.com or .co.nz

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quandum

204 posts

Master Geek

#62511 9-Jun-2010 00:35

G'day...new(ish) to the website hosting / design world...(have fair experience with core infrastructure and networks however...) so be gentle..please :-)

Apologies if this has been asked before...

so the question is:

for a smallish startup website

<20 pages

a few @yourdomain.whatever email accounts....

not much scripting

no DB apps yet...

what hosting provider would you recommend and
would you pick a .com or .co.nz address and why?

primary intended audience is NZ SMB market at this stage.

thanks for dropping by....

I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code

#BOFH

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Snowflake

#339635 9-Jun-2010 00:52

.co.nz if you're aiming at NZ businesses. .com is acceptable but doesnt really say 'nz made'.

its also often harder to get 'your' domain on a .com given that almost every decent domain name that exists has already been registered.

you probably wouldnt use a .com.au address if your business operated only in NZ and not AU.

technically, it doesnt make much difference if you use .co.nz, .com, .biz, .net.net etc and you can even use the same domain registrar companies to manage any/all of those dns addresses.

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ArcticSilver

729 posts

Ultimate Geek

#339636 9-Jun-2010 00:52

quandum: G'day...new(ish) to the website hosting / design world...(have fair experience with core infrastructure and networks however...) so be gentle..please :-)

Apologies if this has been asked before...

so the question is:

for a smallish startup website

<20 pages

a few @yourdomain.whatever email accounts....

not much scripting

no DB apps yet...

what hosting provider would you recommend and
would you pick a .com or .co.nz address and why?

primary intended audience is NZ SMB market at this stage.

thanks for dropping by....

Quite a few questions

First lets start with the big question:

NZ of overseas hosting?

The benefits:

You dont have to rely on the international link.

Speed wise you are far less likely to have a issue.

Everything is within our legal system.

The cons:

The cost is higher

For your current site i would go with NZ based hosting because the cost difference will not be that great for the size.

Domain:

.co.nz:

Local DNS servers.

Changes will generally be propergated faster for the NZ area.

.nz signals a local business/website.

Anywhere from $25-$50NZD/year

.com

Around $15NZD/year

Hosts:

I dont use shared hosting personally (this is what you would be going for) but i know a few hosting companies.

Personally I would recommend Sitehost (www.sitehost.co.nz) simply because they are a very professional, well run business.

Altuntively i could happily sort you out with some free hosting with your current requirements.

heavenlywild

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#339641 9-Jun-2010 01:38

In terms of .co.nz or .com, I would definitely suggest .co.nz since your website is based in NZ for NZers. It is just a better look all around and gives your visitors some "assurance" it's NZ-made.

SepticSceptic

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#339766 9-Jun-2010 12:51

heavenlywild: In terms of .co.nz or .com, I would definitely suggest .co.nz since your website is based in NZ for NZers. It is just a better look all around and gives your visitors some "assurance" it's NZ-made.

+1 for the .nz

When hunting for NZ sites ( shopping / support / reviews / etc) , I generally glaze over the .com etc sites as they are generally non-relevant. And of course, a few relevant .com's slip past (usually found by going back over results).

If a user selects google and search NZ sites only, then you will probably miss out on a fair few eyeballs.

nate

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#339805 9-Jun-2010 14:20

We have all three of our domain name (.com, .com.au and .co.nz) but that's because some of our clients aren't in NZ.

Definitely suggest a .co.nz, and if it's not your company name, make it something short. I hate seeing businesses that register something like aucklandcitymobilehomerentals.co.nz - the possiblities for spelin erors is very high!

quandum

204 posts

Master Geek

#339913 9-Jun-2010 19:45

Quite a few questions

First lets start with the big question:

NZ of overseas hosting?

The benefits:

You dont have to rely on the international link.

Speed wise you are far less likely to have a issue.

Everything is within our legal system.

The cons:

The cost is higher

For your current site i would go with NZ based hosting because the cost difference will not be that great for the size.

Domain:

.co.nz:

Local DNS servers.

Changes will generally be propergated faster for the NZ area.

.nz signals a local business/website.

Anywhere from $25-$50NZD/year

.com

Around $15NZD/year

Hosts:

I dont use shared hosting personally (this is what you would be going for) but i know a few hosting companies.

Personally I would recommend Sitehost (www.sitehost.co.nz) simply because they are a very professional, well run business.

Altuntively i could happily sort you out with some free hosting with your current requirements.

Legend, thanks for that will check them out and also give you a shout on here :-)

On to step 2.....domain name, design / designer (need a professional looking site rather than something made in publisher....)

I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code

#BOFH

quandum

204 posts

Master Geek

#339919 9-Jun-2010 19:53

nate: We have all three of our domain name (.com, .com.au and .co.nz) but that's because some of our clients aren't in NZ.

Definitely suggest a .co.nz, and if it's not your company name, make it something short. I hate seeing businesses that register something like aucklandcitymobilehomerentals.co.nz - the possiblities for spelin erors is very high!

+1 to that....cant be bothered typing thisismywebsite.co.nz, so I dont think anyone else would either... :-)

I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code

#BOFH

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Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

vectran

59 posts

Master Geek

#339940 9-Jun-2010 20:41

Please excuse the mild tangent..

Am I correct in thinking that you need to be an Australian Registered Business (with an ABN) to obtain a .com.au domain?

_Allan

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#339947 9-Jun-2010 21:02

As has already been said .co.nz for the New Zealand market.
That said why not have both? It only cost $50 more a year.
Web hosting - pick me - www.computercraft.co.nz

no longer does the rule apply for .com.au where it was only Aus companies...

__Allan

_Allan (my blog, my tweets, company tweets, company web site)
Geekzone Speedtest - Download: 16.28 mbps Upload: 5.86 Mbps

ArcticSilver

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Ultimate Geek

#339960 9-Jun-2010 21:26

vectran: Please excuse the mild tangent..

Am I correct in thinking that you need to be an Australian Registered Business (with an ABN) to obtain a .com.au domain?

From my understanding yes you have to be a registered business. Though the law may have changed in this area, i certanly havent kept up to date with it since i have no need for a .com.au domain.

nate

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#340013 9-Jun-2010 23:37

alw: no longer does the rule apply for .com.au where it was only Aus companies...

Really? My understanding was you can't register one without an ABN.

_Allan

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#340048 10-Jun-2010 06:08

Actually I winged that response about Australian Domain Registration, because I’m sure I read about this some time back?

I just did a search and perhaps it was this site ( http://www.domainz.net.nz/info.asp?menu=domain_names&content=australia&page=australian_names ) that gave me the impression it was possible, but when you read closer the old rules still do apply!

Looking at the rules (http://www.auda.org.au/policies/auda-2008-05/) it appears my statement was not correct! Sorry!

_Allan (my blog, my tweets, company tweets, company web site)
Geekzone Speedtest - Download: 16.28 mbps Upload: 5.86 Mbps

nate

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#340118 10-Jun-2010 11:13

alw: I just did a search and perhaps it was this site ( http://www.domainz.net.nz/info.asp?menu=domain_names&content=australia&page=australian_names ) that gave me the impression it was possible, but when you read closer the old rules still do apply!

Not that I register a lot of domains in far off places, but Australia is the only country I've come across with such tight controls around their domain space. I'm sure other countries do it, but they must be the minority.

Gordy7

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#340151 10-Jun-2010 12:27

What about .TV?

Don't think product or service has been mentioned.

Plenty of 4 letter 2nd level domain options available.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

quandum

204 posts

Master Geek

#340410 10-Jun-2010 20:32

Personally I would recommend Sitehost (www.sitehost.co.nz) simply because they are a very professional, well run business.

Altuntively i could happily sort you out with some free hosting with your current requirements.

Legend, thanks for that will check them out and also give you a shout on here :-)

On to step 2.....domain name, design / designer (need a professional looking site rather than something made in publisher....)

So, any recommendations for a good webby? Just need a very basic site for now to give my company an online identity.....I saw a couple of $250or so packages....has anyone use / can you recommend any?

Please keep in mind, it is a very small operation at this stage, and obviously has budget constraints....

I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code

#BOFH

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