How popular are the .net.au domain names
- Thread starter Liquid
- Start date
nt81
Top Contributor
.net.au is a great way to distinguish your business or brand from .com.au sites from a marketing perspective in advertising and seo.
As seen on tv:
iinet.net.au
Abc.net.au
vaya.net.au
Many get confused between recalling/typing a domain ending in .com.au and .com
Ultimately what matters is the right keyword.
As seen on tv:
iinet.net.au
Abc.net.au
vaya.net.au
Many get confused between recalling/typing a domain ending in .com.au and .com
Ultimately what matters is the right keyword.
snoopy
Top Contributor
The only prominent users are non profits and isps. The non profits/government departments can get away with it because they are funded by someone else and aren't making commercial decisions.
ISP's is what these types of extensions are supposed to be for.
The keyword isn't ultimately what matters, if that were true we all might as well be using .cc. Both extension and keyword needs to be right for a domain to work well.
auAppraisals
Regular Member
Nothing wrong with net.au domains
Isn't that exactly what AuDA is trying to address with their current promotion?
Depending on your business, a shorter, more specific and perhaps more generic net.au could be better than a longer, less specific com.au. E.g. joesplumbing.net.au is IMO much better than joesmithplumbingsydney.com.au.
Of course, you may get people that accidentally go for the com.au version, as you would for people going to com instead of com.au. But, in practical terms, it's shorter, easier to relay (e.g. over the phone), less prone to typing errors, etc. And the more people that register and promote net.au domains, the more the general public will take notice of the extension, instead of assuming it's com.au.
AuDA should have started their campaign with this message, then further encouraged uptake of net.au domains by dropping the price (if that was even necessary). All the current campaign has done is caused people to ask "are net.au domains really that crap?"
Isn't that exactly what AuDA is trying to address with their current promotion?
Depending on your business, a shorter, more specific and perhaps more generic net.au could be better than a longer, less specific com.au. E.g. joesplumbing.net.au is IMO much better than joesmithplumbingsydney.com.au.
Of course, you may get people that accidentally go for the com.au version, as you would for people going to com instead of com.au. But, in practical terms, it's shorter, easier to relay (e.g. over the phone), less prone to typing errors, etc. And the more people that register and promote net.au domains, the more the general public will take notice of the extension, instead of assuming it's com.au.
AuDA should have started their campaign with this message, then further encouraged uptake of net.au domains by dropping the price (if that was even necessary). All the current campaign has done is caused people to ask "are net.au domains really that crap?"
auAppraisals
Regular Member
net.au is not just for ISPs
I also don't agree that net.au is 'just for ISPs'. AuDA makes no such assertion in their policies, and the eligibility is identical to that of com.au.
I also don't agree that net.au is 'just for ISPs'. AuDA makes no such assertion in their policies, and the eligibility is identical to that of com.au.
nt81
Top Contributor
I only had two in my portfolio previously, one for brand protection for a client, and the other because it was a very good short, relevant keyword that I will never sell for less than quadruple digits.
I have always been of the understanding that the .net TLD was aimed at internet service providers etc as already discussed, and I also agree that this is quite unnecessary now and I've changed my tune a little on the .net.au domains but much education and pimping of .net.au will need to be done to raise it's value.
On Paper, AuDA will tout this promotion as a huge win, but in 25 months time we will see as thousands drop.
I have always been of the understanding that the .net TLD was aimed at internet service providers etc as already discussed, and I also agree that this is quite unnecessary now and I've changed my tune a little on the .net.au domains but much education and pimping of .net.au will need to be done to raise it's value.
On Paper, AuDA will tout this promotion as a huge win, but in 25 months time we will see as thousands drop.
auAppraisals
Regular Member
Depends what AuDA does next
I think that depends on what AuDA does in the meantime
I agree it will take a considerable effort, but, if they manage to get the 'extension question' to stick in the mind of the general public ("was that .com.au or .net.au?") then the people who are taking advantage of this promotion could be the winners, if only by selling their net.au to the com.au registrants in a year's time!
AuDA should have tried re-educating the masses before dropping the price, IMO. It would have encouraged businesses to register net.au to protect their existing com.au domains, and encouraged people to look at the net.au space with more appreciation generally, resulting in an increase of registrations. They may not have needed to drop the price at all!
I think that depends on what AuDA does in the meantime
I agree it will take a considerable effort, but, if they manage to get the 'extension question' to stick in the mind of the general public ("was that .com.au or .net.au?") then the people who are taking advantage of this promotion could be the winners, if only by selling their net.au to the com.au registrants in a year's time!
AuDA should have tried re-educating the masses before dropping the price, IMO. It would have encouraged businesses to register net.au to protect their existing com.au domains, and encouraged people to look at the net.au space with more appreciation generally, resulting in an increase of registrations. They may not have needed to drop the price at all!
nt81
Top Contributor
This, but - who knows, there could be a plan.
I may have made a few sneaky .net.au purchases for my portfolio over the weekend
auAppraisals
Regular Member
I may have made a few sneaky .net.au purchases for my portfolio over the weekend
I didn't have the time (and don't now thanks to spending too long on here!), but I am amazed that more people aren't seeing this for the opportunity it is...but, of course, perhaps they are!
nt81
Top Contributor
Promotion goes all month.
I don't normally purchase domains just for the heck of it, I don't consider myself to be a domainer as such - so I wasn't really convinced that I needed to register any until I had a really good think about this and sleep on it, and a solid strategy for what I could even do with the domains.
I don't normally purchase domains just for the heck of it, I don't consider myself to be a domainer as such - so I wasn't really convinced that I needed to register any until I had a really good think about this and sleep on it, and a solid strategy for what I could even do with the domains.
snoopy
Top Contributor
If AUDA are promoting .net.au to try and improve its uptake that is a waste of money, they might as well be spending it on .id.au or whatever other half baked extensions they have that nobody wants.
Reminds me of an old lady I saw at a local market a few years ago, she was baking two types of cup cakes, vanilla and chocolate. I told here I'd take a dozen chocolate, she told me she had only six left, but lots of vanilla.
"You have yo be early if you want the chocolate, but the vanilla, they never sell out".
She explained how she makes a batch of each type every month.
I was thinking to myself,
"What on earth are you doing? spending half your time baking stuff that nobody wants and not making enough of what everyone does want".
All the budget spent promoting .net.au should be going to what people want, .com.au.
snoopy
Top Contributor
It doesn't matter how much effort is put in, it is pretty apparent to most people what extension they need and what .au type almost all Australian businesses use.
There is no re-educating the masses. Whatever the masses think....is right. If they think LCD is better with Plasma you better start selling LCD.
nt81
Top Contributor
auAppraisals
Regular Member
Chocolate and vanilla...a good analogy
How do you propose auDA could spend money to create more desirable com.au domain names?
In terms of your analogy, if the old lady can only source enough ingredients to make a dozen chocolate cupcakes, but she can also source ingredients to make a dozen of the less popular vanilla, shouldn't she make both? Maybe the vanilla are much more profitable? Maybe she makes as much money from the three vanilla cupcakes she sells as she does from the dozen chocolate. Who knows?!
You're assuming she has access to more chocolate and that she's not benefiting at all from offering vanilla as an alternative.
Desirable com.au names are not cake ingredients - they are a limited resource; adding the net.au space effectively doubles the availability of desirable names. All that's different between the two is your (and most peoples') perception, which is what auDA should attempt to change. I totally accept the problems with branding and the confusion of having two different websites using the same name on two different 2LDs, but, functionally, the two 2LDs are identical.
How do you propose auDA could spend money to create more desirable com.au domain names?
In terms of your analogy, if the old lady can only source enough ingredients to make a dozen chocolate cupcakes, but she can also source ingredients to make a dozen of the less popular vanilla, shouldn't she make both? Maybe the vanilla are much more profitable? Maybe she makes as much money from the three vanilla cupcakes she sells as she does from the dozen chocolate. Who knows?!
You're assuming she has access to more chocolate and that she's not benefiting at all from offering vanilla as an alternative.
Desirable com.au names are not cake ingredients - they are a limited resource; adding the net.au space effectively doubles the availability of desirable names. All that's different between the two is your (and most peoples') perception, which is what auDA should attempt to change. I totally accept the problems with branding and the confusion of having two different websites using the same name on two different 2LDs, but, functionally, the two 2LDs are identical.
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