Domain names and web hosting

How domains and hosting fit together

• A domain name (for example yourbusiness.com.au) is your address on the internet. You hold a licence to use it for a set period, through a registrar (domain name provider).
• Web hosting is the computer service where your website’s files live, so people can visit it.
• DNS settings connect the two: they tell the internet where your website and email are hosted.
• Email for your domain is usually a separate service. See Professional email for your business.

You can buy all of these from one company or from different ones. Keeping the domain with a registrar you choose, separate from your web designer’s account, gives you more control.

Choosing a domain name

Good business domains are:

• Short and easy to spell: think about how it sounds when you say it on the phone.
• Matching your business name or what you’re known for.
• Free of hyphens and numbers, unless they’re part of your name.
• Not someone else’s trade mark. Search IP Australia’s trade mark database before you choose, and check business names on ASIC Connect.

The .au rules

.au domains are managed by the .au Domain Administration (auDA), and you register them through an accredited registrar.

• Australian presence. To register, renew or take a transfer of any .au domain, you must have a verifiable connection to Australia. auDA says the most common ways are holding a valid ABN or ACN, or being an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Your registrar checks this.
• com.au and net.au are for Australian commercial entities. auDA says the most common way to qualify is an active ABN or ACN. The name must also be connected to you, for example your business name, an acronym of it, a matching trade mark, or a product or service you provide. The full rules are in auDA’s Licensing Rules.
• .au direct (for example yourbusiness.au) needs an Australian presence, but auDA says you don’t need a connection to the name you register.
• org.au is for not-for-profit organisations, and other namespaces have their own rules.
• Keep your details current. If you no longer meet the rules, for example because your ABN is cancelled, your licence can be cancelled.

Check auDA’s current rules or ask your registrar if you’re unsure which names you can hold.

Registering it properly

Mistakes here cause problems years later.

1. Register it in the business’s name (the company or the ABN holder), not a staff member’s or web designer’s personal name.
2. Use an email address you control for the account and registrant contact, preferably a role address such as admin@ that more than one person can access. Not an address on the domain itself, if possible, so you can still get emails if the domain stops working.
3. Turn on auto-renew and keep payment details current.
4. Register for the longest period that makes sense, if your registrar offers it.
5. Protect the registrar account with a strong password and multi-factor authentication.
6. Turn on registrar lock (transfer lock) to stop unauthorised transfers.
7. Record the details (registrar, login, renewal date) somewhere the business can find them.

If someone else set it up (a former web designer or employee), check today who the registrant is and who controls the account. Getting control back can be slow, so do it before you need it.

Avoiding domain scams

auDA regularly warns about scams targeting .au domain holders:

• Fake renewal or verification emails posing as auDA or your registrar, asking you to click a link, pay, or provide information to “keep your licence”. auDA says it only asks for this kind of information through your registrar.
• Unsolicited offers to register similar names (often .com or overseas versions) “before someone else does”, sometimes with pressure tactics. You don’t have to accept them.
• Invoices from companies you’ve never dealt with for “domain listing” or “SEO registration”.

If in doubt, log in to your registrar’s website directly, not through a link. Report scams to Scamwatch, and contact auDA if a message claims to be from them.

Choosing web hosting

If your site runs on a CMS such as WordPress, choose a host that supports it well: one-click installation, automatic updates for the CMS and plugins, staging copies for testing changes, and backups you can restore yourself. Many hosts sell plans built specifically for WordPress.

Free domain offers. Some web hosts and website builders include a free domain name, usually for the first year, with a hosting plan. Check the renewal price, and make sure the domain is registered in your business’s name and can be moved to another provider if you leave.

What to check:

• Reliability: uptime commitments and how problems are communicated.
• Speed: servers or a content delivery network close to your Australian visitors.
• Security: free SSL certificates (the padlock), firewalls, malware scanning and updates.
• Backups: automatic, daily, kept for a reasonable period, and easy to restore. Keep your own copy too.
• Support: hours, how to contact them, and whether you can reach a real person.
• Price after the first year: introductory prices often rise at renewal.
• Leaving: can you export your site and data easily?

See Building a small business website and Cyber security and backups.

Keeping it running

• Keep software up to date if you manage your own website platform, themes and plugins.
• Check renewals for your domain, hosting and SSL each year.
• Monitor your site: free uptime monitoring tools alert you if it goes down.
• Review who has access to your registrar, hosting and website accounts, and remove people who’ve left.
• Check email DNS records (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) are set up, to protect your domain from being used in fake emails. See Professional email for your business.