Information on registering an australian domain name. Things you need to know before registering an australian domain name. Know before you buy or register an australian domain name.
AUSTRALIA DOMAIN NAMES
can ONLY be registered and renewed in blocks of TWO YEARS
You can only buy, register and renew australian domain names for a period of two years. You are NOT able to purchase, register or renew any australian domain name for LESS than 2 years.
This includes all australian extensions, eg: .com.au .net.au and will most probably include any future domains released by the .au registry owners.
This includes all australian extensions, eg: .com.au .net.au and will most probably include any future domains released by the .au registry owners.
Cheaphostr.com includes
.com.au & .net.au domain names
FREE with our hosting plans
however…
due to australian domain names being NOT able to be registered, purchased or renewed for less than 2 years, you will need to purchase your hosting plan in blocks of two years OR purchase the domain name yourself before purchasing hosting (we recommend option 1)
Cheaphostr.com includes .com.au and .net.au domain names free with our standard hosting plans, business hosting plans, ecommerce hosting plans & unlimited hosting plans, and NOT including vps hosting or web builder hosting plans
Cheaphostr.com includes .com.au and .net.au domain names free with our standard hosting plans, business hosting plans, ecommerce hosting plans & unlimited hosting plans, and NOT including vps hosting or web builder hosting plans
Domains with a .au extension are owned, regulated and supplied by the registrar. The registrar for australian domain names is the australian government.
Cheaphostr.com acts as an agent for the australian domain registry. Australian domain names are a THIRD PARTY PRODUCT where cheaphostr.com acts on your behalf to register and provide services for the domain name you purchase from the provider.
The rules pertaining to the ownership and usage of an australian domain name are set down by the legal owner, which is the australian government.
Cheaphostr.com has NO control over the rules, and/or terms and conditions as set down by the owning party. This means we are not able to purchase, register or renew your domain name for LESS than 2 years.
Registering an australian domain name for less than 2 years is NOT possible.
The rules pertaining to the ownership and usage of an australian domain name are set down by the legal owner, which is the australian government.
Cheaphostr.com has NO control over the rules, and/or terms and conditions as set down by the owning party. This means we are not able to purchase, register or renew your domain name for LESS than 2 years.
Registering an australian domain name for less than 2 years is NOT possible.
Not everyone is allowed to register an Australian domain name.
You can be DENIED the purchase of a .au domain
To register a .au australian domain name you need to meet certain criteria.
Australian domain name extensions are intended to be used by AUSTRALIAN businesses.
Seeing a website listed on search results, or a link to any site anywhere on the internet, shows people that the business is Australian.
This is supposed to strengthen the “buy Australia” campaign, where any persons searching for products or services KNOWS that they are dealing with an australian business.
This is NOT the case!
Only AUSTRALIAN businesses and businesses from a short list of approved countries that DO BUSINESS IN australia are permitted to register, own or use an australian domain name.
Australian domain name extensions are intended to be used by AUSTRALIAN businesses.
Seeing a website listed on search results, or a link to any site anywhere on the internet, shows people that the business is Australian.
This is supposed to strengthen the “buy Australia” campaign, where any persons searching for products or services KNOWS that they are dealing with an australian business.
This is NOT the case!
Only AUSTRALIAN businesses and businesses from a short list of approved countries that DO BUSINESS IN australia are permitted to register, own or use an australian domain name.
Just because you SEE a .au extension does NOT mean you are dealing with a 100% australian business!
You’d be surprised to know how MANY websites using a .com.au domain name are NOT Australian businesses. A LOT of the BIG name websites (that we cant name or we’d be sued…) not only DONT have an Australian business but have NO dealings IN Australia other than owning a website that is online IN Australia.
The reason why .com.au names were created in the first place was to protect Australian Businesses.
With the LAX policing and closing of loopholes ANY big multinational company can buy one provided that they can PROVE they operate IN australia.
Apparently just opening a website is enough proof.
The reason why .com.au names were created in the first place was to protect Australian Businesses.
With the LAX policing and closing of loopholes ANY big multinational company can buy one provided that they can PROVE they operate IN australia.
Apparently just opening a website is enough proof.
To buy an Australian domain name you will need to have REGISTERED A BUSINESS NAME with the department of fair trading in Australia
Australian Registry domain names are only available for businesses. Before you can register an Australian domain name you will be required to REGISTER a BUSINESS NAME with the Australian Government.
You will be required to provide this information when registering the domain name.
You will be required to provide this information when registering the domain name.
Your domain name does NOT need to be EXACTLY THE SAME as your BUSINESS NAME but…
If your domain name does not MATCH your business name you will need to provide a:
“reasonable relationship” to the domain name.
What this means is, for example, if your business name is G.J.Smith & Sons, but your business is “landscaping” it would be both unreasonable and detrimental to you to change the name of your business just so you can be found online or in search results.
If you can PROVE that your business deals in a certain field, eg: landscaping, and, eg, that your business is located in Parramatta, then you can reasonably argue that you should be permitted to register and use the domain name= landscapers.com.au, landscaping.com.au, landscapersparramatta.com.au
You will be asked to show PROOF of your claims that you actually DO work in these areas.
As you do not yet have a website setup, you cant provide a link to this, but you can provide links to facebook, you can also provide info from the local phone book, yellow pages or other proofs to be approved.
At the same time, if your business name is “thepoint” because you are a fashion designer, a restaurant at the point, or a restaurant called “the point” but you’re nowhere near “the point”, or you’re starting a political blog about “the point” and etc, the domain name “thepoint.com.au” may or may NOT work for you.
You may be better to use domains like:
thepointfashiondesigns.com.au
thepointrestaurants.com.au (hey, add the “s” you may expand into other cities later on!
thepointnewsreview.com.au
thepointblog.com.au
ALWAYS REMEMBER keywords RULE on search engine results. Using your business name may KILL you on search results leaving you having to pay enormous amounts of money for advertising and promotions!
“reasonable relationship” to the domain name.
What this means is, for example, if your business name is G.J.Smith & Sons, but your business is “landscaping” it would be both unreasonable and detrimental to you to change the name of your business just so you can be found online or in search results.
If you can PROVE that your business deals in a certain field, eg: landscaping, and, eg, that your business is located in Parramatta, then you can reasonably argue that you should be permitted to register and use the domain name= landscapers.com.au, landscaping.com.au, landscapersparramatta.com.au
You will be asked to show PROOF of your claims that you actually DO work in these areas.
As you do not yet have a website setup, you cant provide a link to this, but you can provide links to facebook, you can also provide info from the local phone book, yellow pages or other proofs to be approved.
At the same time, if your business name is “thepoint” because you are a fashion designer, a restaurant at the point, or a restaurant called “the point” but you’re nowhere near “the point”, or you’re starting a political blog about “the point” and etc, the domain name “thepoint.com.au” may or may NOT work for you.
You may be better to use domains like:
thepointfashiondesigns.com.au
thepointrestaurants.com.au (hey, add the “s” you may expand into other cities later on!
thepointnewsreview.com.au
thepointblog.com.au
ALWAYS REMEMBER keywords RULE on search engine results. Using your business name may KILL you on search results leaving you having to pay enormous amounts of money for advertising and promotions!
Maybe you should buy TWO .au domain names…….
Keyword domain names WORK BETTER on the internet than OBSCURE business names.
If your business name does not SAY EXACTLY what you are then you will NOT be found on search engines with an ORGANIC search.
This means: people will be searching for “horse blankets” by searching using the words “horse blankets”
They are not going to magically find a listing for your website with the domain name: lighteningridgeco.com.au
Your business priority is to be FOUND, both by current clients, and more importantly NEW clients. If you use a domain name that does NOT use your business name, you can simply add a page at the website with the NAME of the business as the title, and put all your business information on this page.
If you’re “worried” that your “business” wont be found if you use a keyword domain name we suggest:
1. First buy the KEYWORDED domain name and set your MAIN website up in this domain. Then wait and see the results (between 6 weeks to 2 months. This is the time it will take search engines to completely finishing indexing ANY new site)
2. Buy BOTH domain names= a) using the keyworded domain name AND your actual business name.
In the website you setup for the BUSINESS NAME, only add a few basic pages and add links to your MAIN keyworded site.
You WILL get more visitors to the keyworded domain name, and you will have to pay LESS for advertising and promotions using the keyworded domain name.
If your business name does not SAY EXACTLY what you are then you will NOT be found on search engines with an ORGANIC search.
This means: people will be searching for “horse blankets” by searching using the words “horse blankets”
They are not going to magically find a listing for your website with the domain name: lighteningridgeco.com.au
Your business priority is to be FOUND, both by current clients, and more importantly NEW clients. If you use a domain name that does NOT use your business name, you can simply add a page at the website with the NAME of the business as the title, and put all your business information on this page.
If you’re “worried” that your “business” wont be found if you use a keyword domain name we suggest:
1. First buy the KEYWORDED domain name and set your MAIN website up in this domain. Then wait and see the results (between 6 weeks to 2 months. This is the time it will take search engines to completely finishing indexing ANY new site)
2. Buy BOTH domain names= a) using the keyworded domain name AND your actual business name.
In the website you setup for the BUSINESS NAME, only add a few basic pages and add links to your MAIN keyworded site.
You WILL get more visitors to the keyworded domain name, and you will have to pay LESS for advertising and promotions using the keyworded domain name.
If you intend to do business INTERNATIONALLY
DONT BUY A .au DOMAIN!!!
.au domain names are ONLY shown on AUSTRALIAN SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS
.au domain names are NOT shown on search results overseas!
If you intend to sell products or services to ANY overseas countries you will NOT be listed on search engines overseas and your website will ONLY be searchable or findable by people searching IN Australia.
This is VERY important. The world is a big place, and its a huge market. The largest populations spending money online are the US and China. If you buy a .com.au domain or a .net.au name you will NEVER be able to do business with these countries or any others.
It is POSSIBLE to promote your business to overseas countries, but you will need to do this by promoting your business, services or products on social platforms, like facebook, or PAYING for advertising. All of these other options are more work for you, and quite possibly can get prohibitively expensive.
PPC advertising, pay per click advertising, is where you have banners or links to your website placed on another persons website. You will be charged every time a person clicks your link or banner even if they DONT buy anything from you.
The cost of PPC depends on your keywords.
it could be as little as 1 cent per click, or it could be TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars PER CLICK
.au domain names are NOT shown on search results overseas!
If you intend to sell products or services to ANY overseas countries you will NOT be listed on search engines overseas and your website will ONLY be searchable or findable by people searching IN Australia.
This is VERY important. The world is a big place, and its a huge market. The largest populations spending money online are the US and China. If you buy a .com.au domain or a .net.au name you will NEVER be able to do business with these countries or any others.
It is POSSIBLE to promote your business to overseas countries, but you will need to do this by promoting your business, services or products on social platforms, like facebook, or PAYING for advertising. All of these other options are more work for you, and quite possibly can get prohibitively expensive.
PPC advertising, pay per click advertising, is where you have banners or links to your website placed on another persons website. You will be charged every time a person clicks your link or banner even if they DONT buy anything from you.
The cost of PPC depends on your keywords.
it could be as little as 1 cent per click, or it could be TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars PER CLICK
We DONT recommend Australian domain names for ANY website!
Australian domain names exist ONLY to tell the world you are an Australian business.
You can do this yourself by adding those words to the front page of your website, or in the footer, and adding an Australian Flag graphic helps too!
For example:
this business is 100% Australian Owned & Operated
You can do this yourself by adding those words to the front page of your website, or in the footer, and adding an Australian Flag graphic helps too!
For example:
this business is 100% Australian Owned & Operated
- .au domain names COST more money to register
- You will need to purchase hosting in blocks of TWO YEARS at a time (pay every second year) OR
- register and renew the domain name every two years
- you will also need to register your business with the government. This adds over $100 to the costs
- you will have to PROVE who you are
- you will have to PROVE your business operates in Australia
- you will have to PROVE that the domain name you want to use is RELATED to your business services or products
- you DONT have any protections against overseas owned websites in competition against you using a .au domain
- you DONT have any protections against a competitor registering a TLD to OUTRANK you on search results
- YOU ARE NOT LISTED ON OVERSEAS SEARCH ENGINES
- Can FORCE you to have to pay and pay and pay for advertising and promotions
- You can be denied buying the domain name
- If a competitor files a complaint suggesting that they dont think your domain name and your business services or products MATCH then you can be forced to go through the checks and proofs all over again. And you might fail a second time.
Aside note: the reporting of Australian businesses for domain names that dont match the business services or products to the domain registry is VERY prevalent.
We have an ongoing “battle” with a clients domain name for a bed and breakfast accomodation in a specific location that is reported EVERY year by a competitor that is hoping the domain registration will be cancelled so they can purchase and use it themselves.
Every claim is investigated with no limitations on the amount of times you can be reported or have to reprove your domain matches your business.
You COULD have to do this year after year after year.
If for some reason you “miss” the notification email and DONT provide the information required in the time allowed your domain name will be “paused” (and your website will go OFFLINE) until you provide the info, or CANCELLED and SOLD to another person.
Business with a .com.au or .net.au, .org.au etc domain names that are on page one of google have a significantly HIGH rate of reports made to the registry. This practice is undertaken by people attempting to get/buy/own/use a domain name that has a high ranking either for their own use or to SELL to the highest bidder on domain name reselling sites
Get an AUTOMATIC lower ranking!
TLD’s RANK HIGHER on search results than COUNTRY EXTENSIONS
Your site will be LAST every time!
.com domain names have the highest ranking.
.net is next
and etc etc
A TLD is a TOP LEVEL DOMAIN name.
Domain name extensions have a RANKING order.
Based on three websites with near identical information and the exact same seo SCORE and page rank, if the three websites use the SAME domain name, but have a different domain extension, the search engines will list the .com FIRST.
So, if you have a competitor in your business, and you are using a .com.au domain name, and they want to OUTRANK you, all the have to do is register the SAME domain name IN a .com, and they will appear on search results ABOVE your listings!
example ranking order=
yourwebsite.com
yourwebsite.net
yourwebsite.info
yourwebsite.org
yourwebsite.com.au
you will be LAST on the list, because COUNTRY extensions RANK LOWER than TLDs.
.net is next
and etc etc
A TLD is a TOP LEVEL DOMAIN name.
Domain name extensions have a RANKING order.
Based on three websites with near identical information and the exact same seo SCORE and page rank, if the three websites use the SAME domain name, but have a different domain extension, the search engines will list the .com FIRST.
So, if you have a competitor in your business, and you are using a .com.au domain name, and they want to OUTRANK you, all the have to do is register the SAME domain name IN a .com, and they will appear on search results ABOVE your listings!
example ranking order=
yourwebsite.com
yourwebsite.net
yourwebsite.info
yourwebsite.org
yourwebsite.com.au
you will be LAST on the list, because COUNTRY extensions RANK LOWER than TLDs.
I already have my website setup in a .com.au!
What do I do?!!!
Dont Panic.
It’s fixable.
Your website is made up of folders and files stored in your hosting. If your website is a CMS, or a PHP site it may also have databases.
These can ALL be COPIED, and any decent coder can change your old infomation to new information.
For example, using a text editor a coder (or you if you feel confident enough) can use search/replace to change the OLD domain name to the NEW domain name.
eg:
Find: mywebsite.com.au
replace: mywebsite.com
GO
and when its completed (takes about 20 seconds), click SAVE
the text editor will find and replace all instances of the old domain name and replace it with the new domain name.
This is done either in the site files and/or the .sql file used for the databases.
After this is done your site files are simply uploaded into the new database and new domain name and your SAME website using your NEW domain name is completely installed.
this is called a website transfer and is a very simple proceedure.
You DONT have to worry about things getting messed up as a FULL backup is made before starting the transfer, and the old files can be reinstalled or re-editted if there are any issues.
Its likely you have links TO your website on other websites. If you have access to these links, you should change them (facebook pages etc).
If the links are on websites where you cant change them you can either send emails to the website owner asking them to change the links or:
you should KEEP your old domain name and add auto redirect codes TO the new domain name.
It’s fixable.
Your website is made up of folders and files stored in your hosting. If your website is a CMS, or a PHP site it may also have databases.
These can ALL be COPIED, and any decent coder can change your old infomation to new information.
For example, using a text editor a coder (or you if you feel confident enough) can use search/replace to change the OLD domain name to the NEW domain name.
eg:
Find: mywebsite.com.au
replace: mywebsite.com
GO
and when its completed (takes about 20 seconds), click SAVE
the text editor will find and replace all instances of the old domain name and replace it with the new domain name.
This is done either in the site files and/or the .sql file used for the databases.
After this is done your site files are simply uploaded into the new database and new domain name and your SAME website using your NEW domain name is completely installed.
this is called a website transfer and is a very simple proceedure.
You DONT have to worry about things getting messed up as a FULL backup is made before starting the transfer, and the old files can be reinstalled or re-editted if there are any issues.
Its likely you have links TO your website on other websites. If you have access to these links, you should change them (facebook pages etc).
If the links are on websites where you cant change them you can either send emails to the website owner asking them to change the links or:
you should KEEP your old domain name and add auto redirect codes TO the new domain name.
We cant think of ANY reason to purchase a .au domain name
If you still think your website or business would be best off to use one, then go ahead and use it.
Please remember it WILL cost you MORE $$$ even if your hosting plan includes a .com.au or .net.au for free!
You will STILL have to register a business name, and may be forced to pay for advertising.
Australian domain names are ONLY viable for businesses that are 100% IN Australia with NO possibility of doing ANY kind of business OUTSIDE of Australia.
And we CANT think of ANY business that could NOT do business, or make sales/profit worldwide!
Even if you’re a house painter, and you can ONLY work IN your local area there’s no reason why you cant earn money from advertising by writing articles on your website about painting tips and earning income from adsense or affiliate products when people from other countries read your articles about cleaning paint brushes and click an ad link that earns YOU money per click.
Hairdressers CAN sell shampoos, conditioners, brushes etc, and can write articles about hair care.
Dog Walkers can sell dog products. Dog Blankets, collars, leashes, flea treatments, and write articles about “how to train a puppy”.
there is ALWAYS a way to EARN MONEY even if you are LAND LOCKED in ONE location!
Buy a .com
Please remember it WILL cost you MORE $$$ even if your hosting plan includes a .com.au or .net.au for free!
You will STILL have to register a business name, and may be forced to pay for advertising.
Australian domain names are ONLY viable for businesses that are 100% IN Australia with NO possibility of doing ANY kind of business OUTSIDE of Australia.
And we CANT think of ANY business that could NOT do business, or make sales/profit worldwide!
Even if you’re a house painter, and you can ONLY work IN your local area there’s no reason why you cant earn money from advertising by writing articles on your website about painting tips and earning income from adsense or affiliate products when people from other countries read your articles about cleaning paint brushes and click an ad link that earns YOU money per click.
Hairdressers CAN sell shampoos, conditioners, brushes etc, and can write articles about hair care.
Dog Walkers can sell dog products. Dog Blankets, collars, leashes, flea treatments, and write articles about “how to train a puppy”.
there is ALWAYS a way to EARN MONEY even if you are LAND LOCKED in ONE location!
Buy a .com