Web domain analysis of Agricultural Research Institutes in Nigeria

Abstract

The study focused on the web domain analysis of Agricultural research institutes in Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was employed  to select the 34 agricultural research institutes in Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to ascertain the type of  domain name and domain extension of the websites of agricultural research institutes and to determine the domain age of the websites  of agricultural research institutes. The secondary data for the study were collected through the use of webometric tools such as SEO  (Search Engine Optimization) tools, Moz, Similarweb, and Ahrefs. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicated that majority of the agricultural research institutes used acronyms as the domain names. The domain extensions in use by the  agricultural research institutes were .org, .edu.ng, and .gov.ng. The oldest domain age was 26years while the youngest domain age was  1year. The study concluded that the websites of CIMMYT, ICRISAT, CIFOR, IFPRI, ILRI, IITA, CIP, ICRAF, WARDA, RMRDC, NAERLS, NIFST,  NIOMR, NACGRAB, NRCRI, NVRI, NCRI, LCRI, FIIRO, and FRIN agricultural research institutes had older domain age. The Study  recommended that there should be inter-organization collaboration between the national and international agricultural research  institutes and the academia.