In Australia, if you want a .com.au domain name, you have to provide your business registration info and evidence that you have traded or intend to trade. This stops unscrupulous people buying your business name as a domain name and then selling to you for a princely sum later on. On the downside, what it also does is turn a registration process that normally takes 1 or 2 days (for a .com or .net domain) into several weeks. I guess that’s the trade off for the added security.
So on the one hand, your business name is relatively safe, but on the other, Australian domains are at least twice as expensive and can take 10 times longer to set up. To find the registrar of record for a particular Australian domain name, use the public WHOIS service.
Domain names are becoming less important
Are Domain Names Important from mariz cute on Vimeo.
Your domain name and web site are separate
Many people don’t realise that their domain name (the url of a site e.g. www.yourname.com) and their server space are completely independent of each other. You can point a domain name to any server.
What is my server?
Your server is a computer connected to the Internet. It’s literally a computer like the one you have now, except it’s plugged into the internet. Your site is literally on a hard drive in a directory. Commonly referred to as hosting, your server is the place where your database and website files live. Text, images, graphics are stored on your server.
Okay. What’s a database and why do I need one?
You’ll need a database if you’re planning to update your site. Unlike a web page running JavaScript (a simple but very effective programming language for web pages) a database retains information over time. A web page alone can’t really do that. Well it can, but not for very long. When you go from one page to the next, any data stored in a page script such as JavaScript is lost. So JavaScript is not very useful for storing stuff long term.
What is a domain name?
You can buy a domain name anywhere across the web. Once you’ve bought your $7 .com domain name, in your domain name settings, you can “point” it to the server where your website lives. Australian domain names cost $35 for 2 years (wholesale), most of which is made up of the Australian domains admin fee.
Is there any advantage to buying multiple domain names?
A lot of people buy several domain names because they are relatively cheap at about $7 wholesale (April, 2012). You can park other domains over the top of a parent domain, but unless you are actually going to build a separate website for each domain name, there’s not much else you can do with additional domain names. They are useful if you are thinking about building another website further down the track or if you intend to hold on to them for the sole purpose of keeping them from competitors. This defensive move is probably not necessary because it’s a million times more important to have an effective website.
What’s a parent domain name?
It’s best to build your website on top of the most meaningful domain name (and park your business name on top of it). I didn’t do this. My domain name is www.geoffreymultimedia.com which is not that meaningful. Www.websites.com would be more meaningful because that’s what I do. In hindsight, I should have parked www.geoffreymultimedia.com over that domain name.
Google tends to give the most attention to your domain name and then the title of your site (as well as quality in-bound links and headers etc. Read more about search engine optimisation for humans here.). I would be more likely to be found in a search for “websites” than “geoffrey” or even “multimedia” for that matter. But all this is academic. It’s really better to have a nicely functioning website.
Is this domain name dance important?
Ultimately, in business terms, it doesn’t matter what your domain name is. One question to ponder is is my domain name easily communicable by phone?. I have issues with Geoffrey because it can be spelt so many ways. Is your domain name able to be found by the search engines or is there simply too much competition? You ought to really have a site which is worth going to in the first place (read this treatise on creating the perfect website).
Most websites are about a company’s vanity and the overall design. But content is and always has been the absolute most important thing about your website.
A warning about domain names
As a general rule : don’t punch your potential domain name into any old website form when searching for a new domain. Web form info can end up anywhere and in some cases, simply searching for your domain name triggers a behind the scenes script which automatically reserves that name. It’s cruel but true. The hosting provider where you searched for a domain name can reserves it because you have searched for it. If you go looking elsewhere for that domain name, you find that someone mysteriously already has it, or at best, you have to use their server to host your site.
Punch potential names into your browser’s address bar in the very short term – and if the site address comes up with a “not found” – put an order in with your webmaster. We know where to go. Your web guy (probably a guy) will want a 2nd and possible 3rd choice – just in case the domain is already taken.
The last word on registering a domain name
- Think search engines first and forget about your company name. “Www.refurbishedshoes.com” is more likely to give better search results than “www.dinklewear.com.au” in a search for “refurbished shoes”. While Dinklewear may be a respectable family name – on the web, Dinklewear has no meaning and your aim is to sell shoes.
- Search engines give preference to domain names with the search term inside it.
- Keep control of your domain name. Don’t give it to your web design company (just point it to their servers). Register your domain first and then find a good server. Most web companies (not Geoffrey) will host your website on their computer. Later down the track you might decide to go with another host or web developer and getting your old domain name back – particularly if it’s your company name – can be troublesome.
To cut a long story short, web companies don’t like losing money and often make it very difficult for the new developer to retrieve your domain name.
My general advice is to buy the domain name yourself and point that name to a reputable server of your own. That way, if something goes wrong, or you have a falling out with your developer (that’s never happened here at Geoffrey Multimedia) the domain name is under your control.
If you do get into domain name bother
Most people usually have irrelevant or useless domain names, so if that’s you, it might be a good idea to just let it go and purchase a more useful name for your industry.
I hope this has helped. If I could get paid for the many hours I’ve spent retrieving domain names from sneaky web companies, I’d probably be rich. Don’t forget, that even though we write these articles, Geoffrey Multimedia also builds beautiful websites, so get in touch with us if you’re in the market and want a no-obligation chat about your website plans.
Until next week, happy domain name hunting.
- Australian domain name administration
- Australian WHOIS service
- .com, .net and .org domain names cost about $7 (wholesale)
- .com.au, .net.au and .org.au domain names cost $35 for 2 years (wholesale)
Geoff,
That was really well written. I totally agree with the part about keeping control of your domain name (Smart note).
Good work mate!
You said it, Ben. I see you also make web sites. Most of my clients don’t understand that domain name and server space are separate. I think over the next few years, it will become more apparent to clients, but perhaps less important due to mobile use. I try to CC clients in on email conversations with old webmasters to let them see how awkward it is, but I don’t charge for transfers. Do you have these issues?