Choosing a Domain Name: The Practical and Legal Checks Most People Skip

Most people choose a domain name the same way: think of something, check if it's available, register it if it is. That's the fun part, and it's also where most of the avoidable mistakes get made — because "available to register" and "safe to build a business on" are not the same test.

A domain name is something you'll print on cards, say down the phone, build brand recognition around, and rely on for email for years. It's worth a few extra checks before you commit. Here's what actually matters, roughly in order.

The practical checks

Say it out loud, and have someone type it

A name that looks fine written down can be a liability spoken. Test it: read the domain to someone over the phone and have them type what they hear. If they hesitate, ask "is that a number or the word?", or spell it wrong, that friction is permanent — it's every phone call, every radio-style word-of-mouth referral, forever.

• Avoid hyphens where you can. They're easy to forget, awkward to say ("dash"), and a name with a hyphen is often the one someone registered because the un-hyphenated version was taken — which means a competitor may hold it.
• Watch for homophones and ambiguous spellings — anything with a "2/to/too", "4/for", or a word people spell more than one way. If the obvious spelling doesn't lead to you, you'll lose traffic to it.
• Beware accidental readings. Run the letters together without capitals — the classic trap is a domain that, lowercased and unspaced, reads as something you didn't intend. Always look at it as one lowercase string.

Shorter is better, but meaningful beats short

Length matters less than memorability. A slightly longer name that's clear and evocative beats a cryptic short one nobody can recall. What you're really optimising for is: can someone remember it after hearing it once, and type it correctly without being told how to spell it?

The checks people actually skip — and regret

Trademark collision

This is the big one, and the one with real legal teeth. A domain being available to register does not mean the name is free of others' trademark rights. If you build a brand on a name that's already a registered trademark in your industry, you can be forced to hand over the domain or rebrand entirely — after you've invested in it.

Before committing to a name you'll build a brand on, it's worth searching the trademark register for your country (in Australia, the national trademarks database) for your proposed name in your line of business. This isn't legal advice and a lawyer should weigh in for anything significant — but a five-minute search up front can save an expensive problem later.

The business-name-vs-domain distinction

Registering a domain gives you that domain. It does not register a business name, give you a trademark, or stop anyone else using the name in other forms. These are separate registrations doing separate jobs, and assuming one covers the others is a common and costly misunderstanding. If the name matters to your brand, you may want the domain, a registered business name, and (for real protection) a trademark — each is a different thing.

The .au question: which extension, and how many

For an Australian business, the extension is a real decision, not an afterthought:

• .com.au remains the default expectation for an Australian business — it signals "established Australian company" to customers and carries eligibility requirements that lend it credibility.
• Direct .au (the shorter namespace) is newer and more available, and increasingly recognised, but many customers still instinctively type .com.au.
• .com is the global default, worth considering if you have or want an international audience — but a local business is often better served leading with .com.au.

Note that .au domains carry genuine eligibility rules — you generally need an Australian presence and a connection between the name and your business or its activities. That's a whole topic in itself, covered in our .au eligibility guide and the piece on registering a domain for a product or service name.

Should you register more than one?

Often, yes — defensively. Registering the matching .com.au and direct .au (and sometimes .com) protects against a competitor or opportunist grabbing the variant customers might type, and against confusion. You point the extras at your main site. It's cheap insurance against a problem that's expensive to fix after the fact. What you don't need is to chase every possible extension — just the ones your actual customers would plausibly type.

A pre-registration checklist

• Say it aloud and have someone type it — confirm it survives being spoken.
• Read it as one lowercase string — check for unintended readings.
• Search the trademark register for the name in your industry before you build a brand on it.
• Confirm you understand what you're registering — the domain, separate from a business name or trademark.
• Choose the right primary extension for your audience, and check .au eligibility if you're going local.
• Register the key defensive variants customers might type, pointed at your main site.
• Register it in your own name/entity, not a web designer's or third party's — so the domain is unambiguously yours to control.

Frequently asked questions