Lock in your .au domain name

Lock in your .au domain name
Photo by Kaffeebart / Unsplash

In March ‘22, auDA made it possible to register domain names in the top level .au space. This means that example.au can now be registered alongside example.com.au, example.net.au, example.org.au, etc.

Since then, over 750,000 .au domain names (often referred to as ‘au direct names’) have been registered and we’ve started to see evidence of a steady growth in popularity.

Their shorter length and relative rarity make them a great choice for new businesses looking to stand out. And their clear association with Australia makes them more attractive to a local customer base than popular short-name alternative top-level domains (TLDs) such as .co and .io.

For existing businesses, it’s not so simple. You’ve already established a brand, and your customers already recognise your website and email addresses, based on your existing .com.au or other domain name. Transitioning to a new name is not a straightforward process.

Whilst we don’t think it’s necessary to rush into recreating all your marketing assets immediately, when that time comes, it is important to consider whether to use your existing .com.au or swap to the newer .au.

For now, at least, we do strongly advise that you secure your .au equivalent domain name to maintain your brand identity for the long-term. And if you're currently using a .com, there's never been a better time to establish your true blue credentials.

Follow our simple (?) guide below to secure your domain name and put it to use immediately.

1. Register your domain name

The easy part....au domain names are available to register at the same price as other domains in the .au space from all the normal places. You should expect to pay around ~$15/year. Registrations can be for as little as 1 year and up to 5 years.

You probably already have a favourite registrar, and auDA offers a list of accredited registrars if not.

Of course...we can also help register your domain name.

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SPOILER ALERT!!!
The next step is a bit trickier. If you want the easy option, drop to the bottom of the page to learn how easy it is to get DOMAINSAFE to do all of this for you for just $99.

2. Redirect traffic from the new domain name to your current one

This is something that your domain registrar might offer as a feature. Look for 'redirect' or 'domain forwarding' options.

At DOMAINSAFE, we prefer to use Cloudflare, who provide a whole range of security and traffic management features for your domain names and web traffic. Right now, we're only interested in redirecting traffic, which is something Cloudflare will do for you for free once.

Once you're signed up, enter your domain name and click the Continue button:

Add your domain name to your new Cloudflare account

Cloudflare offers some amazing features, but, right now, we don't need those, so select the Free plan (it's normally at the bottom of the list):

Cloudflare's Free plan does everything you need

During the next stage, Cloudflare will scan the existing DNS records, which are held at your registrar. DNS records are like the address book for your domain name - they tell the various different types of traffic where to go and provide additional information that makes the internet work. So long as the records appear, you are safe to proceed!

Next, you will be asked to change the name servers for your new domain, e.g. redirectexample.au, on your registrar's site. How you do this will depend on the registrar.

NOTE: It is important that you only change the name servers for your new domain and not for your existing domain.

Updating name servers can take a little while (and longer on the free plan). Whilst you're waiting you can set up the redirect from your new domain name to the existing one using a Cloudflare feature called Page Rules, which you'll find under the Rules menu:

Page Rules are one of the options under the Rules menu

Cloudflare are adding a lot of new features in this space, but we still think Page Rules are the simplest to use for a straightforward redirect.

You are allowed up to 3 Page Rules on the Free plan. Click the Create Page Rule button to start:

Cloudflare allows up to 3 Page Rules for domains on their Free Plan

Configure your Page Rule as shown below, remembering to swap redirectexample.au for your new .au domain name and redirectexample.com.au for your existing domain name.

A Page Rule that will redirect traffic from the new domain name to the existing domain name

The above rule will capture all traffic heading to www.redirectexample.au. You should also create second rule with URL redirectexample.au/* and the same destination. This will redirect traffic going to the root domain (the domain name without the www prefix.

Okay...first bit done! 🙌

How's it going? Despite my best efforts, I've been told that this is not straightforward and is a bit confusing. If you'd like to make things easy on yourself, DOMAINSAFE can do all the above for you, plus redirect emails to your new address, for just $99 initial registration, then $29.95 per year (including domain renewal fees).

Sounds good? Skip to the bottom of the page 👇

Whilst no-one will know about the new domain name at the start, we are expecting that more and more people will start typing in the shorter .au version of domain names as the first option. Don’t waste these opportunities - redirect that traffic to your existing website and monitor growth over time to see when it might be a good idea to switch.

3. Create a catch-all email

This bit is a bit easier as many registrars will offer this feature as standard.

Look for 'email redirect', 'email forwarding' or 'catch-all email' features on your registrar's website.

A catch-all email address is one that catches all emails sent to a domain name. For example, a catchall address configured on the example.au domain will accept emails sent to sales@example.au, marketing@example.au, and any other address @example.au and then forward those emails to another email address.

Configure your catch-all to send emails to an email address on your existing domain name. As well as catching any errant emails, this will ensure you don’t miss important domain-related renewal notifications when they’re sent.


And that's it! 🚀🤓👏

  • You've secured your .au domain name ✅
  • All traffic to you .audomain name is being redirected to your existing site ✅
  • Any emails sent to the .au domain name will be redirected to your existing email address ✅

Too hard? Too busy?

Let us do this for you! DOMAINSAFE can register your chosen domain name and configure all of the above for you for just $99.