| The Domain |
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If you own or are responsible for a business, you should have a domain name. Even more widely, if anyone needs to know you exist and should be able to find contact details (at least) for you, you should have a domain name. What is a domain name? Where do they come from? How much are they? A domain name is the basic website address. Also known as the "URL" or Uniform Resource Locator, it is a unique combination of description + organisation type + country that goes together to make the familiar www.something.somesuch.somewhere. Only the Americans are exempt from putting their country ID at the end, although you can certainly register website addresses ending in ".us". We in Australia, of course, use ".au". The organisation type part is meant to give you an idea of the nature of the organisation. For example, you may have had reason to visit www.ato.gov.au (the Australian Tax Office). The middle bit is ".gov", indicating a governmental department. The general public cannot register website addresses with ".gov" in them. Another type is ".org", which indicates a non-profit organisation - an example would be the Winchelsea Lions Club, www.winchelsealionsclub.org.au. Far and away, the majority of sites you visit are likely to be ".com" ie. commercial organisations. The first bit can be whatever you like, within certain rules and regulations. No profanity, no trademarks, and certain other restrictions apply in Australia. For Australian domains, the most important thing to note is that you must have a registration number of some sort - for example, an ABN, a Business Name number, or similar. In other words, something to prove that you really are a registered organisation of some sort. Individuals are not permitted to register domain names eg. www.tonyphelps.com.au would only be permitted if your writer registered as a sole trader or similar. However, these rules are changing, so it's always worth checking the latest situation. When you register an Australian domain name, you are asked to confirm that the name is closely and directly related to your registering organisation. So if you register www.bathrooms.com.au but your business is making bricks, you are likely to lose that domain name if someone complains (especially a plumber who wants it!). Registering domains names is quick, easy, and relatively cheap - see the likes of netregistry.com.au or winchwebsites.com.au. Prices vary, but generally you would expect to pay $25-$40 per year with an initial up-front registration of 2 years. You need to renew registration before the paid period expires, or you may lose the domain name, but you should expect to be reminded well before expiration (make sure you keep your email address up-to-date with the registrar!). Note that you do not need a website with a domain name. If you have the right to register a domain name, you would be well advised to go ahead and register it as soon as possible to stop anyone else getting it - a domain name with no website is "parked", and will probably just display a standard single "Coming Soon" webpage. You can always consider getting just the ".com" version - cheaper ($15+) and little restriction if it is still available. In fact, general advice is to make sure you register variations of your domain name that people may come up with, including common mis-spellings. It's always a good thing to make it easy for customers. Column brought to you by Tony Phelps of Winch Websites - comments & suggestions welcome to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Column contains personal beliefs & opinions, general advice. Exersise appropriate care before applying to your own situation. |
| Last Updated ( Friday, 25 April 2008 14:09 ) |