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In the last issue we touched on what is a
domain name and whether you
need to register one. Today we will explore
how to choose a domain
name and whether your chosen one is
available.
Understanding Domain Names
What is a domain name?
The
purpose of a domain name is similar to that of a street address
or telephone
number. The domain name directs customers to you on the
Internet.
The domain by itself is not your email or web address.
The domain does form
the base from which these addresses are derived.
For example:
Company
Name: QikPhone
Domain Name: QikPhone.com.au
Web Address: www.QikPhone.com.au
Email: info@QikPhone.com.au
The only advantage of not
registering a domain name is that you will
save yourself A$70 per year (it
costs approx A$140 for 2 years to
register a '.com.au' domain
name).
The disadvantages of
NOT having your domain name include:
1. If you decide to change your
Webhosting company or if that company
goes out of business, you will lose
your website address. Your
website can be transferred to a new company,
but your address will
change. And that means re-printing stationery and
re-doing all your
advertising, notifying all your customers etc.
2.
Website addresses that contain information other than your company
name are
long and hard to remember and do not appear as
professional. Compare
these two and see which one you are more
likely to remember
www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning
OR
www.JBCleaning.com.au
So it is a good idea to register a domain name, even
if it is just to
protect yourself for the future. Say for example, your
business name
is JB Cleaning and you decide not to register your domain name
for
now.
Along comes Joe Bloggs who opens his own
cleaning business and
registers JBCleaning.com.au domain name. After a
year you decide you
want to have your own domain name, but since Joe Bloggs
already owns
it, you won't be able to register it. Not to mention
your customers
who know your business as JB Cleaning may visit his website,
thinking
it's your web address and instead hire Joe Bloggs
Cleaning.
Understanding a
Domain Name
A domain
name normally consists of 2 parts - your company name and
the organisation
type/region. For example with the domain
qikphone.com.au - qikphone is
the company name. The .com.au
indicates that QikPhone Pty Ltd is a
commercial organisation in
Australia.
| .com.au |
Commercial Organisations in
Australia |
| .net.au |
For network infrastructure
and Internet Service Providers in Australia |
| .gov.au |
Australian government and
semi-government departments |
| .org.au |
For clubs and various forms
of affiliation groups in Australia |
| .edu.au |
Australian educational
institutions |
| .asn.au |
Australian
associations |
| .com |
Commercial organisations in
the United States |
| .net |
For network infrastructure
and Internet Service Providers in the United States |
| .gov |
US government and
semi-government departments |
| .edu |
Educational institutions in
the United States |
Choosing a .com.au Domain
Name
The .com.au is governed by a national body which sets certain
rules
that must be met before your domain name can be
approved.
For Companies and Registered
Businesses.
The domain name that you request must be derived from your
existing
registered company or business name. You must supply your
ABN
(Australian Business Number). If you operate as a sole trade
and
trade under your own name (and do not have a registered business
name)
you can register a domain which is derived from your
name.
Domain Name
Checklist
The following check will help ensure that your domain name
is not
rejected.
- You must supply the legal name of the
organisation.
- You must supply your ABN (except for sole traders).
-
Domain name must be at least two characters long.
- Domain name must contain
only alphanumeric characters (ie. A-Z,
0-9) and hyphens (-).
-
Domain name must not start or finish with a hyphen.
- Domain name must be
directly derived from the legal name of the
commercial
entity. Additional characters that do not appear in
the full legal name of the commercial entity cannot be used.
- Domain name
must not be a generic word describing products,
industries, industry
sectors or organisations, eg. beer (product),
banking (industry),
company (organisation type). Generic phrases
comprising of two
or more generic words are allowed.
How long can a domain name
be?
The maximum number of characters in a domain name is 26.
This
includes the periods (.) and the suffix. Remember the http://
and
the www normally found at the front of a web address are
not
considered part of the domain name.
We would suggest that you try to keep your
domain name as short as
possible. This will help your customers
remember your email and web
addresses.
Is your Domain
Available?
Once you have decided on the domain name that you would
like, you
need to check if it is available. To check, visit:
MelbourneIT (www.melbourneit.com.au)
Final Tips for Your Domain
Name
- Under NO circumstances should you use your domain name
in
advertising material, office stationery until it is
officially
approved.
- Try to keep the number of letters in your
domain name to a minimum.
- Domain names are not case sensitive. But you can
use upper and
lower case to improve the readability of your
domain name.
eg. QikPhone.
For more information about domain
names, visit: www.webcentral.com.au
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