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T
he days of the phone book really
are behind us. Now when people
are looking for a plumber, an
electrician or any other type of tradie,
the most common course of action is an
online search.
And for everyone who turns to the web
to find a tradie, they’ll be searching by
location for someone local.
The challenge for those offering
trades and services is that this increases
your potential competition – you now
need to get your website noticed among
all the tradies on the internet, not just
those in your home town.
How can tradies cut through the guff
and get a competitive advantage online?
One way tradespeople in Victoria and
NSW can stand out from the crowd is
with a .melbourne or .sydney domain
name. These domain names have
launched recently as local alternatives
to the likes of .com or .net.
Domain names in .melbourne and
.sydney are an easy way for customers
to see straight away that you’re a local
business located in their city – making
their search easier and increasing your
chances of being found online.
“If you’re a Victorian business,
individual or interstate business with
Victorian interests you can apply for a
.melbourne domain name. The same
applies for .sydney,” ARI Registry
Services general manager of naming
services George Pongas says.
ARI Registry Services is the
organisation tasked with maintaining
the integrity of the .au, .melbourne and
.sydney domains.
“For interstate business though, the
domain name they apply for must closely
relate to the product or service they
are assigning to it. Individuals and local
businesses can register any domain they
like,” George says.
The .melbourne name space launched
late last year and a number of tradies
and service providers are already
using the new domains to tap into their
local market.
Mercury Heating and Cooling
Systems in Moorabbin can be found at
www.evaporativecooling.melbourne,
Tradefix Door Services has registered
www.doorrepairs.melbourne and
Women @ Work Painters now lives at
www.womenatworkpainters.melbourne.
Another great advantage of local domain
names is that they are still relatively new,
meaning availability is currently very high.
The .sydney namespace only launched in
February 2015.
Great premium names and key
search terms are still available and can
set your business up as the definitive
source for your industry. For example,
www.locksmiths.melbourne and
www.surveying.melbourne have both
been registered by savvy businesses
who now essentially ‘own’ their whole
category online.
Aringo Polished Concrete is one
such clever business. By registering
a .melbourne domain name at www.
polishedconcretefloors.melbourne,
Aringo has been able to claim the
polished concrete market vertical and
align itself with its local customers all
at once.
Showing himself to be a truly forward-
thinking businessman, owner Jyri
has also registered a number of key
search terms under the newly-released
.sydney domain name. These include
www.concretebenchtops.sydney, www.
polishedconcretebenchtops.sydney and
www.polishedconcretefloors.sydney.
For those grieving the death of the
phone book, local domain names such
as .melbourne and .sydney offer the
chance to target your audience and stand
out amongst the cluttered marketplace.
Align yourself with your city and your
customers by adding a local domain
name to your small business toolkit.
WHY HAVE A WEBSITE?
Having a presence online is one of the
‘qualifying factors’ customers use when
choosing the right tradie for their job. If
you have a website and your competitor
doesn’t, it may be the element that wins
you the business.
Websites speak to the customers you
don’t otherwise hear from. If a customer
prefers to email rather than call; or
they called you but you were busy on a
job, you can still capture their business
through your website.
Getting set up online can be quick,
simple and inexpensive. Creating a
basic but professional website can be
done at little to no cost and a domain
name can return significant value for
your business.
“It all comes down to your digital
strategy, or how your business lives
online,” George says.
“A .com address simply tells people
you’re online and very little else. A
.com.auaddress tells people you are
somewhere in Australia. A .melbourne
or .sydney address tells people that you
are close by, which makes it great for
small business operators.
“Melbourne and Sydney are among
only 20-odd cities in the world that have
applied for their top level domain name. It
will be at least another five years before
other cities can apply for their name.”
GETTING STARTED
If you’d like more information on
how to make an online presence work
for your business, email start@get.
melbourne (in Victoria) or start@get.
sydney (in NSW) and ARI Registry
Services will provide you with a
free Domain Name Strategy – no
commitments and customised to your
business – to help you take the first step
to getting online.
LOCAL DOMAIN NAMES FOR
LOCAL TRADIES
Tradies from Victoria and
NSW can now have localised
web domains ending in
.melbourne or .sydney.
Paul
Skelton
reports.