A question we are often asked by people who have recently started a business is: “Do I just need to register the .com.au, or should I get the .com as well?”
As an Australian business, the .com.au domain should be registered regardless. It is the preferred option for Aussie businesses, and if a user is searching within Australia, websites with a .com.au domain extension will generally be given priority in the search engine results.
However we would also recommend registering the .com version of your domain name as well. Why?
Protecting Your Brand
By registering both versions you are protecting yourself from someone else registering it. This other party could be a completely different business from another country, but their website may cause confusion for people who might be looking for your business online. OR it could be a cheeky competitor, a disgruntled customer (it’s happened before!), or domain squatter looking to make some money from you.
Eliminating Confusion
Someone else may start a business using the same business name as yours, and take out the .com version of the domain. This may be unrelated, or it could unfortunately be in the same industry. Your potential customers don’t always type in your website address, in fact they probably just Google your business name – and if that happens there’s the potential of this other company coming up in the search engine results too. It’s ideal to avoid confusion and get them straight to your website where they can engage with you (and hopefully only you).
So if you’re thinking of launching a new business or brand, hop onto a domain search service like MelbourneIT or Expeed to first see whether your preferred domain is available in both the .com.au and .com versions.
And if you’d like to know more, or have a particular question – please leave us a comment or get in touch with us directly!