development, Timo Võhmar, and discussed our domain auction system and experiences.

News
.ee domain
How Can a .ee Domain and Website Help You Stand Out on ChatGPT?
These days, no one is untouched by the power of AI. Search engines like Google are being replaced by tools like ChatGPT, and many of the old rules of marketing are changing fast. So what does that mean for your website and domain name? Here's what you need to know.

Event
CENTR
CENTR Jamboree: innovating the domain industry?
May brought us the annual CENTR Jamboree, where domain experts from across Europe gathered to talk about the latest in internet domains. This year’s event was bigger than ever and covered a wide range of topics—from everyday work to long-term changes. Of course, the representation of the Estonian Internet Foundation (EIF) was there too.