According to a IE Domain Registry report, a total of 392 websites were registered in the county of Laois in 2017.
The 392 new websites in the last year means that there was a 26 per cent increase in Laois from the figures in 2016.
Last year seen the largest number of new websites registered in the country – with 39,523.
There are 237,412 websites registered with the .ie domain, which is up 7 per cent from last year and 30 per cent compared to five years ago.
The rise in figures suggest that the .ie domain remains a strong and preferable online address.
The .ie domain is one of the most identifiable domains in the world and is associated with authentic and secure websites.
There is often a correlation between the increase in websites and the economic growth and entrepreneurship in the country.
Although there has been an increase, the IE Domain Registry have also highlighted that there is still need for work to be done.
According to there digital health report, one-fifth of small and medium enterprises have no online presence at all, while two-thirds cannot process online payments.
A major issue that contributes to the deficiency in the presence of Irish businesses online is because of the broadband quality.
There is set to be an even further increase in the number of .ie domains registered in 2018, as from March 2018, any individual or business with a provable connection to Ireland will be able to register to the .ie domain.
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