Selecting the Right Domain Name
A domain name is simply a unique address. Domain name servers hold the IP numbers of all registered websites and direct requests to the corresponding IP address. A domain name is as unique as a telephone number.
A domain name is extremely transportable. Even if you change your hosting company, you can arrange to have your domain name transferred to your new hosting company or server. Businesses should use the email address associated with their domain name and not their internet service provider. Once you terminate your service with your ISP, you cannot keep your email address. If however, you use the email address associated with your domain name, you could move anywhere in the world and keep the same email address.
We suggest that you choose a domain name that is easy for your customers to remember or branded to your company name. If you are a company, we suggest you choose a .com and .com.au.
Choosing between com or com.au
If you are deciding between choosing a .com or .com.au you need to consider Google and search engines. For localized search having a .com.au is important. If you want to market to the world, then choose both .com and com.au.
You could develop 2 distinct websites or have the website resolve at the same website.One that markets to a global audience and one that is dedicated to the Australian market or you could simply redirect the .com domain to the .com.au website, ensuring that all the customers that forgot to put the .au at the end of the domain name, will still get to your website.
How does domain name country id affect search engines?
Search engines use either the domain name or the ip address of where the website is hosted to determine relevancy for local search. If you have a .com and host it in the US, your website will not be listed in search results for google australia. You will need to host your .com website in Australia, for your website to appear in Google Australia results. Alternatively, register a .com.au and you can host your website overseas and it will still appear in Google Australia.
Protecting your domain name
Many companies and organisations choose to register multiple domain names. If you do not register the equivalent .com top level domain name, anyone is free to register it and use it for their own purposes. Customers that inadvertently type in the com address will find themselves at the wrong website.
Therefore it is a good idea to register multiple domains with both .com and .com.au, common misspellings of our domain name, company trademarks and products and utilize domain forwarding so that these supplementary domains are automatically redirected to your company website.
It is a small price to pay to ensure that your company name and trademarks are secured.
Organisations and networks
If you are an organisation, then a .org is more appropriate.
If your website, services a network of users, then a .net is an appropriate choice.
Generally, we would suggest that you avoid .tv or .biz. because these tags are not as recognized and it makes it easier for customers to remember your website address if it is a .com, .org or .net.
Related Articles
What is the Internet? provides background information on the internet and the need for domain name registration.