Category: Technology News

Q Card Payment Gateway – Connect Directly to the Q Card API from your Online Store

 

The team at FutureLab have developed a custom plugin that connects to the new Q Card API from your online store. That means you can now offer your customers another way to pay online, without needing to pay merchant fees to a third party gateway.

 

Fast Facts about the Q Card Payment Gateway Plugin:

  • Add Q Card payments to your online store with our plugin
  • Connects directly with Q Card API so no merchant fees on transactions
  • Customers can also set Q Card finance options directly from your site
  • It’s a win/win for both merchants and customers

 

What is a payment gateway?

A payment gateway is a way to allow your customers to pay online for goods using their credit cards. Popular payment gateways include PayPal, DPS, Payment Express. However, as you will know if you run an online store, all those payment gateways charge the merchant transactions fees on each customer purchase. That’s because they are third party gateways/systems – PayPal, DPS and Payment Express all connect online stores to the customer’s credit cards.

 

So, what’s different about THIS payment gateway?

Our plugin does not process your transactions directly – it connects to the Q Card API, which is where the transactions are processed. So instead of paying a third party system to process payments, this plugin simply passes them along direct to the Q Card system. There are no transaction fees for the merchant to pay.

It’s a simplified way to allow customers to pay using their Q Cards on your online store.

 

Here’s a comparison of our Q Card plugin against a third party payment gateway such as the DPS plugin:

 

FutureLab Q Card PluginDPS Payment Gateway Plugin
Allows Q Card online paymentsYesYes
Allows repayment optionsYesYes
Third Party Transaction Fees?NoYes
Direct Channel with Q Card API?YesNo

 

 

How does it work?

The plugin connects directly to the Q Card operating system. The access is granted through an API (application programming interface). Q Card have recently launched their API so this technology is very new, and only a few websites currently use it. Our plugin works differently to other plugins like DPS, which can also be used for Q Card payments. It doesn’t process the online payments within its own system like DPS does. It simply allows payments to be directly processed by Q Card, from your website. That’s why there are no associated transaction fees to pay.

Why enable Q Card payments on your site?

If you haven’t heard of Q Card, it’s essentially a credit card that also acts as a financing system for card users. If Q Card users purchase a big-ticket item, they can choose to pay off the item in interest-free instalments. Plus, repayments are delayed 3 months or longer, giving the customer ‘breathing space’ as Q Card suggests.

Enabling Q Card payments can encourage customers to purchase items from your store, since they benefit from the delayed repayment schedule and interest-free financing.

Our Q Card plugin also allows customers to set up payment of their purchase in 6 or 12 month instalments on their Q Card account. You’ll receive the purchase amount immediately, but the customer benefits from paying back their Q Card balance in instalments.

 

How can I get the FutureLab Q Card payment plugin for my online store?

As this API technology is so new, there are very few websites currently taking advantage of it. Contact us to discuss adding our plugin to your website and enabling a better way to pay online – for you and your customers.

 

We can write and configure this plugin for your Magento or WordPress online store.

[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_column_text]Daren recently joined FutureLab in the newly created role of Business Development Manager. Daren is on board to help manage our business growth and provide strategic vision for the overall development of the company.

 

Welcome to FutureLab Daren! Can you start by telling us a bit about your previous roles and experience?

In my previous life I spent 15 years in Telecommunications with the likes of Vodafone, WXC, and Digital Island. Signed Digital Islands largest client in Armourguard NZ and stole it off both Gen-I and Vodafone at the time from a cold start. When I started text messaging was still cutting edge. Nowadays those same phone companies are now IT, Web, phone system and Application based companies.

 

What excites you about working in the IT industry?

Technology changes mean you never get stale. If you don’t get your head around what the changes are, you’ll have no idea how to position your services in relation to the client need.

Even in the last year, Google made changes as to how they rank websites meaning that you’ve already got something new to discuss with potential and existing clients as to how to make sure they stay relevant with the way people now consume or make their choices. Winning significant businesses is always a kick.

 

Why FutureLab? What, in your opinion, is the point of difference compared to other companies in the Auckland market?

The level of customisation that can be delivered in comparison to template-based approaches, at non creative agency pricing.

 

 What do you hope to achieve at FutureLab this year?

Expanding the company! If we can grow the business to the point we start to have enough work for additional staff that would be grand. From a sales perspective, ideally I want to develop partnerships that then provide a pipeline that doesn’t leave you chasing business cold. In my experience, getting new business off the back of relationships has always worked well.

 

You’ve come on board at FutureLab after a year of fast growth. How do you see the company continuing to evolve?

 It got to this size based on good client relationships. If we grow the amount of people we have relationships with that will grow revenue so long as we always ask ourselves “What is the compelling reason for this potential client to use us” and then communicate that well. It may be at some point in the future we expand on what we do product- or service-wise. The more products or services we can offer to clients, the more likely they are to stick with us. Plus, people are very risk adverse – especially if they think you’ve done a great job.

 

Finally, any predictions for the year ahead?

 No. Technology is also a disruption to some businesses in that if something great is released it can sometimes impact you. Look at the way the internet has affected traditional media sales, or how Uber has affected the taxi industry, what’s next? It’s unpredictable and that’s what motivates me.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator type=”small” position=”center” up=”30″ down=”40″][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”18926″ img_size=”medium” qode_css_animation=””][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Thanks Daren. Here at FutureLab we are excited by the new developments happening this year and we believe Daren is a valuable and necessary addition to our small team. If you’ve got any questions, please drop us a line at contact@futurelab.co.nz, or say hello to Daren at daren@futurelab.co.nz.

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Apple made headlines already this year with the news/rumours (not actually confirmed by Apple as yet) that for the iPhone7, they are planning to ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack that comes as standard on all audio-visual equipment.

Predictably, many Apple fans are up in arms, with one petition against the move already gaining over 250,000 signatures. (This is unlikely to change anything; remember those Facebook petitions that cropped up every single time Facebook changed the layout?) The reason for the anger is that Apple will become incompatible with every audio-visual device on the market – meaning that consumers will need to purchase an adaptor or new speakers or systems in order to use alongside the iPhone7.

Instead of the classic headphone jack we all know and love, the iPhone7 will have Bluetooth enabled, allowing wireless listening rather than needing to plug in.

With Apple kicking off the year in tech shakeups, what can we expect in other areas of technology for 2016?

 

Motor Technology – the Urban Car

 

We’ve been hearing for a while about the self-driving car – pioneered by Google, the self-driving car could become a reality on the roads in the near future. However artificial intelligence is not the only way in which personal transportation is undergoing innovation. The Fast Company recently discussed models for ‘urban cars’ – tiny vehicles designed to move one person efficiently across an urban landscape.

 

CES 2016

 

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) just wrapped up in Las Vegas and presented the best in smart, futuristic and downright crazy technology. Highlights included the mini-Segway, a thermometer that takes readings from anywhere on the body, actual wireless phone charging, and the one-person drone that seems clever but would be a recipe for air traffic disasters.

 

Focus in 2016

 

We predict that “green” technology and environment-focused solutions will dominate 2016’s innovations, along with the exploding industry of wearable tech (smart watches and smart jewellery are looking slimmer and higher-tech than ever).

Here’s to 2016. Let’s get excited.

 

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Behind the scenes of your website, and indeed the entire online world, a battle is constantly raging. It’s not the kind of battle you see in the movies. There’s no blood, guns, or violence. But there are soldiers, weapons of mass destruction, and grisly battle scenes.

If you’re wondering what we’re on about, we’re of course referring to the malicious targeting of websites and software by computer hackers. The soldiers are programmers, the weapons are code, and the grisly battle scenes – well, only the IT team can attest to those.

At all times, invisible to the everyday world, thousands upon thousands of hackers are online, searching for weaknesses and vulnerabilities in computer systems that they can exploit. That includes individual websites (even those of small businesses), as well as large applications that are used by millions – applications like banking systems, website systems, security systems.

The rewards for finding such a loophole can be as varied as lifting credit card information, directing payments to a rogue account, using the website to promote a political agenda, stealing email addresses, or sending out spam mail. Sometimes, the rewards gained seem trivial or infantile – for example, spending hours hacking into a website in order to display a screen announcing ‘you’ve been hacked!’ along with circus music and a dancing cartoon (we’ve seen it happen). It’s not for us to question why hackers do the things they do. All we can do, in the immortal words of Mad Eye Moody, is practice ‘CONSTANT VIGILANCE!’

You may be forgiven for thinking this is all a little over the top. After all, how often does your own website get hacked? Surely this is something only the big companies, who store credit card information, need to worry about? Well, although we admit the tone of this article is a little tongue-in-cheek, it may surprise you to learn that your own website is most likely the target of a hacking attempt many times – even hundreds or thousands of times – every day. Even small websites with modest traffic. Even websites hosted in little old NZ. In fact, in the last month we’ve noticed plenty of malicious activity attempted on our own clients’ websites – small, local businesses with a trickle of traffic.

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator type=”transparent” position=”center”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Now, don’t panic. We said hacking attempts – that doesn’t mean they are successful. Most hacking attempts consist of a hacker trying to guess the password and login details to the backend of your website. They do this by running software that makes thousands of attempts at once, each time trying a different login and password combo. To summarise conventional password wisdom:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1430464166691{padding: 15px !important;background-color: #eaeaea !important;}”][unordered_list style=”circle” number_type=”circle_number” animate=”no”]

  • don’t have a password that is easy to guess!

    So passwords shouldn’t be someone’s date of birth. Or ‘admin’. Or ‘password’.

  • don’t have a login name that is easy to guess!

    That rules out your first name, your website name, and once again, ‘admin’.

[/unordered_list][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator type=”transparent” position=”center”][vc_separator type=”transparent” position=”center”][vc_column_text]Lifehacker has a great article on passwords and hackers. Amazingly, the article shows that adding a mix of capital and small letters, plus a symbol or two, into your password can make it exponentially harder for hackers to guess.

We mentioned that you’re probably not aware of all these hacking attempts going on daily under your very nose. Well, if you’ve got a good IT team, that’s because: 1) your website has been set up with some solid security features, and 2) you’ve got a good IT team who are certainly aware of suspicious activity and working constantly to limit it.

Now we’re getting to the heart of this article:

[blockquote text=’how small businesses can protect themselves from security breaches and hacking attempts. ‘ text_color=” width=” line_height=’undefined’ background_color=” border_color=” show_quote_icon=’yes’ quote_icon_color=”]

Big companies will have entire teams dedicated to this job (and much needed too – back in 2012, the Pentagon reported 10 million hacking attempts… per day).

Although choosing difficult passwords and login details is certainly a good start, that’s not the only way that hackers can compromise your website. Any content management software, plug-ins or themes you use can also be targeted, and if successfully hacked, can introduce vulnerability to every website which uses that software.

Again, this is more common that the average small business owner might realise. In December 2014, the security team at Sucuri discovered that Revolution Slider, a popular WordPress plugin, had a critical vulnerability that left it open to attack. January 2015, Magento reported a security issue. And on April 27 2015, just this week, a security breach was uncovered in the WordPress comments feature.

In most cases, the software owners quickly release a security ‘patch’ that will close up the loophole that has been exposed. However, the problem is that many small companies ignore the patch and do not implement it on their site – or, they don’t hear about the security breach and the subsequent patches required, so their websites remain vulnerable. That’s when hackers can swoop in, ironically using the information released and exploiting websites which haven’t moved to block the breach. To go back to our battle imagery, it’s like finding out you left the gate to the castle unlocked, holding the key in your hand, and then losing the race to lock it before the hordes arrive.

We monitor the activity on all our clients websites and have several strong security measures in place to block unwanted traffic and hacking attempts on individual websites. When security breaches are discovered in any of the software we use, we also implement the patches across all affected websites as a matter of priority. Here, then, is our checklist of what webmasters can do to ensure the safety and security of their website at all times:[/vc_column_text][unordered_list style=”number” number_type=”circle_number” animate=”yes”]

  • Keep your system updated
    Whether your site is operating on WordPress, Magento, Joomla, or even custom-made on a framework, make sure you are up to date with updates. With custom-made sites, be prepared to update your framework if necessary.
  • Protect your websites with free security tools
    We like WordFence and ModSecurity. ClamAv is also a good, free server antivirus program.
  • Sign up to some security blogs
    Make sure you’re in the know when security breaches are discovered and announced. That way you’ll be able to update your site with the patch as soon as it’s available. Sucuri.net is a great security blog with helpful information on what to do if your site is compromised by a breach.
  • Ensure your server is up-to-date with all security updates
    Your server is another point at which hackers can try and gain access to or compromise your system. Talk to your hosting company about any security features they have in place and don’t be afraid to complain if you feel security is not up to par.
  • Get your server logs and performance checked regularly by a specialist
    Your server logs contain valuable records of all the IP addresses that have tried to login to your servers, and where they are from. Thousands of failed login attempts from IPs outside of your own country are a clear sign of malicious hacking attempts. A slow server can also be a sign that your server has been hacked and is being used for ulterior purposes.

[/unordered_list][vc_column_text]By staying aware of crucial information shared online on security blogs, plus placing key defences on your website and creating strong passwords, you’ll go a long way towards protecting your website from malicious hacking attempts. Awareness and vigilance is key. If you don’t manage your website yourself, call your hosting company and web developers and find out what security measures they have in place for your site.

At the end of the day, we can only arm ourselves with the weapons available to us and continue to fight the good fight against online hackers. But DO make sure you equip yourself with the free weapons – that is, free security tools – that are available to protect your site! And don’t forget that if someone tells you you’ve left the gate unlocked – your first priority is to lock it back up![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Hello again. It’s been a quiet month here on the blog, as we’ve become busy with helping existing customers and new ones make their sites mobile-responsive. The reason? Well if you missed it, Google announced that from the 21st April 2015, mobile-friendly sites will start being prioritised in mobile search results. That means, if your website is not yet mobile-friendly, you can expect to see a drop in your rankings when people search for your products or services using their smartphones. In other words – you are less visible on mobile to your potential customers.

The first thing to understand is that, according to Google, mobile search and desktop search use different formulas to come up with their results. Google have stated that this change affects only mobile search – not all search. However, here at FutureLab we believe that this is only the start of prioritising mobile-friendly websites. After all, this technology was first demonstrated back in 2004, and from 2010 the term ‘responsive web design’ was in use. Businesses who have chosen to ignore the growing (in fact, the enormous) smartphone and tablet market and have not catered to this potential audience are now well behind the curve.

Since some media and technology circles have been causing a frenzy lately – some dubbing the update ‘Mobilegeddon’ – it’s worth remembering that Google have been warning of this update since February, leaving enough time for motivated website owners to implement mobile-friendly changes or get in touch with web developers who can do it for them. It’s also worth remembering all the other factors that affect website ranking in all search engine results – things like relevancy, user experience, site speed, high-quality content, and more. The 21st April update is aimed at providing a higher user experience on mobile, by boosting relevant results that are also mobile-friendly.

We’ve been reaching out to our clients this month and explaining what the update might mean for them. Newer clients are all mobile-friendly anyway, so nothing to worry about there. Others have chosen to make their websites mobile-friendly in response, while a few aren’t fussed about making any changes yet.

Web technology is frequently changing – aside from improvements and updates in graphic design and coding, web technology goes through fashions just like any other industry. Currently, modern websites favour clean lines, minimal design with plenty of white space, plus a good helping of interactive design. On the flip side, you can often spot the tell-tale indications of an outdated website – such as overcrowding on the page, lack of any animated or interactive elements, tacky fonts and colour schemes, and so on.

In reality, website owners will always have a decision to make about the best time to update a website that is starting to show its age. However, with mobile-responsiveness now handed down from Google as a priority, perhaps 2015 will be the year of change for many professional websites.

Have you heard about the Google update?

 

What’s happening on the 21st April 2015?

Google recently announced that from the 21st of this month, the way that search results are ranked on mobile devices will undergo a ‘significant’ change. From that date, if your website is not mobile-friendly, it will drop in the mobile search result rankings.[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_separator type=”transparent” position=”center” up=”50″][vc_column_text]

What’s so special about being mobile-friendly anyway?

Google aims to provide the highest possible user experience – and we’ve all felt the frustration of trying to browse an unresponsive website from a smartphone. That tiny page you need to enlarge and navigate around to see anything? It makes finding and using an ‘old-fashioned’ website a nightmare on a smartphone. Google are now getting serious about rewarding mobile-friendly websites – and punishing the rest.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator type=”transparent” position=”center” up=”50″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”18547″ border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”full”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

My website isn’t designed to be mobile-friendly… what can I do?

The bad news is, your website is going to experience a drop in search result rankings on mobile devices after the 21st April. The good news is, there is plenty you can do to improve your website and rescue your search engine rankings.

 

Companies have a choice between using one website that is mobile-responsive – designed for use on desktops, tablets, and all types of smartphones – or creating a new website for mobile (often shown with m. in front of your domain). For a number of reasons, we recommend a mobile-responsive website – you can see more about the pros and cons of each in our blog post responsive vs mobile websites.

 

For the moment, you may even get away with doing nothing – that’s if mobile users aren’t important to your business, of course. However, don’t bury your head in the sand over mobile-friendly websites for too long! Smartphones are here to stay and having a mobile-responsive website will become more and more essential to your business.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator type=”normal” position=”center” up=”50″][vc_column_text]

How can I find out more about this issue?

A good place to start is this handy tool from Google that will quickly tell you if your website is mobile-friendly or not. If you find that your website is NOT mobile-friendly, we may be able to help you. Get in touch to discuss options for how you can improve your website’s usability on smartphones. We’ll be happy to meet with you and suggest the best course of action – it’s free, and it may just save your search rankings too.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column width=”1/1″][action full_width=”yes” content_in_grid=”yes” type=”normal” show_button=”no”]Are you ready for the Google Update? Let’s talk![/action][vc_separator type=”transparent” position=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_separator type=”transparent” position=”center”][vc_column_text]

About FutureLab Web Design

[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”18498″ border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”full”][vc_separator type=”transparent” position=”center”][vc_column_text]FutureLab specialise in improving the online presence for small and medium businesses in New Zealand. All our websites are designed to be mobile-responsive and provide a high-quality user experience on desktop, tablet and smartphone.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_separator type=”transparent” position=”center”][vc_column_text]

Flick us a quick message and we’ll tell you how to improve your mobile presence.

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We’ve moved!

But don’t worry, we’re still offering quality web design in the heart of Takapuna. We’ve moved our office from Lake Road to 84B Hurstmere Road, Takapuna, right on the main street. The entrance to our building is handily located right next to KiwiYo in Takapuna, and we’re just 2 minutes from beautiful Takapuna Beach! Plus there’s heaps of free 30-minute parking slots right across the street from us, so we’ve made it easier than ever for our clients to come in and discuss web design over a cuppa.

Everything is looking fresh, clean and brand spanking new, so come on in and have a coffee or a tea on us.

We’re stoked to have a bigger space plus a brand new meeting room for clients, and we’re ready to make our mark on Takapuna big time.

To celebrate the move, we’re offering 10% off a website to all local businesses – so if you’re in Takapuna and you’re in need of a new website, drop in and have a chat with us!

We’re still the same small, dynamic team offering custom web design at affordable prices for small and medium Kiwi businesses. There are still no Porsches, managers with six-figure salaries or huge sales teams. We’re still down to earth, priced fairly and we still don’t charge you by the minute for web support like some web companies. Now you just get to come see us in the heart of Takapuna, in our fancy new offices instead. Welcome to the new home of FutureLab!

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when stores in the US traditionally erupt in a frenzy of consumer madness – is shifting to the online retail world. While 2014’s Black Friday still saw queues of shoppers at all hours of the day and night on Thanksgiving Day and the day after, the latest estimates have shoppers spending 11% less this year in stores. Meanwhile, online shopping on Black Friday and generally during ‘Cyber Week’ have surged, increasing 8.5% on Cyber Monday compared to 2013.

It’s no secret that many consumers are choosing to shop from the comfort of their own homes now. To get around sizing issues, some consumers ‘window shop’ for products – that is, try them on in store – then go home and order online for a juicy discount on the retail price. Others take advantage of e-retailers’ very generous shipping offers – simply buying several sizes of an item and then posting the ones that didn’t fit back, for free.

Large retailers in NZ have already cottoned on to this trend, some with great success. As always, TradeMe was the nation’s biggest online retailer in 2013, but The Warehouse was a close second, after revolutionising their sales with a large online shop.

With $1.3 billion spent by Kiwis last year on overseas online shops, New Zealand retailers have an excellent incentive to open an eCommerce store and fight the international stores for their share of the sizeable profits.

As is the case with all online endeavours – we are no longer limited by national borders. And in this spirit of global connectivity, the Black Friday phenomenon is spreading worldwide. Many retail shops in the UK participated this year – with predictable results – and Cyber Monday, the internet sale that’s morphing into the full-blown ‘Cyber Week’, means that eCommerce stores the world over can entice shoppers in with discounts and promotions. As Black Friday kicks off the Christmas shopping season (as mandated by Roosevelt way back in 1939), NZ retailers would be wise to jump aboard the bandwagon – before it leaves them in the dust.

So unless you’ve been living under a rock this week, you’ll have heard about the new “exciting” changes to New Zealand domain names. At FutureLab HQ, where I’m copywriter in residence, we’ve already had many calls from clients wanting to know more information about what this all means, so let’s go through the options for domain owners.

On the 30th September 2014, it became possible to register a domain name at the ‘second level’ – that is, under .nz, rather than the ‘third level’ we use currently, ie, .co.nz, .org.nz, or .net.nz. All existing New Zealand domain owners now have a choice – to make the switch to the new domain or keep to the status quo. According to the Domain Name Commission Chair, David Farrar, the change means “greater choice” for New Zealanders and helps the domain name space to “stay relevant” for the future. Well, greater choice, certainly. But relevant? Try confusing!

Granted, New Zealand websites could already include different varieties of web address endings – TVNZ puts the total at 15 before September 30. However, we’d say the majority of websites that Kiwi consumers use on a day-to-day basis are registered under .co.nz. Kiwis know the web address of their favourite companies and are confident on how to find them online.

This “greater choice” now introduces a period of consumer confusion. When typing in a web address, will you type .co.nz or .nz? Will you have to remember which companies have embraced the change and which have kept to their original domain? Are we going to see the .nz wipe out the original domain names entirely, or will the name change fail to take off and die quietly in a few months’ time? Or, most likely for the foreseeable future, and worst for both consumers and businesses, will both exist side by side?

Should businesses buy their new domain name?

 

Domain name
Should you buy the new domain name?

Yes, most businesses should probably buy their new domain name option, or at least reserve it if they can. FutureLab, for example, have already bought the .nz domain and redirected it, so that browsers typing in www.futurelab.co.nz and www.futurelab.nz will both end up at the regular home page. Unfortunately, if you don’t buy or reserve your domain name within the next six months, someone else could buy it after that. That could risk you losing website traffic down the road. As long as no one else currently has a similar domain name to you, you should be able to buy or reserve the new domain name with no conflicts. You can reserve the domain name for free for two years, so if you don’t want to purchase your new domain quite yet, that’s probably your best option.

Whether you’re going to invest in the new domain system or not really depends on the type of business you are. If you conduct a significant amount of business online – like FutureLab – it’s a good idea to own both domains. If your web presence isn’t a big feature and you’re not worried about someone taking the new domain in the future – fine! Don’t feel pressured by bureaucracy into spending that extra bit of cash per year.

Note: If you’re panicking about not getting in soon enough, don’t worry. If you’ve owned your domain name since May 2012, you’ll have preferential status, which means no one can register the .nz version of your domain name in the next six months. If you registered your domain after May 2012, you’ll have preferential status only if there’s no conflict with other domains. An example would be if your business is called oranges.co.nz, and there’s also a company out there using oranges.net.nz. Both parties may want the shorter oranges.nz domain, but they will have to agree who gets it – or else no-one does. Check out the Domain Name Commisson’s FAQs for more info on preferential status.

So unfortunately, at least in these early stages of the new domain name, this means that businesses will probably need to own BOTH domains – the original version and the .nz version. Now, that may only be another $30 or so a year to each company, but that sure is a lot of money for the registrars! (What do you think – too cynical or hitting the nail on the head?)

Should companies switch to the new domain name?

 

Which domain to choose?
Which domain to choose?

Now, this answer isn’t so clear cut. You’ve spent months, even years, not to mention budget, on branding your business online. Sure, it’s only a small change at the end of the web address, but in the future it could make a difference to how consumers view you, especially as some parties are touting the name change as more quintessentially ‘Kiwi’, much like the recent .kiwi domain release. If consumers end up buying into that, businesses may rush to display their web address as .nz to avoid looking unpatriotic.

Switching to the new domain means actually displaying that URL when consumers browse your site, rather than just redirecting to your existing domain. Switching domains permanently in this way is not something to be taken lightly. You’ll need to redirect a whole heap of links and put in a lot of work behind the scenes. Therefore, that course of action is not recommendable at this stage of the game. Besides, you’ll still want to keep your original domain name going and redirect to the new one anyway, or risk losing all the value of links and bookmarks to your site, not to mention losing customers. So what’s the difference – you still need to maintain two domains until we can assess which way the domain cookie is going to crumble.

So, the real question is, what are consumers going to do in the next few months? Will they embrace the .nz, or will they stick to their bookmarks and saved searches and largely ignore the new domains? Will we see consumers searching more for .nz or .co.nz? Will new domain owners choose to register at .nz or .co.nz – or perhaps both, effectively doubling the cost of domain ownership?

Until we see a trend emerging, it may be best to keep a finger in each pie – owning both domain names and for now, redirecting the .nz to land at the usual .co.nz homepage.

At FutureLab, we’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on the market to decide what to do next ourselves. What are your thoughts on the new domain change – a great new option for the NZ web, a money-making scam from the DNC, or a confusing and simply unnecessary choice?