Why You Should Get a .au Domain for Your Australian Business
On March 24, 2022 a new domain name, .au direct, was launched in Australia.
The .au domain allows Australian businesses to register a .au direct domain instead of second-level .au extensions, such as .com.au, .org.au, etc. It’s simple; your URL becomes yourbusinessdomainname.au.
Reasons to Get .au for Your Aussie Business
- Benefits of .au direct domains
- Benefits of registering for .au domains now
- Benefits of adding .au direct to your domains list
- How to register a .au domain name for my business?
Since their arrival, Australian businesses have been learning more about the new .au domain name, what it is, and why it makes sense for Australian companies to undertake a .au registration. So let’s consider why you should get a .au domain name for your business.
Benefits of .au direct domains
There are several benefits for businesses associated with the .au domain release. The new .au domain names offer:
- Short, simple and uniquely Australian domain names
- A wider choice of websites or email addresses ending in .au
- Ease of use and memorability for customers, improving the chances of your business being found during search
- Improved ability to bolster your local Australian customer following
- A less visually cluttered space for your business name or brand to shine
In addition, the new .au domains offer all businesses and brands the opportunity to be aligned with new emerging innovations. It informs the world that your business is equally innovative.
When you have a new business idea, you want to act quickly. You don’t need to register an ABN to use a .au TLD (top-level domain). If you’re still developing your new business idea and don’t yet have an ABN, you can register a .au direct to build a digital presence right away.
Increasingly websites are being accessed on the move with mobile devices. Memorable and shorter domain names will always perform better in these environments.
Benefits of registering for .au domains now
For the six months following the .au direct names launch on March 24, 2022, a Priority Allocation Process will be in place that will give existing holders of a .au domain name the first opportunity to register for their matching .au direct domain name. If you already have a registered domain name such as yourdomainname.com.au, you can apply for Priority Status through your domain registrar in Australia. You can also apply to register completely new names that don’t exist in any other .au namespace through the Priority Allocation Process.
If more than one business is eligible to register the .au direct (e.g. if the same name is used for one business with .com.au, and the other with .net.au), there will be an issue. Domain registration requirements suggest that priority for registration is based on the earliest domain creation date.
It’s crucial to secure your .au domain before those six months have elapsed. After this period, you may find the name you want has been purchased by another business, potentially planning to capitalise on your strong business name.
For more information on how the Priority Allocation process works, please see here.
Benefits of adding .au direct to your domains list
Purchasing a .au domain name may enable you to protect your business and brand from imitators in the market. It’s essential to safeguard the work that you have done in the market by ensuring that others do not capitalise on your business domain name by registering a .au domain name version.
More than one domain name for a single business can improve your overall ranking in the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP) results. A website connected to many domain names is much easier to find, and customers prefer having more than one way of finding you when searching the internet.
It is now well accepted that businesses should have multiple domain names. Having multiple domain names does not mean that you must host and manage more than one website. Numerous different URLs can be easily redirected to just one website. Read here for more reasons to register multiple domains for your business.
How to register a .au domain name for my business?
To be eligible to buy a new .au domain, you must have an Australian presence, determined for individuals by citizenship or residency status, business with a current ACN or ABN, and foreign companies with an Australian trademark registration or application.
If you already have a .au extension associated with a domain (i.e. yourbusinessname.com.au), you will have priority when registering your new .au domain extension associated with that domain (i.e. yourbusinessname.au). That priority will prevail for the first six months of launching .au domain names.
On September 22 2022, if you have not registered your preferred .au domain, any other business may do so.
Registering your new .au domain is straightforward. Click here and enter the .au domain name you require in the search screen below:
Immediately you will see the domain name availability and costs. If your preferred domain name is not available for the reasons mentioned earlier, it will be listed as “currently being registered” or “unavailable”.
Please speak to one of our expert team members about how we can assist your business to generate an optimum return from the launch of the .au direct domain names.