Domains and Getting Online
Picking a domain name, choosing between .com.au and .au, and the ownership traps that catch tradies out years later — the boring half of getting online, done once and done properly.
The website is the visible part. Underneath it sits a domain name, a registrar, some hosting and an email address, and this is where trade businesses quietly get themselves into trouble — a domain registered in a former web designer's name, an email address on a free provider, a renewal that lapsed while the ute was in the shop. None of it is hard. It just has to be done deliberately, because unpicking it later is a genuine headache. This guide covers choosing the name, buying it properly and making sure it stays yours.
Doing this job for a living? See job management in ServiceYak.
What you're actually buying
A domain name is the address people type to reach you. You don't buy it outright — you license it for a period and renew it, which is the source of most of the trouble in this article.
Three separate things get confused with each other, and it's worth being clear on which you're paying for:
- The domain — the name itself. Rented from a registrar, renewed yearly or in multi-year blocks.
- The hosting — the machine your website actually sits on. Often bundled with a website builder, so you may never buy it separately.
- The email — a mailbox on your domain, which is a different service again and frequently forgotten until the day you need it.
You can have a domain with no website at all, pointed at your Google Business Profile or a single page. If you're not ready to build a site, buying the name now still makes sense — it stops someone else taking it and you can point it somewhere useful later.
Choosing a name you won't regret
Your domain will end up on your ute, your shirts, your invoices and your business cards. The test isn't whether it looks good written down — it's whether someone can hear it once at a barbecue and type it correctly the next morning.
- Match your trading name. If the sign on the ute says one thing and the domain says another, you've made people work.
- Keep it short and sayable. Two words is plenty. Long names get typed wrong.
- Avoid hyphens and numbers. Nobody remembers where the hyphen went, and read aloud, a number could be a digit or a word.
- Watch for accidental readings. Run the whole thing together in lower case and read it fresh. Plenty of businesses have found the unfortunate word only after the signage was printed.
- Think about the suburb. Putting a location in the name helps a local business be found, but it becomes a liability if you expand beyond it.
- Check it's free elsewhere too. Before committing, check the matching handles are available on the social platforms you'll use, and search the name to make sure another trade business isn't already trading under it.
If your first choice is taken, resist the temptation to bolt on a word to force it through. A slightly different name you own cleanly is worth more than a clumsy variant of one you don't.
.com.au, .au or .com
For an Australian trade business the choice is narrower than it looks.
| Ending | What to know |
|---|---|
| .com.au | The default for an Australian business. Signals local straight away, which is exactly what a local trade wants. Restricted to businesses with an Australian presence — check auDA's current eligibility rules before you plan around it |
| .au | The shorter direct version, available since the rules changed. Same Australian-presence requirement. Worth registering alongside your .com.au if it's available |
| .com | Global and unrestricted, but for a suburb-level trade business it says nothing useful and the good names went decades ago |
| .net.au and the rest | Rarely worth it on their own. Fine as a defensive registration if you're worried about a competitor |
Eligibility rules for Australian domains are set by auDA and have changed before — most recently when direct .au registration was introduced. Confirm the current requirements at the point you register rather than relying on what a mate told you.
Buying it without creating a problem for future you
This is the part that matters. A domain registered carelessly is fine for years and then becomes a serious problem at exactly the wrong moment — usually when you fall out with whoever set it up.
- Register it in the business's name, yourself. Not your web designer's name, not your nephew's. If someone else registers it for you, make sure the registrant is your business and that you hold the login. This is the single most common and most expensive mistake in this article.
- Use an email address you'll keep. Registrar notices — including renewal warnings — go to the contact address on the domain. If that's an old address you no longer check, you will miss the one email that mattered.
- Turn on auto-renew, and register for several years. A lapsed domain can be picked up by someone else, and getting it back ranges from expensive to impossible. Multi-year registration and auto-renew together make that very unlikely.
- Write the details down somewhere the business can find them. Registrar, login, renewal date, and where the domain points. Keep it with your other business records rather than in one person's head.
- Compare renewal price, not just the first-year price. Introductory rates are common and renewal rates are often higher. Get the ongoing figure from the registrar before you sign up, since it's the one you'll be paying for the next decade.
If a designer or agency currently holds your domain, sort it out now rather than at handover. Ask to be made the registrant and get the login. A reputable one will do it without argument.
Email on your domain, and pointing it at your site
Once you own a domain, use it for email. An address at your own domain rather than a free provider is the cheapest credibility upgrade available to a trade business, and clients do notice.
- Set up one address per person, plus a general one for enquiries and accounts that doesn't belong to any individual.
- Keep the general address alive when someone leaves. Quotes and invoices sent months ago carry that address on them.
- Point the domain at whatever you're using — a website builder, an agency-built site, or just your enquiry page. Your registrar and your site provider both have instructions; if you're not comfortable, this is a small job for whoever built the site.
- Allow time for the change to take effect. Domain changes propagate over hours, not seconds. Don't panic when it doesn't work immediately.
Whatever address the enquiries land in, make sure the enquiry gets turned into a job rather than sitting in a mailbox. In ServiceYak an enquiry becomes a record you can quote from, so a lead that arrived on a busy Tuesday is still there on Thursday.
Frequently asked questions
Should I get a .com.au or a .com for my trade business?
For a business working in Australian suburbs, .com.au. It tells people immediately that you're local, which is the thing they're checking. Australian domains require an Australian presence, so confirm auDA's current eligibility rules when you register. A .com adds little for a local trade and the good ones are long gone.
Do I need a domain if I don't have a website yet?
It's worth buying early. It stops someone else taking the name, it lets you set up email on your own domain straight away, and you can point it at a single page or your Google Business Profile until you build something. Domains are cheap; renaming a business after the signage is done is not.
My web designer registered my domain. Is that a problem?
It can be. If the registrant is their business rather than yours, you may need their cooperation to move the site, change providers or renew it — and that's a bad position to be in if the relationship ends badly. Ask to be made the registrant and to hold the login. A reputable designer will arrange it without fuss.
What happens if my domain expires?
The site and any email on that domain stop working, and after a grace period the name can be registered by someone else. Recovering it then ranges from expensive to impossible. Turn on auto-renew, register for multiple years, and make sure the contact email on the domain is one you still read.