Author: Comunicació

Your .barcelona domain takes no holidays, but you do!

Posted on by Comunicació

The summer is here, bringing with it the temptation to lower our digital shutters a little. Rhythms change and teams are smaller as people take holidays. Yet SEO does not go on holiday, search engines continue to index sites, users continue to look for content and the competition keeps on working.

Don’t fret! The good news is that with a little planning, your .barcelona site can keep working while you relax.

1. Schedule content before you leave

SEO thrives on regularity. If you stop posting content for a few weeks, search engines don’t know this and when you come back in September, perhaps the competition has got ahead of you.

The key is simple: create more content in the spring months and schedule content ahead. You might not be around, but your content is still there. 

2. Use August as an opportunity

If you’ve got less work that usual, it’s the perfect time for tasks that always get put off:

  • Update obsolete content: check old posts, check that links work and update any information that has changed.
  • Optimise content for AI: implement metadata and check your content is well-structured for AI systems.
  • Plan the autumn: which content do you want to publish when you come back from your holiday? Get ahead with this so that you have an advantage when the time comes.

3. Adapt your website to the summer reality

If your company changes the way it works in the summer, the website needs to reflect this:

  • Update customer service times and keep them visible.
  • Prepare automatic replies that indicate response times. 
  • If you offer summer discounts, give them visibility with a pop-up or a banner.
  • Redirect users to social media if this is where you keep your information up to date more frequently.

4. Think about mobile formats

In the summer, people use their mobile phones to look for information: from the beach, from their balconies, the airport or the train. Make sure your .barcelona is visible and working properly in small-screen format.

5. Create light and different content

The summer is a good excuse to move out of your comfort zone. Try formats that you don’t normally use. Assess the reaction that these new resources get and remember that in the summer you’ve got a bit more leeway to experiment. 

Relax, you’ve earned it. But leave your .barcelona domain ready to work!

Bring your business, organisation or project to life with a .barcelona domain! Register it here. 

Your city, your .barcelona

Posted on by Comunicació

Naturally, everything changes. And recent years have seen Barcelona become transformed to adapt to people that live here or experience the city in some way.

It’s ten years since the city started to have its own domain, .barcelona.

Having its own domain means having its own real space on the internet, a place that belongs to you, that bears your name and that identifies you.

The .barcelona domain is the way that people in Barcelona have of existing on the internet: of having our own place, of being able to show what we do every day and offering everybody a window to see it. From anywhere in the world, from any device and at any time.

And that’s no small thing, internet is a vast space, much of it unknown and full or noise, where it’s increasing more difficult to stand out. Yet there is a way to say who you are and where you come from right from the start: with your own .barcelona domain.

The .barcelona domain says it all:

It indicates a geoterritorial location that everyone recognises, people and search engines alike: Barcelona.

It shows that your business is linked to Barcelona’s values: a cosmopolitan city, welcoming and full of people, with plenty of sunshine, a Mediterranean diet and a great atmosphere.

It indicates a genuine project, with personality. Whether you run a business, form part of the social sector, manage a cultural space or are developing your own personal project, there is room for all this under .barcelona.

The domain has become a brand for our part of the world, a recognisable address, which thousands of people in Barcelona have chosen to exist online.

Barcelona is changing. The internet is changing. But the .barcelona domain continues, growing with the city.

Register your .barcelona domain now.

The .barcelona domain is successfully presented at Bizbarcelona

Posted on by Comunicació

The .barcelona domain was presented at Bizbarcelona on 4 and 5 October. This was an opportunity for us to present the .barcelona domain to the city’s self-employed professionals, local businesses and small enterprises, and establish a direct connection with all those interested in using this domain extension to improve their online presence.

Barcelona Activa, the city’s local development agency, provided us with a space for answering visitors’ questions and concerns about the city’s domain. Being able to connect their businesses in a digital environment to the city and its values proved to be a clear advantage over other extensions when it came to thinking of a domain for their project.

Besides dealing with inquiries and clearing up queries, we at the .barcelona domain also organised two information chats during the event, focusing on the numerous benefits that the .barcelona domain could bring businesses and the self-employed. 

Participation in events such as Bizbarcelona provides .barcelona domain with an exceptional opportunity for promoting its importance and finding out at first hand the needs of the city’s businesses and professionals. Given the growing importance of having an online presence, the .barcelona domain is also being presented as a key tool for businesses keen to stand out in Barcelona and attract more clients, local and international alike.

The .barcelona domain shares its local digitalisation project with the GeoTLD Group

Posted on by Comunicació

The GeoTLD Group’s annual meeting was held in Cologne on 11 and 12 September. The meeting was also attended by the.cat, .bzh, .paris, .amsterdam, .nl, .eus, .gal, .wien, .hamburg, .berlin, .denic, .fsl and .alsace domains, to name a few, as well as the main registrars.

The meeting was organised by ECO.de, a German association representing several digital organisations and enterprises, to ensure a sustainable, responsible and safe digital transformation.

Roger Serra and Beatriz Guzmán, from the .cat Foundation, an Enterprise in charge of managing the .barcelona domain, was commissioned with sharing the main initiatives planned for the city’s domain. An opportunity to present the Elmeuclubesportiu.barcelona project to other city domains and invite them to create local-digitalisation projects.

Common strategies were also established during the GeoTLD meetring, on issues such as the NIS2 Directive and co-marketing, allowing us to discover experiences of other city domains which could be used as an inspiration for new initiatives for the .barcelona domain.

Barcelona, the European Capital of Democracy

Posted on by Comunicació

Barcelona is the European Capital of Democracy (ECoD) from September 2023 to October 2024, a European initiative aimed at promoting citizen debate and participation in today’s democracy. The capitalofdemocracy.barcelona domain will provide you with full information on European and international events, talks and activities focusing on democratic innovation and citizen participation.

This period, with Barcelona as the first European Capital of Democracy, will see dozens of activities and talks organised by various institutions and organisations from civil society, divided into three areas:

• City events: activities in Barcelona and its metropolitan region.

• International events: European and international activities in Barcelona and its metropolitan region.

• Fringe events: various activities, discussions and talks throughout the year.

The capitalofdemocracy.barcelona website will offer you not just the full programme but also the latest news and enable everyone between the ages of 8 and 17 to take part in “Volem decidir!” [We want to decide], the first European Capital of Democracy participatory process aimed at this age group.

A trip around the different continents through five domains

Posted on by Comunicació

We’re making the most of the summer again this year to take a virtual trip around the world through five city domains. Interestingly, all of them were approved by the ICANN in 2014, coinciding with the .barcelona domain, as part of the expansion of the GLTD. Want to find out which ones?

We start our journey in .paris, a domain aimed at businesses, organisations and individuals based in Paris or who have a close connection with the city. Projects with the .paris domain include the website for the Louvre (louvre.paris), one of the most important art museums in the world, and the Paris Opera (opera.paris).

Still in Europe, we can take in one of the key cities for history and contemporary art. We’re talking about .berlin, the domain for the German city of Berlin. One of the most notable websites is for the Stiftung Planetarium Berlin (planetarium.berlin), which features a wide array of activities, from visits to the observatory to concerts and a cinema programme. One of the most iconic theatres in the city, the Friedrichstadt-Palast, has also opted for a .berlin domain for its website palast.berlin. Interestingly, there’s also a band by the name of .berlin. You can discover them on the website theband.berlin.

Next we’re taking a plane to .joburg. This is the domain for Johannesburg, popularly known as Joburg, one of the main cities in South Africa. Representatives of this domain include the annual art event of Open Studios Joburg, which is held in May (openstudios.joburg). There’s still a few months to go, but it’s interesting to take a look and discover the local artists.

After packing our bags again, we’re off to visit .melbourne in Australia, a city which stands out for its cultural, artistic and culinary wealth. On the website dosomething.melbourne we can find numerous leisure options for enjoying the city.

The last part of this digital trip around the world takes us to .quebec, the domain for the province and city in the east of Canada with its French legacy, rich in culture, history and nature. One notable website is fabcity-montreal.quebec, an initiative promoted by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), the MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, the Fundació fab and Barcelona City Council, with the aim of connecting international cities wishing to be self-sufficient, productive cities in the local sphere and connected globally.

Our peculiar trip around the world ends here. We wish you the best for the holidays and we’ll see you again in September!

How did local domains come about?

Posted on by Comunicació

A few weeks back, the domains of .barcelona, .cat, .gal and .eus had a meeting with our registration companies to explain our projects to them, but also to exchange opinions and experiences and develop a closer relationship with them.

All four domains form part of the geoTLD.group. an international non-profit association representing the interests of top-level geographical domains that identify a city, a region, a language or a culture.

The .cat domain appeared in 2005 and was the first domain in the world to represent a language or a culture. Its appearance was possible thanks to a successful campaign and mobilisation which strengthened the Catalan-speaking civil society. Since then, the domain has been managed by the Fundació .cat and its regulations explain that its use is for websites with content in Catalan, regardless of whether they contain content in other languages or not.

The creation of the .cat domain provided the model for the approval of the .eus domain in 2008, representing Basque language and culture. This domain is managed by the PuntuEus foundation.

Five years later, in 2013, the ICANN approved a new domain representing one of the languages and cultures in the Spanish state. In this case, .gal is the domain for Galician language and culture and is managed by PuntoGal.

The .barcelona domain came into service in 2016 and was the first city domain in the Spanish state, managed by Barcelona City Council. Nearly four thousand domains were registered when it was launched, and now any individual, company or organisation identifying with the city’s values can register.

Besides identifying users with a local or linguistic community, all of these domains are managed by organisations which devote part of their income to projects that promote digitalisation in their regions.

17 July: World Emoji Day

Posted on by Comunicació

World Emoji Day is an annual celebration held on 17 July, reminding us of the importance and impact of these little icons that have changed the way we communicate. Since they were created, emojis have become an integral part of our digital communication, enabling us to express emotions, ideas and reactions in a visual and universal way.

The first emoji was created at the start of the 90s by the Japanese programmer Shigetaka Kurita. The first set of 176 emojis, designed for messaging purposes by the company NTT DoCoMo, included elements such as emoticons, images of animals, foods, objects and other visual symbols. Since then, emojis have evolved and grown, with an ever broader and more diverse range of graphic representations.

There are currently thousands of emojis available, covering a wide variety of topics, such as emotions, activities, animals, foods, places, objects and much more. They are used on a global scale and have become a shared visual language that goes beyond linguistic and cultural barriers.

Here are some tips on using emojis when you communicate:

·        Contextualisation: Make sure the emoji you choose relates to the message you want to convey. Use the emoji to highlight or strengthen the meaning of your words.

·        Avoid excessive use: Use emojis in moderation. Using too many or overloading your message with them can make it difficult to understand. Choose the most relevant and significant emojis to communicate your point of view.

·       Universal meaning: Bear in mind that emojis can be interpreted differently depending on culture and context. To avoid misunderstandings, make sure you know the common meaning of an emoji before using it.

·        Experiment: Don’t be afraid to explore new emojis and use them to express yourself. Creative use of emojis can add a fun and exciting dimension to your digital conversations.

Have a good World Emoji Day! 😉 🎉

The Grec Festival is also .barcelona

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The collective voice is the idea underpinning the 47th Barcelona Grec Festival, with a programme inviting reflection on how group awareness enriches individual qualities. You’ll find full details on this edition at festivalgrec.barcelona.

Between now and 30 July you can enjoy local and international productions that look at global issues such as the conservation of nature, women’s voices, the consequences of war, the importance of giving visibility to people at risk of social exclusion and the increasing presence of artificial intelligence. There are also activities all around the city, while “La Xirgu en família” offers shows, concerts and workshops for families to enjoy with the children.You’ll find the full programme on the website festivalgrec.barcelona, where you can also download it, buy tickets and keep up to date with the latest news. Not to be miss

Meeting between .barcelona, .cat, .gal, .eus and registration companies in Barcelona

Posted on by Comunicació

The domains of .barcelona, .cat, .gal and .eus shared our plans and outlook with registration companies in a working session on 8 June, explaining our future projects, forecasts for the evolution of the market and internet trends.

The session began with a round table with Josep Maria Ganyet and Marc Argemí, moderated by Albert Cuesta, about the impact of artificial intelligence for the use of the internet and its influence on the domains market, as well as its relevance for online security and identity.

In the second part of the meeting, the domains explained our current projects, as well as the action planned for the coming months and our outlook moving forward.

The meeting provided an opportunity to share the attributes of the .barcelona domain, at the service of companies, organisations and individuals with established links to the city or looking to associate their project with the city’s values. We were also able to introduce registration companies to the projects being carried out by .barcelona to reduce the digital divide.

Sessions such as this one help us to share experiences and opinions, enabling us to work together with other domains and registration companies to improve user experience.