Choosing and Registering a Domain Name

A web address (domain name) identifies your website not just to the world, but to search engines. You can also use it for your email address. To make sure your website has a good web address, register one that is intuitive and relevant to your business.

Before you register a new web address

Before you register a new web address, make sure you check the web address is:

• not a business name with Consumer Affairs Victoria
• not registered as a company with Australian Securities and Investments Corporation (ASIC)
• not a registered trademark with Intellectual Property Australia (IP Australia). If it's not, you can register it as one
  available using the AusRegistry public WHOIS service on the Australian Domain Name Administrator web site (AuDA).

Once you've done the checks above, go ahead and register the web address by choosing an AuDA accredited registrar or their reseller.
(For more information see External Links on the right.)

Choosing a domain name

In general the best website names are:

• three syllables or less e.g. yahoo, webwombat
• easy to remember, pronounce, spell and type, e.g. google
• alliterative, e.g. redraven, bluebug, firefox

The end of a web address for an Australian business is generally .com.au. When registering the name, the Internet Name Registrar will allow you to register the web address to your business if you have a valid claim to use the name, that is, if the name sounds like or is a derivation of your registered business name or personal name. However, it must be available.

A quick way to find out if a domain name is available is to use a WHOIS service such as the one provided for free by AusRegistry (see External Links). If your preferred name is available the next step is to register it for your business.

Registering a domain name

If your preferred domain name is available, you can register it at any one of over a dozen accredited registration organisations.  For a list of accredited domain name registrars visit the Australain Domain Name Administrator's (auDA) website (see External Links).  These are organisations authorised by auDA to provide services to people who want to register a new domain name, renew their existing domain name, or make changes to their domain name record.

Tip: It's worth registering your preferred domain name/s as soon as possible, even if you're not planning to build a website for a few months (or a few years!) You may also want to register more than one address ending e.g. .com, .com.au, .org

New domain names

In 2009 companies will be able to apply for new top level domain names relevant to their name. This means in addition to the already well known top level domains (.com, .net, .org, etc), you may also be able to use your business name or brand e.g. www.search.google instead of www.google.com.

ICANN (the organisation that oversees domain names) has also approved the use of non-Latin characters in top level domain names e.g. Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Arabic script.

Buying these domains is likely to be very costly, so you should carefully consider whether the expense is worth it to your business.

Tip: Read more about the new generic top level domain names (gTLDs) and what they mean for business at the ICANN and Melbourne law firm Allens Arthur Robinson websites (see External Links).