.au domain names for websites

Australians love supporting local. A website ending in .au is a simple, effective way to signal that you or organisation have a connection to Australia. For this reason, it’s a great choice for your website domain name if you’re targeting local Australian customers. In fact, auDA research found three in five Australian consumers choose .au websites when shopping online to support local Australian businesses and half will only purchase from a business online if they have an Australian website ending in .au.

In today’s digital world, a trusted online presence is vital. Research shows that Australian consumers overwhelmingly consider .au domain names to be trustworthy, and are more likely to trust an Australian business if it has a .au website.

Developing your own website using a .au domain name gives you an opportunity to control an important part of your online presence. You can design your .au website the way you want and give visitors a user experience tailored to their needs.

Internet search engines aim to provide search results that are relevant to the user undertaking a search. A .au domain name can result in higher positions on search result pages, meaning your website is likely to be found by Australians or those searching for Australian products more easily.

Due to robust licensing rules, .au domain names experience significantly lower levels of domain abuse, such as phishing or malware, than the global average. auDA also invests significantly in the security and stability of the .au domain ensuring a .au you can rely upon.

Your domain name is the address for your website on the internet. Choose a distinctive and relevant domain name in a .au namespace that aligns with your business, organisation or personal project.

Web hosting provides the space on a server where your website content and files are stored. You point your domain name to this server and it loads your website.

Many domain name providers offer a range of web hosting services that suit different needs in terms of budget, hosting space and speed.

You can host your website with the same company you used to register your domain name or choose a different company. It is a personal choice for you to make.

There are different ways to create your website. Your choice will likely depend on a number of factors including budget, technical knowledge and time.

• Website building templates: Website builders offer an easy way to build great looking websites without needing to know website coding or design. These tools operate in a similar way to a word processor, allowing you to create, add and organise content how you like via your web browser. These tools can offer a range of templates you can use and customise to your needs.
  • Some paid-for website builders offer hosting, but other website builders may require you to connect to a separate hosting service yourself.
  • Some domain name providers also provide website building tools that can easily be used with your .au domain name.
• Use a third-party ecommerce or content platform: Some content platforms or eCommerce services allow you to build a website or online store using your custom domain name instead of one they provide (which is usually something like yourname.platformname.au). To do this you’ll need to change the information associated with your domain name via your domain name provider (see step 4). Each platform will provide detailed instructions on how to do this.
• Create it from scratch: If you know how to code websites using HTML or CSS you can do it yourself and get exactly what you need.
• Hire a web developer: There are thousands of web developers who specialise in building websites for companies and individuals. Web developers can also maintain your website on an ongoing basis and help you keep it up-to-date and secure. When you hire a web developer, you’ll need to provide a clear and detailed brief of how you want your website to look and what you want it to do.
  • Remember, if you do engage a web developer and they assist you with your .au domain name registration, make sure the email address associated with your .au domain name registration is your own to ensure you receive relevant communications from your domain name provider and remain eligible to hold your .au domain name. 

Once you’ve built your website and it’s stored on a hosting service, you must ensure that the domain name points to your website. This is done by changing the domain name’s nameserver records.

Sometimes referred to as ‘delegation’, this tells the domain name system (DNS) that anybody accessing that domain name should be taken to the server where your website is stored.

You can update your domain name’s nameserver records via your domain name provider. You’ll need to know your hosting provider’s name servers. It’ll be something like ns1.hosting.com.au

It can take a few hours for updates to nameservers to take effect, but once it’s done, your website will be live and accessible on the internet.