VeriSign, the global registry operator for .COM, .NET and other extensions, has just released its 2014 fourth quarter Domain Name Industry Brief (DNIB). In this brief, VeriSign reviews the state of the domain industry using a statistical and analytical approach.  As always, the brief contains interesting data, insights, key performance metrics, and growth opportunities.

The fourth quarter of 2014 closed with a base of 288 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), an increase of four million domain names, or 1.3 percent over the third quarter of 2014. The brief shows that registrations have grown by 16.9 million, or 6.2 percent, year over year. Total country-code TLD (ccTLD) registrations were 134.0 million domain names, a 1.5 percent increase quarter over quarter, and an 8.7 percent increase year over year.

ccTLDs represent a significant portion of the total global domain count and continue to grow at a healthy clip. This represents an excellent opportunity for our resellers. The ability to seamlessly offer a much wider selection of ccTLDs at no upfront cost is an additional way of attracting new customers and is one of the best ways to "anchor" existing customers. With fierce competition in the web hosting and domain reseller industry, customer attrition can be high; however, the more services and products a client has with you, the harder it is for them to leave.  With ccTLDs in demand, they are a great way to get your customers to add more services with you and thus create extra points of stickiness.