08 October 2018

In today’s blog we share 3 tips on how to choose the perfect .au domain name for your business.

Keep It Short, Memorable, and Easy To Type

What do the most popular Australian websites have in common? Really short, memorable, and easy to type domain names. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) doesn’t use commonwealthbankofaustralia.com.au*, for example, they use cba.com.au or commbank.com.au. Likewise, Coles: they’re lucky enough to have straight up coles.com.au.

The main reason for choosing a domain name that is short and sweet is to provide a good experience for your customer. It’s easier for them to recall and type straight into their browser rather than having to mess around googling because they forgot where your businesses website is located. This is especially important in advertising where you want to make it as easy as possible for your customer to get to the information they need or buy your product.

Likewise, short, memorable domain names are more brandable. It is easier and takes less time building familiarity in a domain like waster.com.au (who we wrote about here on the blog last week) than, say, wasterwastemanagementservices.com.au.

* CBA actually do own this domain name but it redirects to their main domain which is commbank.com.au.

No Numbers and Hyphens

It’s not the be all and end all if you choose a domain name with numbers and hyphens but it can play negatively on readability and memorability. The key is to keep your domain name as straightforward and unfussy as possible.

John, the lawnmower man, would be better off going with something like johnslawnmowing.com.au or johnslawns.com.au rather than johns-lawnmowing-services.com.au.

Choose the appropriate extension

We recently published a whole blog on the topic of choosing the right .au domain extension and it goes over the different extensions, e.g. .com.au, .id.au, and their intended purposes. Choosing the right extension is important when choosing the right domain name.

Our mate John, presuming he has an ABN, is best to choose a .com.au domain for his business. Even better, grab the .net.au too to help protect his brand.

But what about Rosie who just finished studying graphic design and wants to set up a portfolio site but doesn’t have an ABN? A .id.au might be her best bet—this extension is intended for Australian individuals. Or, if she is wanting to do the odd freelance job, maybe it’s time for her to register an ABN and get herself the more popular and recognised .com.au domain.

In short, when registering the perfect .au domain name keep it simple. Also, if your preferred domain isn’t available read our blog on drop catching as you never know, it may be about to expire.

Want to know if your preferred domain name is available and where you can register it? Check here.