We already know that there are some great advantages with a .au domain. They’re short, easy to remember and proudly Australian.  

What you may not know is that with some careful planning, you can make your .au work hard to boost your digital performance. Our own digital marketing experts have done just that. Here are a few ideas we suggest you should consider when transitioning to .au. But don’t worry, if you don’t have time, we can always help.

So let’s consider some of the areas that you should be thinking about when you transition to .au.

Maintain and boost your Google search engine rankings and grow your business

Over time you have worked hard to push your web address up the Google search results page. You don’t want that to slip, but if your transition is mishandled, you may lose those rankings. Get your SEO strategy right, and it will pay off dividends.

Our expert team was not only able to maintain our rankings but, in fact, grew the number of Page 1 Google search pages by more than 30%.

Being found more easily is good for business. Our new users grew by 15%, and our e-commerce conversion rates increased by 41%. In fact, our total online transactions increased by 32%.

What you need to know when you transition to .au

These are just a few questions you will need to address to transition effectively:

• • What platform is your website is built on?

Some platforms, like WordPress, make the required transition strategy easier to execute.  For example, using WordPress, you can make the necessary changes on every page with one command.  Other platforms, such as Magento, Wix, Joomla and Squarespace, may require changes on every page.

• Are your web page canonicals identical throughout your site?

If you need to repeat information about your services across multiple pages, canonical tags direct Google to undertake SEO on just one of these pages. If you do not use canonicals, Google will decide which page to index. When transitioning, it is essential to make sure you update all your canonical tags.

• Have you informed Google?

You can then easily generate a list of your website’s URLs and make sure they have been updated. There are several ways you can list all those URLs, from checking your existing XML sitemap to exporting all pages via Google Analytics.

• Have you edited the property settings in Google Analytics to show your new .au address?
• Have you submitted a change of address in the Google Search Console?
• Has your XML sitemap been updated?

I want to boost my digital performance with a .au and need help

Not everyone has the time to pour over their website to ensure it is operating at peak performance. We have designed a bespoke SEO package which includes migrating your website to .au.

And if purchased as part of one of our ongoing digital marketing plans (minimum six months subscription), it’s yours for free⁴ (Offer). Chat to one of our .au SEO specialists today, and let’s turbo charge your website.

Speak to a .au SEO Specialist today

⁴Only .au domains purchased from Webcentral are eligible for this Offer. Applicable for standard stand-alone WordPress website builds. If your website is built on any other platform, we will need to scope your website and price accordingly. This SEO migration service does not include email migrations.

Webcentral reserves the right to alter the terms of this Offer at any time.