A domain is what people type or search to find you online – effectively your website’s address. You can own a domain without a website, but you can’t have a website without one. Picking the right extension is worth getting right from the start, since changing domains later means losing search rankings and having to redirect everything.
While .com is the most recognised extension globally, it’s not always the best choice for a business trading primarily in Australia. Every country has its own top-level domain – Australia is .au, the US is .us, New Zealand is .nz. For a business trading locally, an Australian extension signals credibility to local customers and tends to perform better for local search.
Since 2022, Australian businesses have had a third option alongside the traditional .com.au: a direct .au domain (for example, yourbusiness.au). It’s shorter, and if your business registered its matching .com.au or .net.au domain before the direct .au launch, you likely had priority to claim it. Whether .com.au or direct .au suits you better generally comes down to brand recognition – .com.au is the extension most Australians instinctively expect, so many established businesses stick with it, while newer or brand-conscious businesses are increasingly picking the shorter direct .au.
When choosing a name, aim for something unique, easy to remember and easy to spell – every extra syllable or unusual spelling is a chance for a customer to mistype it or forget it. A few restrictions to know: a .com.au or direct .au domain requires an active ABN or ACN. A .org.au domain is reserved for non-commercial entities such as charities, political parties and sporting clubs.
Choosing the right domain is a genuinely important branding and marketing decision, and not one worth rushing. For help navigating your options and getting a domain set up properly, talk to us at Web Marketing Angels – get in touch and we’ll help you get it right the first time.