Don't ditch your .au
In April 2025, Google announced a significant change: it began the process of redirecting all its country-specific domains (like google.com.au) to google.com (though I haven't actually experienced this myself, yet).
This move, referred to as the "ccTLD sunset", is the culmination of changes that began in 2017 and has been reported as signifying a shift away from using ccTLDs as a primary signal for Google for localization, with many sources reporting that the importance of using a .au domain is reduced.
I don't believe that's true.
Google stated that this change would not affect the way Search works and that localized results would continue to be provided based on the user's location (source: Here’s an update on our use of country code top-level domains).
What better way to convey content is targeting users based in Australia than by using a .au domain name?
Rather, I believe what Google is saying is that there is no benefit in hosting multiple sites, each with a different ccTLD, to target users in specific countries. It is better, instead, to host the content on a single site, under a single domain name, and use other signals (at the content level) for localisation.
For example, instead of splitting content across multiple ccTLDs such as example.com.au and example.co.uk, use example.com/au/ and example.com/uk/ instead. It would't make sense for Google to drop the ccTLD as an indicator that the content is mostly relevant for users in that country.
For Australian-based businesses targeting a primarily Australian market, there are several key benefits of using a .au domain name.
- Trust and Click-Through Rates:
.audomains foster trust among Australian users. A survey by auDA found that 76% of Australians are more likely to trust an Australian business if its website ends in.au.
As always, businesses targeting an international market should incorporate other localization strategies, such as:
- Creating high-quality, locally relevant content
- Utilizing hreflang tags to indicate language and regional targeting
- Setting geographic targets in Google Search Console
- Optimizing Google Business Profiles with accurate location information
Conclusion
.au domains have traditionally enjoyed a ranking boost in Australian search results and (in my opinion) will continue to do so.
If you're targeting a primarily Australia-based market, using a .au domain name offers key advantages beyond just SEO.
If you'd like help with your domain name strategy, or migrating to a .au domain name, please get in touch.
