Marlin Domains and Hosting - Question 4: What is the registration criteria for .au domains?

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4. What is the registration criteria for .au domains?

In order to register a com.au or net.au domain name you must fall into one of the following six categories and fill out in full the specified fields:

If you are an Australian registered company
1. Your company name; and
2. Your Australian Company Number (ACN)
If you are Trading under an Australian Registered Business Name
1. Your registered business name; and
2. State or Territory of registration; and
3. your Registered Business Number
If you are an Australian partnership or sole trader
1. Your Trading name; and
2. Your Australian Business Number (ABN)
If you are a Foreign company licensed to trade in Australia
1. Your Company name; and
2. Your Australian Registered Body Number (ARBN)
If you are an Australian Registered Trade Mark Owner
1. The Name of owner of the trademark; and
2. The words comprising the trade mark; and
3. The Trade Mark Number
If you are an Australian Registered Trade Mark Applicant
1. Name of applicant; and
2. Words comprising trade mark application; and
3. Trade Mark Number

Restrictions on Domain Names

There are certain restrictions on the com au/net au domain names you are allowed to purchase.

Your domain name must:

Be an exact match of your business name or trademark or,
Be an abbreviation or acronym of your business name or trademark or,
Have a close and substantial connection with your business type.

Examples of Close and Substantial Connections

a product that your business manufactures or sells; or
a service that your business provides; or
an event that your business organises or sponsors; or
an activity that your business facilitates, teaches or trains; or
a venue that your business operates; or
a profession that your business' employees practise.

Click here to register your name now!

Which name is best for me?

Protect your web presence:
Have you considered registering your .com, .com.au, .net.au, .co.nz variants of your domain? The deciding factor usually depends on how serious you are about Protecting Your Online Value. Ask yourself whether it would disturb you if a competitor registered these domains? Our easy to use and reliable Web and Email Forwarding services allow you to point as many domains as you want to your website.

Web with benefits:
Another benefit of registering multiple domains is the greater probability of being located on Search Engine listings. An interesting fact is that many Search Engines now feature region specific searches. You can perform a generic search, or you can select the 'Search Australia Only' option.

How the search works is simple; an 'Australian Only' search may prioritise addresses that end in '.au'; a 'New Zealand Only' search may prioritise addresses that end in '.nz'. To guarantee your website is listed and accessed by both regions you will need to have both domain names registered.

In contrast to the above, neither the '.au' nor the '.nz' domains will stand a chance of competing against the '.com', or rather the TLD name space, if someone submits a generic search with no regions specified.

If you currently conduct business in other countries, or one day plan to expand then we recommend securing your country specific domains now.

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