Scrolling through potential medical domain names may seem a low priority among all the things you might need to do when setting up a practice. But it is an important decision that affects all your online and offline branding and marketing efforts down the road.
A Guide on Domain Names for Doctors Practice in Australia?
- How to choose a domain name for a medical centre in Australia?
- Domain extensions for medical domain names
- Domain names that reflect your geographic location
- Domain names that reflect your medical specialty
- Make it easy to use, spell and understand
- You can buy a retired name
This article provides some helpful guidelines and reminds you of the factors you should consider. It should help you discover the perfect medical domain name for your practice.
How to choose a domain name for your medical centre in Australia?
When selecting a domain name for your medical practice, there are several variables to consider:
Domain extensions for medical domain names
This decision is faced by every business selecting a domain name. Apart from being an essential part of your website address, the domain name extension can be central to identifying the best domain name for your health website. A web address with a .com extension is more likely to be trusted by users because it is so widely used. But if you are in Australia, do you want your prospects searching through an array of practices from all over the world? 
Most practices would at the very least use .com.au or the new .au domain name extensions to prove up their geographic location in Australia. The .au domain may be extra helpful because it is short and memorable and will not overshadow your chosen domain name. This becomes even more relevant when you have a longer domain that may become somewhat unwieldy with a more extended domain extension. You may wish to consider an even more targeted domain name extension if you are based in Sydney or Melbourne.
Domain names that reflect your geographic location
Some practices may claim catchment areas by asserting their local area in their domain name. Often they will scan a clinic name generator and select the one that best targets their suburb or the local area, such as bondigp. This may be particularly useful when few practices are operating in your location.
Domain names that reflect your medical specialty
A domain name that incorporates the discipline in which the medical practitioner specialises may be helpful in those instances where that specialisation is relatively rare. A domain name with that specialty in its name is more like to be found. If, for example, you wanted an ophthalmological surgeon or a neurologist, you may be more inclined to search against these disciplines. 
Make it easy to use, spell and understand
Incorporating the medical specialty may be counterproductive when analysing health domain names. The results may be difficult to use, impossible to spell and easy to misunderstand. It may need to be a trade-off. Remember, you need to be able to tell others your URL either on the phone or in writing. A convenient pre-ordained page link will not be available every time. Make sure you do not use special symbols, numbers, or hyphens.
You can buy a retired name
Maybe a local doctor of some standing has retired, and valuable equity still exists within that domain name. Sometimes a retired name can bring with it an established following, reputation and recognition factor. It can also bring some less desirable facets, so do your research. Know what you are taking on. These are just a few of the significant variables you should consider when selecting the best medical domain name for your practice. Why not brainstorm with colleagues and friends. Try to find the “sweet spot” between who you are, what you do and where you can be found. When considering how to choose a domain name for a doctor’s practice in Australia, you probably should not try to be too quirky either. Healthcare is perhaps one area where being a little serious is appreciated.
