Domain names. If you’ve got a website, then you need them. Your domain name is your address on the internet, so it’s very important if you want people to be able to find you.

You never own a domain name, you register it in your name for a period of time, allowing you exclusive use, and first option to renew at the end of the term of registration.

.com

The most popular domain names end in .com, they are popular and relatively inexpensive, so if your preferred name is available in .com you should probably register it. .com domain names can be registered for 1 year at a time, or up to 10 years.

All 3, 4 and 5 letter combinations are long gone, as well as most dictionary words, so you’ll usually have a combination of words or your business name.

.com.au

For Australian businesses, it’s vital to have a .com.au domain name. These are available to register only for 2 years at a time, and you must have an ABN and a closely matching business name in order to register one. .com.au domain names are regulated by AUDA (.au Domain Administration).

Pricing

Pricing varies greatly. One of the most popular registrars in Australia is Melbourne IT, and they are just about the most expensive, at around $75 per year. Go Daddy is one of the least expensive domain registrars, with .com’s available at $11 per year, which is very close to wholesale price. Most are in between these extremes.

Your website designer will often have a domain name registration service. They will probably charge their wholesale rate, plus a mark-up to cover their time administering the name on your behalf. If you are not confident managing your own domain names, this is probably your best option.

Ownership

However, make sure that you are entered as the registrant of the domain name. You can check this by using a ‘whois’ service, such as InterNIC for most domain names, and Ausregistry Whois Lookup for .com.au domain names.

Go For It

You can browse for domain names available, and register them on this website.

Your domain name is your home on the internet. It’s your online brand, it’s on your business cards, and it’s in your email address. You’ll be using it a lot, so it makes good sense to get the best one you can.

So what makes a good domain name? Starting with the suffix, a .com domain name is essential for a commercial business. Leave the .net and .org for networks and organisations.

If you’re doing business in Australia then a .com.au will be good to have also. You can put your website on either the .com or the .com.au, and redirect the other one, so both names will lead to your website.

www.example.com

www.example.com.au

Then comes the main part after the ‘www’s. If you can register an exact match of your business name, then that’s the way to go. If not, then you can be creative and use relevant descriptive or locality keywords. If you sell widgets, then www.examplewidgets.com could be an option. If your market is based in Maleny, then www.examplewidgetsmaleny.com would be a good choice.

Domain names can include a dash (-), however be wary of getting one in your domain name, as you will forever be reminding people to put the dash in, and if they forget then they may end up at another website instead of yours.

www.example-widgets.com

Keep it as short as possible, if your domain name is too long, there is more chance of forgetting or misspellings.

www.examplehasthebestwidgetsinmaleny.com

You can research available domain names on the Arrowsmith Websites Domains page.