Choosing Your Domain Name
Categories: Domains, General, Hosting & DomainsA domain name is the address or location used to find your website (aka. your web address, url). Your domain name should primarily be chosen based on your company or business name, what best describes your website or what your website is about. As a general rule try to avoid:
- words that are often misspelt
- hypens – eg. www.my-website.com.au. Hypens are accepted in domain names but are often typed in by users without the hypen which could result in your visitor going to a competing website
- try not to make your name to long, think of logical abbreviations that could be used
Searching for a domain name
Now that you have decided on what name you want to register. You now need to see if it’s available, if the name you have thought of is already registered then you will need to think of an alternative or register the name with a different extension (described below).
You can search for domain name availability at http://domains.onlinevisions.com.au
Domain Name Extensions
There a variety of domain name extensions available, the most popular being the .com, and in Australia the .com.au.
So which one should you register?
If you’re targeting an Australian market then registering a .com.au will identify you as an Australian website / business, you do need an ABN to register a .com.au domain name. This is particular important with ecommerce websites when an online shopper may be seeking to purchase from a store based in Australia.
A .com is better to target an international market, but there are fewer names available. The .net extension is just as good for a international market if you find the .com extension is already taken. There are no formal requirements to register a .com or .net domain name.
A .org or .org.au signifies a non-profit organisation so should always be used in that instance.
The other extensions are primarly used because the popular extensions have already been registered. These include .biz, .info etc.
