fact sheet: domain names

A domain name is your own unique Internet address in the world. No-one else can have the same address as you. This is an obvious advantage for a website, but is equally important for email addresses.

An email address that reflects your own name gives a more professional image. It shows that you are serious about your business and professional in its management. This is particularly important for small businesses and sole traders. Nothing makes you look more small fry than a hotmail or ISP name email address. These should only be used for personal email addresses.

A domain name gives you portability. You may take your domain name with you if you change your ISP. Otherwise you need a new email address each time you change, which requires reprinting your stationery and advertising material each time.

eg yourbusiness@bigpond.com is always tied to the ISP (in this case Telstra).

Every country has a unique code for example:
Australia = au, Canada = ca, Germany = de, Spain - es, Japan = jp

If an address doesn't display a country code, it is probably a US-based site. The country code for the United States, .us is being used more frequently and will be seen much more in the future.

At present, domain types usually fall into the following endings:

COMMON QUESTIONS:

Do I have to have a website if I want a domain name?

No. Your domain name is a unique address and is used firstly in your email address and later (or never) in a website address.

How much does it cost?

Approximately $140 including GST for 2 years registration

What happens after 2 years?

You will be sent a notice prior to the renewal date. Just pay the renewal fee before the due date and it will be renewed for another 2 years.

What happens if I don't decide to renew?

Your domain name will become available to others to use and you may not use the domain in your email or web address any longer.

How do I decide whether to register a .com or .com.au domain?

Our recommendation is to register a .com.au for several reasons:

- The criteria for registering .com.au domains is very strict. Only registered businesses or Pty Ltd companies can register .com.au.

- The .com.au domain is the recognised standard for australian businesses.

- As the recognised standard, this is the address your customers will type in first when looking for your website if they don't have it in writing.

- Australians in general make an assumption that a website with .com domain is an American business.

- It can be an advantage to be known as an Australian company when chasing overseas clients.

What if I want to register a .com domain?

There are no restrictions on registering a .com domain and therefore just about every common or clever marketing name is already registered. It is a matter of finding out if anyone in the world already thought of it! The registration fee for .com.is less - approximately $70 for 2 years

How do I register a domain name?

Munatha can do this for you. If you wish to do it yourself, contact Melbourne IT on ..... and organise it through them. They are the controllers of domain names in Australia. They have registered resellers who can also register for you.

You will need your RBN (Registered Business Number) which is printed on your Certificate of Registration that you received when you registerd the business name. If you are a company, you need to provide your ACN number. This information is cross-checked in a database to check that you do own that business name. This is protection for you against someone else registering your name.

A warning about domain name registration

There have been some very dodgy practices around domain name registration in the last few years and at least one company is being investigated and prosecuted for illegal trading practices. You cannot register a .com.au domain for more that 2 years - so beware anyone offering 10 year registration.

You should only renew your domain with the actual registrar. Some companies obtained the database of businesses who had registered a domain and sent false renewals out by the thousands. Many companies paid these false renewals and cannot get their money back. To play it safe, get Munatha to register for you.

What if my Pty Ltd company name isn't the same as the domain I want to register?

You will need to register the business name and go through the checking process to make sure the business name is not too similar to existing names.

For example: Your company name is Best Products Pty Ltd and you want to register a domain for one of your product lines - Classy Ware (classyware.com.au)

As the name is nothing like your company name, you need to register Classy Ware as a Business Name in your state.

What if my company name is the same as what I want for my domain?

Using the example above, you would register bestproducts.com.au.

What happens if I find out that someone else already has my preferred domain name even though I own the name?

One of the issues in the Australian Business Names system is that each state and territory has their own system. Therefore you could register Classy Ware in Victoria and another business could register the same business name in Western Australia. This business may produce a range of jewellery under that name and you might produce a range of kitchen accessories.

The criteria that the registrars of business names use is that an average person would not be confused as to the identity of the business. As these products are quite different, there would be no confusion and both businesses can use the name.

However, once you register a domain name, this is an international address and border issues do not apply. So you might find that the company in Western Australia has beaten you to it and registered classyware.com.au for their jewellery range. Once registered, that name is no longer available (unless the Western Australian company decides not to renew)

What can I do then?

You can register a different version. eg Classy Ware For Kitchens. You could then register classywareforkitchens.com.au or classywarekitchens.com.au. and see whether these would be acceptable to the registrar.

What about hyphens?

Try to avoid any hyphens in your domain names. These little oddities in domains are so hard for potential clients to remember and get right. Try to keep your domain name as short as possible and LOGICAL. If someone knows your business name is Smith Bookkeeping Services, they would logically type in smithbookkeeping.com.au.

They would not think of smith_bookkeeping.com.au or
smith-bookkkeeping.com.au or even smithbookkeepingaust.com.au

Keep it simple and logical!

What about .biz domains?

These are a new domain name mainly borne out of people wanting to register names that have already been taken. The .com.au domain is still the standard.

What about .au.com?

Munatha does not recommend registering this domain type as it is too confusing and not widely recognised.

What about .net?

This domain should be used by ISPs, servers or internet service deliverers.

What about .info?

This is also a new domain and should be used by entitites set up to deliver information.

What about .org and .org.au?

You must be a registered, non profit organisation (not a business).

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