Your domain name is the most important digital asset your business owns, because your website and your email both depend on it. Register it in your business’s name, keep the login yourself, turn on auto-renewal, and give your web provider permission to manage the DNS settings rather than letting them own the domain for you.
The three pieces
They are often confused, but each does a different job:
- Domain name: your address on the internet, such as yourbusiness.com.au, registered through a registrar for a set period
- DNS: the address book that tells the internet where your website and email live
- Hosting: the servers that deliver your website (and, separately, your email)
Who should own what
A simple rule: you own the accounts, your providers get access.
- The domain is registered to your business, in an account you control
- Your web provider is given access to manage DNS records
- Email runs on a business email service under your control
- Keep a record of every login and who has access
Choosing .com.au, .au or .com
To register a .com.au you need an Australian presence, such as an ABN, and the name must have a close and substantial connection to your business. The shorter .au addresses have been available since 2022. If you trade overseas, a .com can make sense too, and many businesses register the main versions of their name to protect it.
Common mistakes
We see these more than any others:
- A developer or former staff member registered the domain in their own name
- Renewal emails go to an old address and the domain lapses
- DNS changes for a new website accidentally break email
- No one knows the registrar login
Launching a new website safely
When a new website goes live, only the website records in your DNS should change. Your email records should stay exactly as they are. A good provider checks your existing records before touching anything.