Domain Names

If you don’t have your own domain name, it says to people that your web site is not important to you. Well, not important enough to invest $10 per year.

Make sure you get your domain name right from the get-go – you don’t want the hassle of re-branding in the future. Some things to consider:

  • businesses with only local clientele should have a domain name that reflects their country (the USA being a big exception). Australian businesses with few overseas customers should use .com.au
  • if you don’t mind the minor extra expense, grab the .com as well, it might come in handy one day
  • use your existing business name for your domain name – 123 Widgets should use 123widgets.com.au. But if your business name is long, like Tinkie, Winkie & Fidget Legal, then TWFLegal.com.au would be best.
  • don’t overpay! The most expensive domain registrars are often the least popular and the most likely to disappear.
  • don’t use your web host! There is no real advantage to buying a domain name from your web host, but there us a major disadvantage: if there are problems with your hosting, they could hold your domain hostage – or vice versa.
  • pay for many years up front. It works out cheaper (33% cheaper at GoDaddy), but also saves you the hassle of renewing each year, and remembering to do so.

Recommended Registrars

I use all of these myself as a domain investor:

  • NameCheap – great prices, easy to use, and they care about their customers. They sell .au domain names, $US14.98 per year.
  • Name.com – similar to NameCheap, but they do not sell Australian domain names.
  • GoDaddy – too big to fail, prices are reasonable – however they do push their other products a bit too much. They sell .au domain names, $AU14.99 per year.
  • EzyAddress – my own registrar, basically GoDaddy’s product and service, but at much lower prices

Cheapest Aussie Registrars

I prefer the larger, international registrars – but these will probably be OK as well