To .au or not to .au?
Should you .com.au for your business domain name?
Do a Google Search for advise about choosing a domain name and you will get 100's of Do's, Don'ts and various shades of the two. One of the most succinct articles I've read is on moz.com by Rand Fishkin and he breaks it down into the following:
Make it brandable.
Make it pronounceable.
Make it as short as you possibly can, but no shorter.
Bias to .com.
Avoid names that infringe on another company or another organization's existing trademark or could be confused with that trademark.
Make the domain name instantly intuitive.
Use broad keywords when sensible, but don't stress keyword inclusion.
If your name isn't available, it's okay to append or modify it.
Since this is written for a US market, number 4 is one point I'd amend. If most of your business is carried out in Australia then you will get a better ranking in Google Australia if you go with a .com.au suffix on your domain name. Usually, over time your .com.au domain will organically rank higher in Australia than an international domain. If you are going to run a global business, then maybe choose a .com as the most easily recognisable domain suffix.
In Australia, the .au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA) is the policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain space. Since there are regulatory controls around getting a .au domain, it also gives your Aussie business credibility and authenticity.
If you're not sure, there's no reason why you can't register both and then redirect one to the one you think most represents your business?
You can look up and register domain names directly through the Online is Easy Store. Our business ethic is for all Intellectual Property (IP) to be setup in the client's name and all passwords etc. to be handed over at job completion. Although it isn't a high crime, it is not legal or ethical for your digital supplier to set themselves up as the registrar for your business; an issue way too many of our clients come to us with. The domain name is like a business name, it's your IP.
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